Jesus' eating and healing on the Sabbath
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Planning Ideas And Resources For The Entire Church Year
Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration
Consider this:
Watch where you're stepping! All of life is holy ground!
You may want to continue with this litany:
Pastor:
I invite us to celebrate all of life as holy ground.
Ministers: We're not always sure how to do that, though we have come to worship to be challenged intellectually to think with the mind of Christ, to receive his love for emotional strength, and to gain courage to choose to do his will in the tensions and joys of our time.
Pastor:
We are God's people, called and appointed to live by God's power and for God's glory.
Ministers: We have come to hear again what this means, and to receive the grace we need to be faithful.
Pastor:
God provides far beyond our expectations. Therefore, surprised by joy and amazed by grace, let's sing and pray together as we celebrate life as holy ground.
All: So be it! Amen!
The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life
Try this:
Build this act around today's theme. Someone once said that "most of us don't know what Sabbath (Sunday) observance is; and if we did know, we wouldn't like it." Do we, the church, treat God's Holy Ground, including Sundays, as so much dirt to be swept under the rug?
Give the people some time to consider their observance of Sunday.
For the assurance of pardon, offer a prayer of forgiveness. Include some thoughts about the religious leaders of Jesus' day swinging too far in one direction, and people of our day swinging too far the other direction.
At the end of the prayer, invite the congregation to begin to think of how we can use the day creatively, and in wholesome ways.
Message with the Children of All Ages
Consider this:
Act out either passage for the day. Make certain that the children see the hostility in the eyes of the religious leaders. They watched with angry intent to do him in.
Give an example about how we do that today. Sometimes, we can hardly wait for someone to do something wrong, so we can jump all over him or her.
Jesus came to bring life, and to recognize that all of life, home, school, recreation, is holy ground.
Proclamation of the Word
Consider these ideas:
(1) Point out that in the Hebrew language, the most important word is placed at the beginning of the sentence, as for example, "Remember! the Sabbath ... Not! shall you ... Therefore, a supernatural blessing Jehovah gave to the Sabbath and made it sacred."
(2) Give a brief history of the Sabbath throughout the Old and New Testaments.
(3) Offer some positive ways to spend the first day of the week. a) There are no ironclad rules; yet, we also are not to privatize Sunday by saying, "It's my business; I don't need the body; I worship in nature; don't bug me."
b) It is a day of rest and worship. Oliver Wendell Holmes worshiped weekly because he "had a plant of reverence in his heart that needed watering at least once a week."
c) It held prime importance in the history of God's people. Worship is something we do, not if we have nothing else to do, but top priority among all of our activities.
Stewardship Challenge
Suggestion:
The stewardship of the spiritual life. A friend, a deeply committed Christian and churchman, once said to me, "The longer I go without physical food, the hungrier I get; the longer I go without spiritual food, the less I think I need it." Absence does not make the heart grow fonder; it makes faith grow weaker.
Charge to the Congregation
Suggestion:
The important question is not, "Do I want to attend corporate worship, to use the Lord's day as holy?" but rather, "What is required of me as a responsible Christian? What is my response to keep alive the good news that Christ lives, that Christ lives in me, and that Christ meets me on God's Holy Ground?"
Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions
Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures
Liturgist:
Psalm 20
Psalm 81:1-11
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
II. Suggested Hymns
Coordinator:
"God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand"
Daniel C. Roberts, 1876
(This has been written minus sexist lanugage.)
"Father, We Greet You" James G. Adderley, 1924; alt., 1972
(Encourage people also to use "Mother.")
"Let There Be Light, Lord God of Hosts"
William Merrell Vories, 1908; alt., 1972
"All Creatures of Our God and King"
Francis of Assisi, 1225 Para. by William H. Draper (1855-1933)
"When Morning Guilds the Skies"
German hymn, 18th (?) century Trans. by Edward Caswall, 1854, 1858; alt.
III. Other Music Possibilities
Organist/Choir director:
Music for Preparation
"Praeludium"
Lemmens
Response to the Scripture
"O Be Joyful in the Lord"
Don Muro
Response to the Children's Messsage
"Rejoice, the Lord Is King"
Words by Charles Wesley Music by Ivan Mitchell from New Wine, United Methodist Church
Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"O God, Thou Good God"
Karg-Elert
Music for Dismissal
Medley of Pentecost Hymns
IV. Bulletin Cover
Church secretary:
V. Bulletin Symbols
VI. Miscellaneous Details (Assignments:)
Ushers
Candlelighters
Hosts/Hostesses
Banners
Flowers
Greeters
Posters
Name-tags
Others
Consider this:
Watch where you're stepping! All of life is holy ground!
You may want to continue with this litany:
Pastor:
I invite us to celebrate all of life as holy ground.
Ministers: We're not always sure how to do that, though we have come to worship to be challenged intellectually to think with the mind of Christ, to receive his love for emotional strength, and to gain courage to choose to do his will in the tensions and joys of our time.
Pastor:
We are God's people, called and appointed to live by God's power and for God's glory.
Ministers: We have come to hear again what this means, and to receive the grace we need to be faithful.
Pastor:
God provides far beyond our expectations. Therefore, surprised by joy and amazed by grace, let's sing and pray together as we celebrate life as holy ground.
All: So be it! Amen!
The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life
Try this:
Build this act around today's theme. Someone once said that "most of us don't know what Sabbath (Sunday) observance is; and if we did know, we wouldn't like it." Do we, the church, treat God's Holy Ground, including Sundays, as so much dirt to be swept under the rug?
Give the people some time to consider their observance of Sunday.
For the assurance of pardon, offer a prayer of forgiveness. Include some thoughts about the religious leaders of Jesus' day swinging too far in one direction, and people of our day swinging too far the other direction.
At the end of the prayer, invite the congregation to begin to think of how we can use the day creatively, and in wholesome ways.
Message with the Children of All Ages
Consider this:
Act out either passage for the day. Make certain that the children see the hostility in the eyes of the religious leaders. They watched with angry intent to do him in.
Give an example about how we do that today. Sometimes, we can hardly wait for someone to do something wrong, so we can jump all over him or her.
Jesus came to bring life, and to recognize that all of life, home, school, recreation, is holy ground.
Proclamation of the Word
Consider these ideas:
(1) Point out that in the Hebrew language, the most important word is placed at the beginning of the sentence, as for example, "Remember! the Sabbath ... Not! shall you ... Therefore, a supernatural blessing Jehovah gave to the Sabbath and made it sacred."
(2) Give a brief history of the Sabbath throughout the Old and New Testaments.
(3) Offer some positive ways to spend the first day of the week. a) There are no ironclad rules; yet, we also are not to privatize Sunday by saying, "It's my business; I don't need the body; I worship in nature; don't bug me."
b) It is a day of rest and worship. Oliver Wendell Holmes worshiped weekly because he "had a plant of reverence in his heart that needed watering at least once a week."
c) It held prime importance in the history of God's people. Worship is something we do, not if we have nothing else to do, but top priority among all of our activities.
Stewardship Challenge
Suggestion:
The stewardship of the spiritual life. A friend, a deeply committed Christian and churchman, once said to me, "The longer I go without physical food, the hungrier I get; the longer I go without spiritual food, the less I think I need it." Absence does not make the heart grow fonder; it makes faith grow weaker.
Charge to the Congregation
Suggestion:
The important question is not, "Do I want to attend corporate worship, to use the Lord's day as holy?" but rather, "What is required of me as a responsible Christian? What is my response to keep alive the good news that Christ lives, that Christ lives in me, and that Christ meets me on God's Holy Ground?"
Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions
Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures
Liturgist:
Psalm 20
Psalm 81:1-11
1 Samuel 16:1-13
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
II. Suggested Hymns
Coordinator:
"God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand"
Daniel C. Roberts, 1876
(This has been written minus sexist lanugage.)
"Father, We Greet You" James G. Adderley, 1924; alt., 1972
(Encourage people also to use "Mother.")
"Let There Be Light, Lord God of Hosts"
William Merrell Vories, 1908; alt., 1972
"All Creatures of Our God and King"
Francis of Assisi, 1225 Para. by William H. Draper (1855-1933)
"When Morning Guilds the Skies"
German hymn, 18th (?) century Trans. by Edward Caswall, 1854, 1858; alt.
III. Other Music Possibilities
Organist/Choir director:
Music for Preparation
"Praeludium"
Lemmens
Response to the Scripture
"O Be Joyful in the Lord"
Don Muro
Response to the Children's Messsage
"Rejoice, the Lord Is King"
Words by Charles Wesley Music by Ivan Mitchell from New Wine, United Methodist Church
Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"O God, Thou Good God"
Karg-Elert
Music for Dismissal
Medley of Pentecost Hymns
IV. Bulletin Cover
Church secretary:
V. Bulletin Symbols
VI. Miscellaneous Details (Assignments:)
Ushers
Candlelighters
Hosts/Hostesses
Banners
Flowers
Greeters
Posters
Name-tags
Others
