Village Shepherd

Note: There is no content for Proper 6 / OT 11 / Pentecost 4 from The Village Shepherd. This excerpt is a substitute for subscribers of The Village Shepherd.

Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration

One pastor did this:
In the Name of God, the Creator, Liberator, Sustainer, we celebrate life in Christ. With what expectations did we come today? Are those expectations related to how well the worship leaders perform? Or, primarily, to our getting something for ourselves? Or, to the purpose of our existence as the church, the church which exists to live a distinct life in a culture, nation, world which seeks to drag us into their messes?

You may want to continue with this litany between pastor and ministers:

Pastor:
The world is in need of people concerned about its future.

Ministers: Through Abraham, Moses, the prophets and kings, saints of every age, and Jesus of Nazareth, God has called such a people into being.

Pastor:
The church has been given the assignment to bring renewal and new life to people everywhere. Therefore, I invite us to celebrate the Presence of God in the world.

Ministers: That's what we've come here to do.

Pastor:
I invite us to celebrate the Power of God in the world.

Ministers: That's what we've come here to do.

Pastor:
I invite us to celebrate the Purpose of God in the world.

Ministers: That's what we've come here to do.

Pastor:
I invite us to follow the Christ in the process of creating a new world.

Ministers: That's what we've come here to do.

The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life

Suggestion:
Introduce the confession with words similar to these:

One author has suggested that one way to understand the Fall of Adam and Eve, who represent you and me, is to recognize our own ongoing falling short of our human existence in regard to our highest possibilities. That is, God has called us to live on dead-center, and we chose to live on the periphery of life. Follow this with a bidding prayer similiar to this one:

1. I invite us to pray for ourselves - that we shall allow the Holy Spirit of Christ to eliminate our false pride, prejudice, laziness, indifference, hatred, jealousy, division, tantrums, arguments.
(silence)

2. I invite us to pray for one another in this sanctuary - that we shall permit the Holy Spirit of Christ to make us sensitive to one another's opinions, problems, needs.
(silence)

3. I invite us to pray for our friends - that we shall let the Holy Spirit of Christ to call to remember our family, relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, and their loneliness, grief, anxieties, tragedies.
(silence)

4. I invite us to pray for our enemies - that we shall give the Holy Spirit of Christ the opportunity to work in and through those separated from us by their choice, or by our actions, those separated spiritually, socially, economically, racially.
(silence)
After sufficient silence, introduce the assurance with these words: The experience of being genuinely accepted and cherished as a child is the most essential ingredient in adult self-esteem.

Message with the Children of All Ages

Try this:
Ahead of time, ask one of the older children (which includes the adults) to share a parable from his life. Before doing so, make sure that the children know a parable means "a throwing along-side." Jesus used many parables to teach because parables were easy to remember and to pass along. Conclude by showing a mustard seed, or if that is not available, any seed; then, also show a full grown plant.

Proclamation of the Word

Consider this:
Again, spell out Jesus' reason for using parables. In Robert Short's book, The Parables of Peanuts, he suggests that "... the people he spoke to were basically 'strong men,' men of this world, just as all men of all times basically are. And no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man." Art-Parable - even in its simplest form, as in the parables of Christ - binds men. This is why the New Testament can speak of the crowds as being 'spellbound' by his teaching ... ask any woman. She will tell you that women instinctively know how to use beauty and mystery to fascinate, bind, and 'catch' a man - especially a 'strong man.' ... Art-Parable is a baited hook; a 'tender trap'; ... (page 12)

Stewardship Challenge

Consider this:
Watch where you're stepping; all of life is holy ground.

Charge to the Congregation

Suggestion:
I invite us to look for the parables that God sends into our lives each day. I invite us to be parables of God to those who touch our lives, and whose lives we touch.

Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions






Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures





Liturgist:
Psalm 46
Psalm 92:1-16
2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
Ezekiel 17:22-24
2 Corinthians 5:1-10, 14-17

II. Suggested Hymns





Coordinator:

"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" Martin Luther, 1529
Trans. by Frederick H. Hedge, 1853; alt., 1972

"All Glory Be to God on High"
Based on Gloria in excelsis Attr. to Nikolaus Decius, 1525
Trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1863; alt.

"God of the Ages, by Whose Hand"
Elisabeth Burrowes, 1956, 1971

"Your Love, O God, Has All Mankind Created"
Albert F. Bayly, 1947; alt., 1972
"O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee"
Washington Gladden, 1879

III. Other Music Possibilities




Organist/Choir director:

Music for Preparation
"Fantasy On a Mountain Song"
Clokey

Response to the Children's Message
"Praise God ..."
Jim Strathdee
from New Wine, United Methodist Church

Response to the Assurance of Pardon
"Create In Me a Clean Heart, O God"
Jim Strathdee, New Wine

Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"Here O Lord Your Servants Gather"
Koizumi

Response to the Benediction
Chorus only:
"Now, on Land and Sea Descending"
Samuel Longfellow, 1859

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