Epiphany 4/Ordinary Time 4
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series III, Cycle A
Object:
Prayer Of Dedication/Gathering
P: Our Lord Jesus calls each of us to a life of justice, kindness, and humility. We pray that in this hour before us our defenses would fall and your love would be set free within us.
Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, your mercy knows no end.
C: Amen.
Intercessory Prayers
Use the hymn "Blest Are They" as the basis for intercessory prayer on this morning. Have as many petitions as there are verses. Speak the petitions over an instrumental interlude between verses, concluding the prayers with, "Rejoice and be glad."
Offertory Prayer
A: O God, our Father, Creator of the universe,
C: you know our history, and you know the masks we wear. As we place these gifts before you, tear down the walls that we build to hide from you and from our neighbors so that we may give our lives freely. Everything we have is yours, O God. Use it according to your will. In Christ's name.
Amen.
Eucharistic Prayer
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them up to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
P: It is indeed right and salutary ...
... we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
C: Holy, holy, holy ...
P: O God of mountains and valleys,
prairie and desert,
sea and sky,
you have bound yourself to us in love.
Again and again we turned from you
but your word burned hot
in the mouth of your prophets,
and you turned our world upside down.
Your Son lived among the poorest of the poor,
bringing dignity, healing, and freedom;
bringing justice, mercy, and love.
And with wisdom beyond our imagining
he took bread and gave thanks,
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
"Take and eat, this is my body given for you.
Blessed are you who do this to remember me."
Again after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and gave it to all to drink, saying,
"Take and drink, this cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Blessed are you who do this to remember me."
Send now your Spirit to this bread and cup,
that in receiving your life given for us,
our strivings and all our desires would be made new.
May we hunger and thirst for your righteousness,
and by the power of your Holy Spirit
may we be remade in the strength of your love.
All honor and glory is yours, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Benediction
P: May your hearts be opened
and your arms extended,
that filled with the strength of your Creator's love,
you may embrace all those whom he has made.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Liturgical Dance
Use eight dancers, each one striking a pose reflective of a phrase in the Beatitudes as the gospel text is read. Have them encircle the reader. Then have them return during the intercessions, each one in the same pose as before but this time placed throughout the congregation, embodying what it means for the congregation to pray the scriptures.
Hymns And Songs
Where Cross The Crowded Ways Of Life -- LBW 429; PH 408; MBW 581
Around You, O Lord Jesus -- LBW 496
Señor, Ten Piedad -- WOV 605
Come, All You People -- WOV 717
Blest Are They -- WOV 764; GATHER 469
We Come To The Hungry Feast -- WOV 766
Your Will Be Done -- TFF 243
What Does The Lord Require -- UMH 441; PH 405
When The Poor Ones -- UMH 434; PH 407; MBW 689
We Are Called -- GATHER 518
The People Of God -- GATHER 465
Sing Hey For The Carpenter -- GATHER 496
We Are the Light Of The World -- GATHER 353; G&P 657
Make Our Lives A Prayer Of Peace -- G&P 654
Beatitudes -- G&P 717
Psalm Settings
Lord, Who May Dwell Within Your House -- PH 164
Psalm 15: They Who Do Justice -- GATHER 21
Psalm 15: Those Who Do Justice -- G&P 168
Choral Music
"Blessed Are You" -- Craig Courtney (Beckenhorst Press, Inc.)
"Offertory" -- John Ness (Beckenhorst Press)
Service Notes
Notice the difference in the punctuation of the Eucharistic Prayer from what we may be used to. Our punctuation in general is geared more for the eye than for the ear and this model reverses that pattern. The inclusion of "Blessed are those who ..." during the verba may be omitted (according to your own particular sensibilities), but it is offered here as a model, which attempts to open up the character of the "eventness" that underlies our inherited text.
P: Our Lord Jesus calls each of us to a life of justice, kindness, and humility. We pray that in this hour before us our defenses would fall and your love would be set free within us.
Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, your mercy knows no end.
C: Amen.
Intercessory Prayers
Use the hymn "Blest Are They" as the basis for intercessory prayer on this morning. Have as many petitions as there are verses. Speak the petitions over an instrumental interlude between verses, concluding the prayers with, "Rejoice and be glad."
Offertory Prayer
A: O God, our Father, Creator of the universe,
C: you know our history, and you know the masks we wear. As we place these gifts before you, tear down the walls that we build to hide from you and from our neighbors so that we may give our lives freely. Everything we have is yours, O God. Use it according to your will. In Christ's name.
Amen.
Eucharistic Prayer
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them up to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
P: It is indeed right and salutary ...
... we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
C: Holy, holy, holy ...
P: O God of mountains and valleys,
prairie and desert,
sea and sky,
you have bound yourself to us in love.
Again and again we turned from you
but your word burned hot
in the mouth of your prophets,
and you turned our world upside down.
Your Son lived among the poorest of the poor,
bringing dignity, healing, and freedom;
bringing justice, mercy, and love.
And with wisdom beyond our imagining
he took bread and gave thanks,
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
"Take and eat, this is my body given for you.
Blessed are you who do this to remember me."
Again after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and gave it to all to drink, saying,
"Take and drink, this cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Blessed are you who do this to remember me."
Send now your Spirit to this bread and cup,
that in receiving your life given for us,
our strivings and all our desires would be made new.
May we hunger and thirst for your righteousness,
and by the power of your Holy Spirit
may we be remade in the strength of your love.
All honor and glory is yours, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Benediction
P: May your hearts be opened
and your arms extended,
that filled with the strength of your Creator's love,
you may embrace all those whom he has made.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Liturgical Dance
Use eight dancers, each one striking a pose reflective of a phrase in the Beatitudes as the gospel text is read. Have them encircle the reader. Then have them return during the intercessions, each one in the same pose as before but this time placed throughout the congregation, embodying what it means for the congregation to pray the scriptures.
Hymns And Songs
Where Cross The Crowded Ways Of Life -- LBW 429; PH 408; MBW 581
Around You, O Lord Jesus -- LBW 496
Señor, Ten Piedad -- WOV 605
Come, All You People -- WOV 717
Blest Are They -- WOV 764; GATHER 469
We Come To The Hungry Feast -- WOV 766
Your Will Be Done -- TFF 243
What Does The Lord Require -- UMH 441; PH 405
When The Poor Ones -- UMH 434; PH 407; MBW 689
We Are Called -- GATHER 518
The People Of God -- GATHER 465
Sing Hey For The Carpenter -- GATHER 496
We Are the Light Of The World -- GATHER 353; G&P 657
Make Our Lives A Prayer Of Peace -- G&P 654
Beatitudes -- G&P 717
Psalm Settings
Lord, Who May Dwell Within Your House -- PH 164
Psalm 15: They Who Do Justice -- GATHER 21
Psalm 15: Those Who Do Justice -- G&P 168
Choral Music
"Blessed Are You" -- Craig Courtney (Beckenhorst Press, Inc.)
"Offertory" -- John Ness (Beckenhorst Press)
Service Notes
Notice the difference in the punctuation of the Eucharistic Prayer from what we may be used to. Our punctuation in general is geared more for the eye than for the ear and this model reverses that pattern. The inclusion of "Blessed are those who ..." during the verba may be omitted (according to your own particular sensibilities), but it is offered here as a model, which attempts to open up the character of the "eventness" that underlies our inherited text.
