Pentecost +18, Proper 20C
Sep. 18
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Scripture (from the Revised Common Lectionary, with links provided by TextWeek.com – a source for thoughtful worship and preaching throughout the year):
Click on Scripture Lessons below for study links and resources:
Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:1 or Amos 8:4-7 Psalm 79:1-9 or Psalm 113 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Luke 16:1-13
Note: Except where otherwise noted, items are created or adapted by the editor. If you are aware of source notations which are missing, please bring them to his attention. No copyright infringement is intended, but is sure to happen.
Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal
The Oremus Hymnal offers many good choices for the lectionary (although this 2010 version will have incorrect calendar dates). Not all are available in Chalice Hymnal, but some may be helpful in congregations where there is not a Chalice Hymnal available. Visit the Oremus Hymnal.
284-Gather us in
501 – There is a balm in Gilead
406-Beneath the forms of outward rite
713-God of our life
More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.
Dealing with the Psalm of the Day:
Since Chalice Hymnal does not provide a complete Psalter, there will be occasions when suggestions may be made for alternate Psalm use (or hymn equivalent). A metrical version of the Psalter, for those Psalms not provided in Chalice Hymnal, is being prepared by Rev. David Chafin. Where practical, these may be offered here as well. You may also want to visit http://lectionarypsalms.org/
This week: Sorry, no advice.
Hymn of the Day from Rev. William Flewelling (© 2016, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
On 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Begin in prayer before all;
let supplications rise!
Give thanks and intercessions;
pour out all life to God.
The hour of our oblation
is come in fullest joy;
the life alive with Jesus
is ours as days abide.
Prepare the life in honor,
made fervent unto God,
that in the world of tumult
we find a niche of peace.
Respectfully and godly,
alert to noble fare,
become we now for Jesus
the offering of peace.
We are set free for living,
attentive to our God,
alert and ever longing
to bear our witness throng.
Intent upon the bounty
our God provides in care,
we look forever nearer
to greet God’s proper hour.
7.6.7.6.D Suggested tune: Morning Light
Words of Greeting/Call to Prayer
L: My friends, we are called to lives of prayerful awareness of ourselves, of our community, and of the world.
P: We gather to praise the living God, who hears and answers the outpouring of our prayers.
L: May we be awakened to the voice of Christ who calls us to faithfulness.
P: May our faith be seen in using God’s resources and resourcefulness in serving the world.
Prayer of Approach
L: The Lord be with you.
P: And also with you.
L: Let us pray. Gather us, O God, into the household of grace, the fold of your love. We recognize your holy presence, and are turned to toward a new day by the rising of the light of Christ. Help us to face this day, and all of our days, with the hope and promise made full for us in the person of Jesus Christ, as we unite ourselves with him once more and receive his heavenly food; for these and all of our prayers we lift to you in his name (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)
Intercessions
Psalm 96
Because you are our strength, O God, let us be confident, sure of you, and alive in the power of your word. Silence after each petition.
Because you are our strength, O God, let us be humble, aware of our own disobedience, cowardice and dullness.
Because you are our strength, O God, let us be free from anxiety, trusting you, because you know us, love us and will bring us to our eternal destiny.
Because you are our strength, O God, let us be faithful, patient before you, hearing your word and following your command.
Because you are our strength, O God, let us be still, because we know you, holy One, our refuge, exalted Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto you.
Prayers from Common Worship*
Collect
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion
Lord, we pray that your grace
may always precede and follow us,
and make us continually to be given to all good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect
Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Collect of the Day (from Book of Common Prayer, 1979**)
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to
love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among
things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall
endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Collect of the Day from Rev. William Flewelling (© 2016, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
Luke 16:1-13
Against the fray of measured life,
when all is spent and all is lost,
we count impossibilities
and shudder at the cost.
Yet in the savor of your care, O God,
we take our place, our stand
and earn a niche of due relief.
Hear we then in your commendation,
the measure of your benefice of love.
Service of Table
Preparation (Invitation to Stewardship)
God is at work in the world, renewing, remaking, resurrecting, bringing hope through the faith, the gifts, and the work of the church. We trust in God, and together we work for peace and justice through God’s Spirit as we offer our tithes and gifts. Let us rejoice in our God-given opportunity to share in God’s work.
Offertory Prayer
O God, through the offering of these gifts, we become a more open people—open-minded in hearing your word and wisdom, open-hearted in healing a broken world, open-handed in heeding your call to charity and enacted love. With thanks for all good gifts, we present a portion of our substance and the whole of ourselves. Amen.
Invitation to Commune
Christ invites to this Table all who desire to draw close to God and to live at peace with God and their neighbors. Here, all of God’s promises are fulfilled; here, all hope is renewed.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
(The following may be offered as one prayer, or broken between two Elders, if that is the tradition to be followed)
- Receive our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, O God, which we offer to you in union with Christ’s sacrifice for us. Send down the power of your Spirit upon us, gathered here out of love for you, and upon this bread. May it be for us the body of Christ, that as we receive your gifts in communion with all your saints, we may be nourished to walk in your strength toward the brightness of your day which has no dawning and no sunset.
- Pour out your Spirit, O God, upon this cup of our salvation. May this wine be for us the blood of Christ, that as people cleansed by his blood we may serve you with joy and renewed confidence by serving your thirsting world. May all of your children be united by your love, live in your truth, and show forth your grace in this day, and each new day which dawns upon our horizon.
Conclusion: Through him, with him, and in him, in the power of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor be to you, O God, now and forever. Amen.
[if not previously offered: “And now with the confidence of your children, we offer the prayer our Savior taught us, ‘Our Father…’”]
MORE…
Resources from the Jubilee Fund: This stewardship ministry serving the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) offers weekly emails for each Sunday’s service. Visit http://www.thejubileefund.com/ to learn more.
Rev. Tim Graves offers Liturgy Bits with valuable, culturally sensitive and creatively contemplative works, well worth your time.
You may also want to visit Worship Connection at MinistryMatters.com, which offers numerous helps, including electronic versions of print resources for worship and preaching planning.
Intercessions and other helpful planning materials geared to the Lectionary (using Roman Catholic version, but normally quite useful for all traditions) for preaching and worship are supplied for several weeks in advance at The Sunday Website of St. Louis University.
Common Worship Almanac and Lectionary for the year beginning Advent Sunday 2015. Compiled by Simon Kershaw August 2015 from the Common Worship Calendar and Lectionaries using Almanac Maker; compilation © Simon Kershaw 2015; Almanac Maker © Simon Kershaw 2010. The Revised Common Lectionary is copyright © the Consultation on Common Texts 1992. The Daily Eucharistic Lectionary is adapted from the Ordo Lectionum Missae of the Roman Catholic Church reproduced by permission of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. Adaptations and additions to the RCL and the DEL, together with Second and Third Service lectionaries and the Weekday Lectionary for Morning and Evening Prayer are copyright © the Archbishops’ Council 1997-2010. http://almanac.oremus.org/lectionary
Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.
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