Scriptures: Isaiah 1:1, 10–20; Psalm 50:1–8, 22–23; Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–16;
Luke 12:32–40/12:35–47 IV; III Nephi 5:72; Doctrine and Covenants 158:9a, b

Prelude

Welcome

Call to Worship: Psalm 50:1–6

Scripture for Peace: III Nephi 5:72

Prayer for Peace

*Hymn: “With Happy Voices Ringing” HS 29
OR “Now in This Moment” HS 58
OR “We Are Called to Be Peacemakers” SP 23

*Prayer of Invocation

*Response

Readers’ Theater: “Faithful Feet”

Hymn of Challenge

“Proclaim the Peace of Christ”

—Words by Danny Belrose (verses 1, 3, and 4 only); tune: MORNING SONG (HS 457).
Used by permission. Permission to reprint for worship granted in September 2008, Herald, 10.

OR “Hast Thou Heard It, O My Brother” HS 390
OR “This We Can Do” SP 32

Morning Message

Scripture for Confessional Reflection: Doctrine and Covenants 158:9a, b

Ministry of Music: “Take the Path of the Disciple” R-19

OR “Let Your Heart Be Broken” Use verses 1, 3, and 4. HS 377
OR “Let Justice Roll like a River” SP 28

Disciples’ Generous Response

*Hymn: “With a Steadfast Faith” HS 497
OR “Come Now, Sound the Call of Zion” HS 386
OR “Here I Am, Lord” NS 12
OR “Christ Has Called Us to New Visions” SP 38

*Sending Forth

*Response: “Take the Path of the Disciple” A soloist sings the chorus only, a cappella. R-19
OR Congregational Response: “Though Anxious and Disheartened” HS 380
OR “Bring Forth the Kingdom” refrain only SP 9

*Postlude

Readers’ Theater Based on Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–12 “Faithful Feet” By Shannon Pearce

Narrator: The scriptures tell us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That tells us what faith is, but what does faith mean? What does it look like? How does it affect our lives? What is different about a life lived by faith? The book of Hebrews holds up Abraham and Sarah as examples of people of faith.

Abraham and Sarah: (to congregation) Yes, we are faithful people.

Narrator: One day, God called Abraham to leave his home and set out on a journey.

Abraham: (to Sarah) Sarah, I don’t know what to do. God wants us to leave this place.

Sarah: (to Abraham) Oh, Abraham, we have such a good life here. And it’s so difficult to travel these days. I’m not as young as I used to be! But we have always trusted in God, so I suppose we must trust him this time. Will it be a long journey?

Abraham: I don’t know.

Sarah: You mean, the place we’re going is so far away that nobody knows how long it will take us to get there?

Abraham: No, I mean that I don’t know how far we’re going, because I don’t know where we’re going. God just told me that we are to go; he didn’t tell me where.

Sarah: You don’t know where we’re going? But, when will we be able to return?

Abraham: We won’t. We’re supposed to stay there and live in tents. God told me that this place, wherever it is, is going to be our inheritance.

Sarah: But—this is our home.

Abraham: That’s why I don’t know what to do. How can I ask you to leave our home, and the life we’ve built here, to take a journey to an unknown place, never to return?

Sarah: You’re not asking, Abraham, God is. But, yes, it does seem a hard thing to accept.

Narrator: Now, wait a minute here. I thought you two had faith. Didn’t you just say that you were faithful people?

Abraham: (to Narrator) We do. We are! I have always trusted in God’s promises. I have faith!

Sarah: So do I! It’s just that we can be faithful right here in our comfortable home just as well as we can on a long, difficult journey to some unknown, foreign land. Can’t we?

Abraham: (after a thoughtful pause) No, we can’t. We can sit right here and have faith, and that’s important, for us. But it doesn’t do anybody else any good. To be faithful we have to be willing to do something, even when we can’t see the end of the road.

Sarah: You’re right. It’s not enough to have faith in our hearts if we don’t also have faith in our hands and feet. We need to be willing to do what God calls us to do and go where God calls us to go—yes, even if we don’t know where the journey will end.

Abraham: So we’ll go, then, to this place that God has prepared for us—wherever it may be.

Sarah: Of course we’ll go. Even though we can’t see it or even imagine how it will be, we will trust that God will lead us to a good place, the place where we are meant to be. We will act in faith and walk the path that God shows us.

Abraham: Yes, we are faithful people and we we will have faithful feet.

Narrator: And so, by faith, Abraham and Sarah obeyed when they were called to set out for a place that they were to receive as an inheritance. They set out, not knowing where they were going. By faith, they stayed for a time in the land they had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents. For they looked forward to the city that had foundations, whose architect and builder was God. And by faith, they were able to have children, even though Abraham was too old and Sarah was barren, because they trusted God’s promises. And, therefore, from these two people descendants were born, as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

Abraham and Sarah: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Narrator: But faith means more than believing in your heart; it also means moving your feet.

Abraham and Sarah: We have faithful feet. Do you?

This is what many regard as the foundational scripture text dealing with faith. Some look to it as a definition of faith; but faith is really beyond definition. Instead, verse 1 describes what faith does. It provides assurance and conviction by speaking both of what is (things not seen) and what is yet to come (things hoped for). And verse 2 goes on to say that “our ancestors received approval” because of their faith. Verse 3 speaks of how we understand creation, even though how that happened remains a mystery.

Rather than continue with theoretical affirmations about faith, the author of this letter proceeds to give examples. Verses 4 through 7 (which are not a part of today’s assigned text) speak of Abel, Enoch, and Noah. We pick up at verse 8 with Abraham, the “father” of the faith. Here we are told of how this great patriarch left the comfort and familiarity of his home and went into an unknown country where he lived in tents with his family, all this in faith.

The lesson to be learned from Abraham’s story is that when one hears the call of God, it is by faith that one can and does follow that call, even though it leads to unknown places and the destination of which one dreams may never be reached. Faith has little if anything to do with a knowledge or even assurance of where one will end up. It rather has to do with one’s trust and confidence in the one (God) whose voice is heard.

Echoing verse 3, we can say that faithful discipleship is gauged by our willingness to go where God calls. God “approves” when we trust and go, especially when we are unsure of where we are going, perhaps more so when we are afraid of where our journey may lead. But, as today’s theme suggests, faith is not just something we “have”; it is a stance toward life that requires action. Faithful people journey from where they are to where they are compelled to go—all because it is God who calls them. Faithful people know God and recognize that it is God who calls them to act.

4. Where is God calling you to move or act now? What makes you most hesitant to respond?