MISSION MOMENT
Begin today's reflection by reading the Scripture passage using the link below ― Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 (CEB)
In Ezekiel 34, God speaks directly into a painful situation. Israel's shepherds, the leaders who were supposed to protect the flock, had instead let the strong push out the weak. “You shove with shoulder and flank, and with your horns you ram all the weak sheep until you've scattered them outside,” God says of them. Into that failure, God makes a promise that is both tender and firm: “I myself will search for my flock and seek them out... I will seek out the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak.” And then comes a warning aimed squarely at the powerful: “the fat and the strong I will destroy, because I will tend my sheep with justice.”
This is not a passage about pity. It is a passage about justice, about a God who notices exactly who has been pushed to the margins and who did the pushing, and who promises to gather, heal, and restore what was scattered.
The United Methodist Church carries a piece of that promise forward through the Native American Comprehensive Plan, known as NACP, one of The United Methodist Church's churchwide ethnic ministry plans, supported through the connectional giving system and the World Service Fund. NACP exists to resource, strengthen, and advocate for Native American congregations and Indigenous communities worldwide, work that includes revitalizing Native languages, honoring Indigenous spirituality within Christian worship, developing leaders, and standing for climate justice on land many Native communities have stewarded for generations. History has too often scattered Native communities, sometimes even within the church itself. NACP is one way The United Methodist Church chooses, again and again, to seek out what was scattered and help it flourish.
Notice, too, how God's promise ends: not with a distant ruler, but with a shepherd raised up from within the flock itself. “I will appoint for them a single shepherd... My servant David will feed them. He will be their shepherd.” Real restoration means Native communities leading their own ministries, their own worship, and their own future, resourced by a wider church walking alongside them, not standing over them.
Picture a small Native congregation that has gone years without a pastor of its own, its ministry sustained mostly by volunteers stretched thin. Through NACP, that congregation is able to develop and support a leader raised up from within their own community. Attendance is not the only thing that can grow; so also sense that this congregation belonged, fully and permanently, within The United Methodist Church's connection.
Every gift tells a story. This one is still being written, verse by verse, congregation by congregation, as gifts given through the connection help gather what was scattered.
Reflection Question:
Where might God be asking you to help gather someone your church family has not yet fully reached?
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
Title: The Shepherd Who Looks For You
Materials: A stuffed sheep or lamb toy, a soft blanket or cloth
Good morning, friends! I’m so glad to see you today!
Today I brought a woolly friend with me. (Hold up the stuffed sheep.) Do you know what this is? That's right, a sheep!
Did you know that in the Bible, God is sometimes called our Shepherd? A shepherd is someone who takes care of sheep, keeps them safe, and makes sure every single sheep is okay.
In a story from the Bible, God says something like this: “I will look for my sheep, and I will find them, wherever they got lost.” Isn't that wonderful? God does not forget about anyone, even a sheep that wandered far, far away!
God also said, “I will help the sheep that got hurt, and I will make the weak sheep strong again.” That is such a kind and gentle shepherd, isn't it?
But guess what? Sometimes in a big group of sheep, some sheep can be pushy. They push and bump the gentle sheep out of the way so they can get all the best grass for themselves! That is not very kind, is it? God said He would take care of that too, and make sure every sheep, even the gentle ones, got to eat and feel safe.
This week, we get to think about our Native American brothers and sisters in God's big church family. A long, long time ago, some people were not always kind to Native American families, kind of like those pushy sheep. But God, our Good Shepherd, always looks for the ones who got pushed aside, and God's church family wants to do the same, to look for our Native American friends, to help them, and to make sure they always have a place, right in the middle of the flock, never pushed to the side.
When we give in church, we help our Native American church family have good leaders, keep their special songs and words, and take care of the land God gave us. It is like being a good helper for our big Shepherd!
Every single gift tells a story. And when we share, we help make sure every sheep in God's flock feels safe, strong, and loved.
Prayer: Dear God, thank You for being our Good Shepherd. Thank You for looking for every single sheep, even the ones who wandered far away. Help us be kind and gentle, like You, and help us take care of our Native American friends in Your big church family. Amen.
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Good Shepherd, You promise to seek out the scattered, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak, tending Your flock with justice, not neglect. As we bring our gifts before You, we remember the Native American Comprehensive Plan and the congregations, leaders, and communities it helps gather and strengthen across The United Methodist Church. Through connectional giving, join our offering with gifts from congregations we may never meet, so that what we bring here helps restore what history has scattered. May every gift find its way home, and may every story it makes possible bring glory to You. Amen.
OFFERTORY PRAYER from Discipleship Ministries
Compassionate Shepherd, you have blessed us beyond measure and taught us to find your face in the hungry, the lonely, the stranger, and the forgotten. Receive these gifts and receive our lives, that we may become people whose generosity flows not from obligation but from love. Use our offerings to feed, welcome, comfort, and restore, so that others may glimpse your kingdom through our care. And when we serve our neighbors, awaken us to the holy mystery that we are serving you. Shape us into disciples whose greatest joy is to love as Christ first loved us. Amen.
NEWSLETTER NUGGET
In Ezekiel 34, God promises to be a Shepherd who seeks the scattered, binds up the wounded, and tends the flock with justice (CEB). This November, during Native American Heritage Month, we celebrate the Native American Comprehensive Plan, one of The United Methodist Church's churchwide ethnic ministry plans, supported through the World Service Fund to resource Native congregations, leaders, and communities worldwide. Every gift tells a story, and through connectional giving, our gifts help gather what was scattered.
Join us this Sunday for worship as we celebrate the Shepherd who never stops seeking His flock.