Proper 22 / Ordinary Time 27 / Pentecost 20
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook, Series IV, Cycle C
Soul Motion
Object:
If we love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, and strength,
we are going to have to stretch our hearts, open our minds,
and strengthen our souls ... God cannot lodge in a narrow mind;
God cannot lodge in a small heart. To accommodate God they must be palatial.
-- William Sloan Coffin, Credo
Call To Worship
Leader: Autumn is coming. The land in the northern hemisphere is slowing down. The church calendar will soon conclude with celebrating "Christ as King." Today, we acknowledge that Christians in both hemispheres and on all continents read the same scriptures, ask many of the same questions, pray about many of the same things, and desire to work for justice.
People: All around the planet, Christians seek guidance for manifesting peace throughout the global village.
Leader: We are Christians anticipating the Holy Spirit to inspire us and to guide us with wisdom to make this world a hospitable home for all creatures.
People: As God's people, we encourage one another, right here, to explore the questions of living, of divine action, and of endurance for the angst and contentment of the human experience.
Leader: As part of the Body of Christ, we applaud each other as we live the teachings of Jesus in a way that establishes goodness in our homes and neighborhoods.
People: As brothers and sisters on the journey to God, we give solace to one another in times of crisis.
Leader: As friends of Jesus, we speak about our experience with the love of God; we promote truth-telling and we protect the goodness that has been entrusted to us.
People: With music and dance, with prayers and silence, with thanksgiving and anticipation we celebrate the Holy Presence here and with God's people throughout the global village.
Leader: There is enough Spirit, enough inspiration, enough goodness, enough bread and wine for everyone who is hungry and thirsty!
Prayer Of Thanksgiving (Unison)
Living God -- thank you for all Creation -- for the circle of the earth and its beauty. We admire the varieties of cultures, languages, and colors of humankind and animal kind. We appreciate the abundance of plants that nourish us. For bread and wine that sustain our souls and our bodies, we are grateful. We join our voices to express our delight in your creating presence! We savor our time together with you. Amen.
Call To Confession (Leader)
According to scriptures and recorded world history, evil and wickedness, terror and horrible things have always been present throughout the planet. The psalmist challenges us to do good in spite of injustice, to be unworried about exterior trouble, and to not respond in anger. Pray with me the community confession and then seek Holy guidance for your personal situation.
Community Confession (Unison)
God of Time and Eternity -- we know the hopes of your people through the ages.
We, too, want justice and hospitality for us and all people.
Examine us and reveal the meanness that lurks within our minds and psyches.
Displace it with your compassion and empower us to participate in your reign on the earth. Amen.
Sermon Idea
Old Testament Habakkuk and Jeremiah (Lamentations) decry the violence and terror they see. They implore God to do something -- something that will help kindly people survive, something that will restore beneficent leaders for the people. In our time, the Gaza strip has been vacated by Israel, but Arabs and Jews maintain the ancestral rivalry for land and holy places. Like Habakkuk, we sit in our pews and world leaders in their towers keep watching what will happen. We keep hoping the people who work for fairness and tolerance will win.
One direction the sermon might take is to acknowledge the inclination of humans to minimize others and aggrandize themselves. Then explore Paul's tactics with Timothy -- that of affirmation, encouragement, and gratitude. This could be compared with Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and his commandment to love God, self, and neighbor. The Coffin quote at the top of this section might be helpful: If we are to accommodate God, we must expand our minds, our psyches, and our experiences. Perhaps people seeking to manifest godliness are always in the minority.
If the Lord's Supper is shared, intinction at stations or around the table might promote a sense of closeness with the whole world family of God. Also, bread recipes from different countries might enhance the sense of unity. (If you use breads with hot spices, warn the people ahead of time.) Another suggestion: if juice is used rather than wine, use frozen juice only half diluted with sparkling water for a gentle surprise.
Contemporary Affirmation (Unison)
We believe God cares for the cosmos that has been created;
we believe God cares about creatures and us.
We know that Jesus of Nazareth incarnated divine wisdom
as he lived and taught at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea
2,000 years ago.
We experience the Holy Spirit coaxing us into relationship with the Holy One;
we trust that the Spirit finds us when we are wandering among
the culture's idols seeking satisfying days and nights.
As a community of faith, as friends, we encourage one another to listen for
God's voice and to respond to it. We enjoy companionship and conversation
about our journeys with the Great Mystery. Together we explore ways to
manifest Christ in our town and throughout the global village. Amen!
Offertory Statement (Leader)
The media of exchange in the world today are money and intellectual conceptions. The church around the world needs both. Give as you can.
Doxology
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow, tune: OLD HUNDREDTH
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly hosts --
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost. Amen!
Prayer Of Thanksgiving (Leader)
God of the all the World -- thank you for the abundance of our lives, for the ability to think and converse, for the skills to support ourselves and minister to others, and for companions on the journey to eternity. Amen.
Intercessory Prayers (Leader or Readers)
God of Jesus and Mary -- we love the words of Jesus about life abundant; we long to hear promises of help in times of trouble; we want to emulate Mary's loyalty. Around this world this day, we pray that your Spirit would settle upon your people, animating all persons to boldly live as peace makers, as gentle neighbors, and as workers for candidness and equanimity.
God of Nations -- once the world seemed so big; once the land Jesus walked seemed so far away; once the ends of the earth seemed to have an edge. Now, we know the earth is round and rotates around the sun; we know there are many peoples who call you "God." Now we know that airplanes and internet make us all like a close-at-hand village. Guide us to learn to live in close proximity with each other; enlarge our understanding of cultural differences; expand our curiosity and patience to take in what is different from our land and our kin.
Healing God -- your human creatures everywhere on this planet grow old and die. On that trek from mothers' wombs to your arms, soothe us when we are in pain; mend our broken parts; heal our diseases; banish our cynicisms and lift our depressions. Renew our appreciation for the moment-by-moment breath of life. Thank you for the multiple expressions of your imagination in our minds and hearts. Amen.
Benediction (Leader)
As you leave here --
Keep in mind the vastness of the cosmos;
Keep in mind the smallness of the planet;
Keep in mind the tranquility of this place;
Hold in your mind the ideas that inspire you;
Remember those with whom you have shared this hour.
May the creating God guide you to surprising places in the days ahead.
Go gently; feel generous and be infectious with joy!
Amen!
Music
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Words: William Williams, 1745; tr. Peter Williams and the author, 1771
Music: John Hughes, 1907
CWM RHONDDA
Lord, You Give The Great Commission
Words: Jeffery Rowthorn, 1978
Music: Cyril V. Taylor, 1941
ABBOT'S LEIGH
Many Are The Lightbeams
Words: De unitate ecclesiae, Cyprian of Carthage, 252; tr. Anders Frostenson, 1972, 1986
Music: Olle Widestrand, 1974; harm. A. Eugene Ellsworth, 1994
MANY ARE THE LIGHTBEAMS
Praise, My Soul, The God Of Heaven
Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1834; adapt. Ecumenical Women's Center and Ruth Duck, 1974
Music: John Goss, 1869
LAUDA ANIMA
Seed, Scattered And Sown
Words: Dan Feiten, 1987
Music: Dan Feiten, 1987; arr. Eric Gunnison and R. J. Miller, alt.
SEED SCATTERED
Who Is My Mother, Who Is My Brother?
Words: Shirley Erena Murray, 1991
Music: Jack Schrader, 1991
KINDRED
we are going to have to stretch our hearts, open our minds,
and strengthen our souls ... God cannot lodge in a narrow mind;
God cannot lodge in a small heart. To accommodate God they must be palatial.
-- William Sloan Coffin, Credo
Call To Worship
Leader: Autumn is coming. The land in the northern hemisphere is slowing down. The church calendar will soon conclude with celebrating "Christ as King." Today, we acknowledge that Christians in both hemispheres and on all continents read the same scriptures, ask many of the same questions, pray about many of the same things, and desire to work for justice.
People: All around the planet, Christians seek guidance for manifesting peace throughout the global village.
Leader: We are Christians anticipating the Holy Spirit to inspire us and to guide us with wisdom to make this world a hospitable home for all creatures.
People: As God's people, we encourage one another, right here, to explore the questions of living, of divine action, and of endurance for the angst and contentment of the human experience.
Leader: As part of the Body of Christ, we applaud each other as we live the teachings of Jesus in a way that establishes goodness in our homes and neighborhoods.
People: As brothers and sisters on the journey to God, we give solace to one another in times of crisis.
Leader: As friends of Jesus, we speak about our experience with the love of God; we promote truth-telling and we protect the goodness that has been entrusted to us.
People: With music and dance, with prayers and silence, with thanksgiving and anticipation we celebrate the Holy Presence here and with God's people throughout the global village.
Leader: There is enough Spirit, enough inspiration, enough goodness, enough bread and wine for everyone who is hungry and thirsty!
Prayer Of Thanksgiving (Unison)
Living God -- thank you for all Creation -- for the circle of the earth and its beauty. We admire the varieties of cultures, languages, and colors of humankind and animal kind. We appreciate the abundance of plants that nourish us. For bread and wine that sustain our souls and our bodies, we are grateful. We join our voices to express our delight in your creating presence! We savor our time together with you. Amen.
Call To Confession (Leader)
According to scriptures and recorded world history, evil and wickedness, terror and horrible things have always been present throughout the planet. The psalmist challenges us to do good in spite of injustice, to be unworried about exterior trouble, and to not respond in anger. Pray with me the community confession and then seek Holy guidance for your personal situation.
Community Confession (Unison)
God of Time and Eternity -- we know the hopes of your people through the ages.
We, too, want justice and hospitality for us and all people.
Examine us and reveal the meanness that lurks within our minds and psyches.
Displace it with your compassion and empower us to participate in your reign on the earth. Amen.
Sermon Idea
Old Testament Habakkuk and Jeremiah (Lamentations) decry the violence and terror they see. They implore God to do something -- something that will help kindly people survive, something that will restore beneficent leaders for the people. In our time, the Gaza strip has been vacated by Israel, but Arabs and Jews maintain the ancestral rivalry for land and holy places. Like Habakkuk, we sit in our pews and world leaders in their towers keep watching what will happen. We keep hoping the people who work for fairness and tolerance will win.
One direction the sermon might take is to acknowledge the inclination of humans to minimize others and aggrandize themselves. Then explore Paul's tactics with Timothy -- that of affirmation, encouragement, and gratitude. This could be compared with Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and his commandment to love God, self, and neighbor. The Coffin quote at the top of this section might be helpful: If we are to accommodate God, we must expand our minds, our psyches, and our experiences. Perhaps people seeking to manifest godliness are always in the minority.
If the Lord's Supper is shared, intinction at stations or around the table might promote a sense of closeness with the whole world family of God. Also, bread recipes from different countries might enhance the sense of unity. (If you use breads with hot spices, warn the people ahead of time.) Another suggestion: if juice is used rather than wine, use frozen juice only half diluted with sparkling water for a gentle surprise.
Contemporary Affirmation (Unison)
We believe God cares for the cosmos that has been created;
we believe God cares about creatures and us.
We know that Jesus of Nazareth incarnated divine wisdom
as he lived and taught at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea
2,000 years ago.
We experience the Holy Spirit coaxing us into relationship with the Holy One;
we trust that the Spirit finds us when we are wandering among
the culture's idols seeking satisfying days and nights.
As a community of faith, as friends, we encourage one another to listen for
God's voice and to respond to it. We enjoy companionship and conversation
about our journeys with the Great Mystery. Together we explore ways to
manifest Christ in our town and throughout the global village. Amen!
Offertory Statement (Leader)
The media of exchange in the world today are money and intellectual conceptions. The church around the world needs both. Give as you can.
Doxology
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow, tune: OLD HUNDREDTH
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, you heavenly hosts --
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost. Amen!
Prayer Of Thanksgiving (Leader)
God of the all the World -- thank you for the abundance of our lives, for the ability to think and converse, for the skills to support ourselves and minister to others, and for companions on the journey to eternity. Amen.
Intercessory Prayers (Leader or Readers)
God of Jesus and Mary -- we love the words of Jesus about life abundant; we long to hear promises of help in times of trouble; we want to emulate Mary's loyalty. Around this world this day, we pray that your Spirit would settle upon your people, animating all persons to boldly live as peace makers, as gentle neighbors, and as workers for candidness and equanimity.
God of Nations -- once the world seemed so big; once the land Jesus walked seemed so far away; once the ends of the earth seemed to have an edge. Now, we know the earth is round and rotates around the sun; we know there are many peoples who call you "God." Now we know that airplanes and internet make us all like a close-at-hand village. Guide us to learn to live in close proximity with each other; enlarge our understanding of cultural differences; expand our curiosity and patience to take in what is different from our land and our kin.
Healing God -- your human creatures everywhere on this planet grow old and die. On that trek from mothers' wombs to your arms, soothe us when we are in pain; mend our broken parts; heal our diseases; banish our cynicisms and lift our depressions. Renew our appreciation for the moment-by-moment breath of life. Thank you for the multiple expressions of your imagination in our minds and hearts. Amen.
Benediction (Leader)
As you leave here --
Keep in mind the vastness of the cosmos;
Keep in mind the smallness of the planet;
Keep in mind the tranquility of this place;
Hold in your mind the ideas that inspire you;
Remember those with whom you have shared this hour.
May the creating God guide you to surprising places in the days ahead.
Go gently; feel generous and be infectious with joy!
Amen!
Music
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Words: William Williams, 1745; tr. Peter Williams and the author, 1771
Music: John Hughes, 1907
CWM RHONDDA
Lord, You Give The Great Commission
Words: Jeffery Rowthorn, 1978
Music: Cyril V. Taylor, 1941
ABBOT'S LEIGH
Many Are The Lightbeams
Words: De unitate ecclesiae, Cyprian of Carthage, 252; tr. Anders Frostenson, 1972, 1986
Music: Olle Widestrand, 1974; harm. A. Eugene Ellsworth, 1994
MANY ARE THE LIGHTBEAMS
Praise, My Soul, The God Of Heaven
Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1834; adapt. Ecumenical Women's Center and Ruth Duck, 1974
Music: John Goss, 1869
LAUDA ANIMA
Seed, Scattered And Sown
Words: Dan Feiten, 1987
Music: Dan Feiten, 1987; arr. Eric Gunnison and R. J. Miller, alt.
SEED SCATTERED
Who Is My Mother, Who Is My Brother?
Words: Shirley Erena Murray, 1991
Music: Jack Schrader, 1991
KINDRED
