Pentecost +7, Proper 11A
July 23
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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 for more resources:
Genesis 28:10-19a or Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19 or Isaiah 44:6-8 Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 or Psalm 86:11-17 Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal
23-Praise my soul the God of heaven
718-Come, ye thankful people
546-Amazing grace
538-Hope of the world
73-There’s a wideness
393-One bread, one body
More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.
Hymn of the Day from Rev. William Flewelling (© 2017, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
On Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Discovering the dross,
all the sinking loss
where good seed meets the ill
and tangles mixed roots.
How shall we undertake
to sort the planting?
Good and ill are mingled –
harsh reality.
Now wait, we hear the word,
wait for the harvest.
Then the fruits are parted:
keep only the good.
For in the day we meet
and harvest greatly;
then it is – garner
the produce desired.
6.5.6.5. Suggested tune: Glenfinlas
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: Psalm 139 is on p. 765
Concerning the Following Items: 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.
Call to Worship
L: Be still and know that God is.
P: God was, also, in the beginning.
L: And when all human striving has ceased, God will still be.
P: From everlasting to everlasting, God is God, and alone is worthy to be worshiped.
Invocation or Prayer of Approach
Almighty God, you built your church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ himself as the cornerstone. Join us together by their teaching, so that we may be a holy temple in whom your Spirit dwells; though the same Jesus Christ our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)
Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions
God of Sun and Moon, Star and Sky, your wonder is beyond our imagining. We thank you for the gift of this world we share, and for the common bonds that we share as your children.
Bless us God, as we seek to find a way toward the peace you invite us to share. Guide us God as we walk that delicate line between being faithful to our own relationship with you, and yet remain understanding of those whose path is vastly different from our own. Remind us often that being faithful does not require that we close ourselves off from the faith of others.
Open our hearts, minds and spirits to people of every faith and culture. May the Mystery of your ways be the bridge that draws all of your people together in prayer for peace in our time.
We pray for those who are in special need of your grace and healing today. For those who live in fear of violence; for refugees everywhere; for political prisoners and for those who imprison them; God, we ask for peace. For those who are grieving, or hungry, or in despair; for the lonely, and all who are ill or suffering, for any who struggle with addiction, and for all who live with chronic illness.
God, we trust in your power to be present with the suffering. We trust in your Spirit’s power to bring comfort, faith and strength where it is needed. We pray, bring your radical, scandalous peace into our midst, and touch us all with your love, for we ask it in the name of the One who calls us ever forward, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayers from Common Worship*
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion
Grant, O Lord, we beseech you,
that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered
by your governance,
that your Church may joyfully serve you in all godly quietness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Alternative Collect
Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Collect of the Day (from Book of Common Prayer, 1979**)
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our
necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have
compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those
things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our
blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Collect of the Day from Rev. William Flewelling (© 2017, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Among us in our fruitfulness, O Lord,
bear patience with our sloth,
for we are mixed and mingled here
yet longing for your gracious care.
Become in our intention, Lord,
the ample goodness that we may,
in all our mixed allure, become
the offering of grace.
Service of Table
Offertory / Invitation to Give
God who made the earth has filled it with good things. Every good and perfect gift, we are told, comes down to us from the Father of Light, with whom there is no shadow or threat of turning. May we offer to God’s care the gifts with which we have been entrusted, that the mission of Christ may go forth from this place, and that in all things God be glorified.
Offertory Prayer
With grateful hearts and open hands, O God, we receive freely from you, and are moved by your Spirit to freely give. Bless the works of our hands that they may accomplish your purposes in our world, through the spirit of Christ who calls us forth in mission. Amen.
Invitation to the Table
God’s beautiful creation overflows with beauty and abundance. May we who open our hands at the Table Christ has spread for us be filled to overflowing with thanksgiving and praise in all things, and strengthened by the bread of Christ to do the works that he has called us to do in our day and place.
Prayer of Thanksgiving (Prayers for Bread and Cup)
(The following may be offered as one prayer, or broken between two Elders, if that is the tradition to be followed)
Gracious God, whose world is diverse and filled with the fruit of creation, we give thanks for this bread and wine – fruit of the earth and work of human hands. Pour forth your Spirit upon us and upon these gifts. May they be for us the bread of life and the cup of salvation, as we remember and give thanks for all of your goodness. Empower us in this meal to be fruitful and forgiving people, open to the others who come our way, and ready to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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 2016. Compiled by Simon Kershaw August 2016 from the Common Worship Calendar and Lectionaries using Almanac Maker; compilation © Simon Kershaw 2016; 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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