In Today’s Worship:    Jesus sends out seventy-two people to go ahead of Him, two by two, to every place where He Himself was about to go.  We might, at times, wish that we could have been there, to hear a clear directive from Jesus, to be sent on a mission by Jesus, in person. We imagine how strong we would be and how purposeful the mission would be if Jesus standing right there had told us.  Yet, for the seventy-two, tumult lay ahead. It was not so easy for them.  So, to those who listen through almost deaf ears, and follow with almost broken bodies, who look through dimmed eyes, to those who have lived amongst the wolves, and not quite made it out of town before being shoved back into that dust, to those Jesus speaks peace through this message of the cross, “Hush now, the reign of God has come near to you.”

We welcome our guest speaker today, Pastor Lynn Podoll.  Pastor Podoll has served several congregations as pastor for over 50 years.  He is retired and lives in Cleveland.  He will share with us a sermon message entitled, “The Greatest Joy in the World” based on today’s Gospel reading.