Pentecost +2, Proper 7C
June 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 Lessons below for study links and resources:
1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a or Isaiah 65:1-9
Psalm 42 and 43, or Psalm 22:19-28
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39
Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal
72-To God be the glory
59-This is my Father’s world
629-When the storms of life are raging (Stand by me)
713-God of our Life
594-Dear Lord and Father of Mankind (or alt.)
560-Leaning on the everlasting arms
402-According to thy gracious word
395-Seed, scattered and sown
387-Bread of the world in mercy broken
687-In Christ there is no east or west
453-Called as partners in Christ’s service
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 (© 2019, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
On Galatians 3:23-29
Now faith arrives to save us,
to muster life anew.
As we invite the coming
we find Christ here alway.
For in the promise coming
the blight is set aside;
and in the dancing mercy
we blossom in Christ’s way.
Before the faith of Jesus
attended us in hope,
we were as under tutors,
the master of our will.
Now Christ embraces ever
the tawdry and the brave
that in the faith of Jesus
we celebrate God’s gifts.
For now, in this delighting,
in this, the flare of joy,
we know of our adoption,
heirs by God’s promise made.
And life itself is other
than we supposed before,
so other in delighting
that we are one for aye.
7.6.7.6.D Suggested tune: Meirionydd
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 42 on p. 740-1
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: People of God, look about and see the faces of those we know and love.
P: We see neighbors and friends, sisters and brothers – a community of kindred hearts.
L: People of God, look about and see the faces of those we hardly know.
P: We see strangers, sojourners, forgotten friends, the ones who need an outstretched hand.
L: People of God, look about and see all the images of God assembled here.
P: In each of us, God’s spirit shines for all to see.
L: People of God, come, let us worship together.
OR from ministrymatters.com
L: Come, let us worship the Lord our God, whose love quenches our thirst.
P: We are parched and thirsty for God’s healing word.
L: Let us praise God who is with us always.
P: We seek the one who will not desert us.
L: Let us open our hearts to God who calls us by name.
P: We come, seeking reconciled relationship with God.
Invocation or Prayer of Approach
We come to be with your people, Lord, to join them in your praise, and to learn to live with them and with your world in peace. Give us your blessing, we pray, that as we seek to know your will for us, we may live lives worthy to be called Christian. Through your son Jesus, the Christ (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)
OR
We sing your praise and worship you, Almighty God, for you bring forth life in every corner of creation. Help us, we pray, to honor you not only with our lips, but with our lives. Remake us according to your designs, to live in the image of Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray (as he taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)
OR
O God, in your great love for us, you have lifted us from the chaos of our world, our circumstances, and of our own making, and placed us into a new and life-giving relationship with you. Help us in this time of worship to offer true praise to you, and to yield ourselves to the movement of your Spirit in our lives, so that all that we are and all that we do may bring glory to you, through Christ Jesus our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)
OR from ministrymatters.com
Open our hearts today, O Lord, to feel the powerful strength and love you have for us. Help us to listen, not only with our ears, but with our spirits for your words of compassion and healing. Enable us to become more faithful disciples for you; for we ask this in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)
OR adapted from ministrymatters.com
Come, Lord God, and be with us in this hour. Too often our cares and our worries keep us at a distance
from you. Come and speak a word of comfort to your troubled people. Help us hear you in the quietness of these moments; for we gather and we pray in the name of Jesus our Lord (who taught us to pray, saying, “Our Father…”)
Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions
How vast and deep is your love O God, for us and for all the world. Like a strong and gentle father, you have brought all of your children into one great human family, and in Jesus Christ our brother have given yourself to us fully. As we give you thanks for the beauty of creation and for the gift of life, we turn to you for strength and guidance to help those of our world in need of care and healing.
We pray for our community, our nation and world that peace and justice might be made known. We pray for our families and friends, especially those who are hurting, sick, grieving or alone. We pray for our own burdens and needs, both spoken and unspoken…
We yield our lives to you as we offer our prayers in the strong and saving name of Jesus. Amen.
OR
God of Creation, God of Wonder, hear this offering of prayer and praise as a gift from our thankful hearts. We thank you for the wonders all around us. For grains of sand, the smell of rain falling on dry ground, for the shifting of the seasons and the sound of laughter. We thank you God for one another – for the joys and struggles of relationships that nurture us and help us to grow.
God, we thank you for your eternal presence in our midst and for the good news of your deep abiding love for all of creation. Even as we give thanks, we lift up the concerns that burden us this day. We ask your peace and blessing on all those we have named in this place today and all whose names and circumstances remain in the safe sanctuary of your Spirit’s care.
We pray for all who are suffering in body, mind or spirit and for all who provide care for the needs of others. We pray for the lonely and the despairing…for those who struggle with addiction…for those who feel trapped in situations of abuse…for those who making difficult decisions in life…
God we pray for your church and its mission in the world. Bless all of your children God, and pour your Spirit upon us, bringing healing, comfort and strength wherever it is needed. All this we ask in the name of the One who calls us forward in faith, Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
OR
Loving God, you have called us who have experienced your gracious presence to take action – even at our own risk – to meet our world in all of its needs with the goodness and mercy of Christ. When we are timid in faith, build us up; when we are careless about the troubles all around us, shake us and waken us to the calling that is ours in our baptism. Build your church, O Lord, into the community of loving, peace-making, justice-seeking people that you intended when you sent your own Beloved here to suffer with us and experience our joys and sorrows, our fears and griefs, our pain and tears. Here, in this place and in every place where the name of Jesus is lifted up, revive our commitment to the faith we have professed.
We are not in this all alone, O God. We share this world with those who are embattled by war and injustice, those fighting loneliness, fear, disease, hunger, and grief. Hear us as we pray for them, and embolden us to strive with them for new life, health, wholeness, and peace. Let your Spirit fall upon us again, as we pray for those we hold dear, for ______, for those we name to you in our hearts, and for our own needs.
All that we are and all that we have belong to you, O God. Help us to risk living with the confidence of your children, as we lift these and all our prayers to you in the name and spirit of Christ. Amen.
Prayers from Common Worship*
Collect
O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
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
Eternal Father,
we thank you for nourishing us
with these heavenly gifts:
may our communion strengthen us in faith,
build us up in hope,
and make us grow in love;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect
God of truth,
help us to keep your law of love
and to walk in ways of wisdom,
that we may find true life
in Jesus Christ your Son.
Collect of the Day (from Book of Common Prayer, 1979**)
O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your
holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom
you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving kindness;
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 (© 2019, William Flewelling; All rights reserved)
Luke 8:26-39
As Legion lurks, intimidates, demeans,
O God, provide for us the freedom you believe
and be the surety for freshness;
though the pique of joy dismay
the native crowds,
become the cause of our desire,
the consummation of delight.
Service of Table
While all of our congregations navigate the Sacred Board in a different way, it seems, there are common elements in most, which are provided here. We would love to hear if your congregation has variations to these elements which we might address in the future.
Offertory / Invitation to Give
Priorities of our lives can be witnessed in our giving. John wrote: “If any has earthly resources and sees a brother or sister in need, but closes their heart against them, tell me, how is God’s love abiding in such a person?” Good question. How do we answer? Let our offerings speak faithfully of God’s abiding presence with us.
OR
When Jesus calls us to believe in him today, he’s telling us that we can trust the goodness of God in our lives. Generosity springs from our trust in God’s goodness, a goodness that is stronger than anything else in the world. This morning, as we give our gifts in support of the ministry of the church, we say that we trust our past, present, and future to God. Truly, God we can never out-give our loving and generous Lord.
Offertory Prayer
As we gather at your table, O God, may we also be more aware of the opportunity that is ours to share with others the many blessings you have given us. May this be a time of joy as we give of our resources. Grant us wisdom to use these gifts in the fulfillment of your mission in the world, through Christ our Lord.
OR
O God of love and faithfulness, we hear your call again to put our trust in you for all of our lives – past, present, and future. What you have begun to do with us – each of us, and all of us together as your church – is just beginning to be revealed. Help us in sharing the gifts you have given to be more awakened to the power of your love at work in our lives and in our world, and to trust you more for the journey ahead, through Christ our living Lord. Amen.
Invitation to the Table
At this table, the church remembers and celebrates the love of God. The act of sharing bread and wine is a statement of faith and an expression of assurance. Communion happens in many different ways in different churches throughout the world, and in each place brings a new meaning of life in the Spirit of God that is right for that community.
But above all, here believers join themselves to the Lord of life. Death, which shows itself in sins, injustice, oppression and despair, yields to concrete demonstrations of life which produce peace, justice, hope, liberation and salvation.
This meal is an act of expectation. We, in the midst of our daily lives, proclaim the imminent manifestation of the kingdom of God. Hope replaces sorrow; joy surpasses tears; the power of life triumphs over the reign of death. As an act of faith surpassing the limits of time and place, we sing along with John in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ: “Now God’s home is with mortals! He will live with them and they shall be his people. God will personally be with them, and will be their God. God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will be an end to death. There will be no more grief nor crying nor pain, for the old order has passed away.”
OR
The Holy One says: “Why spend money on that which does not satisfy? Why spend your wages and still be hungry? Listen to me, and do what I say, and you will enjoy the best food of all. Listen now my people, and come to me; come to me and you will live.” Christ invites to this table all who confess him as Lord and seek to follow in his way. Come to this sacred table, not because you must, but because you may. Come not because you are fulfilled, but because in your emptiness you stand in need of God’s mercy and assurance. Come not to express an opinion, but to seek a presence and to pray for a spirit. Come, then, sisters and brothers, as you are. Partake and share. It is spread for you and me that we might again know that God has come to us, shared our common lot, and invited us to join the people of God’s new age.
OR
Each time we gather as Christ’s disciples to celebrate the new life that is ours through his offering of himself and his resurrection through the power of God, we are not left to work it all out in our heads. We have not been promised easy answers to life’s challenges, but rather a true Presence in the midst of them – Christ himself – offered to us here in this meal. Day by day, week by week, year by year, we are given the offering of life, an opportunity to start anew, or to see a new direction. And every time we hunger for answers and ache for new possibilities, God is faithful to provide. That is the promise of this Holy Meal, and it is ours to receive and to share freely on this journey toward God’s future. Let us come to the table in hope, bringing our questions and fears, and trusting the one who has given the answer: Himself.
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)
O God, who brings peace in the midst of life’s chaos and hope where all is lost, we give you thanks for the gracious offering of yourself to us in Jesus Christ, and for his offering of himself in these gifts of bread and wine. Send now your Spirit upon us and upon these gifts. Transform us, as we receive the broken bread and cup outpoured, to be his body in this world, bringing peace and promise to all through his Good News spoken and lived.
OR
We give you thanks, God of majesty and mercy, for calling forth the creation and raising us from dust by the breath of your being. We bless you for the beauty and bounty of the earth and for the vision of the day when sharing by all will mean scarcity for none.
We rejoice that you call the entire human family to this table of sacrifice and victory. We come in remembrance and celebration of the gift of Jesus Christ, whom you sent in the fullness of time, to be the good news. We bless you, gracious God, for the presence of your Holy Spirit in the church you have gathered. With your sons and daughters of faith in all places and times we offer praise to you.
We spread this table with these gifts of earth and of our labor. We present to you our very lives, committed to your service in behalf of all people. Send your Spirit upon this bread and wine, and on us. Strengthen your church throughout the world that it may be the champion of peace and justice. Restore the earth with your grace that is able to make all things new.
Be present with us as we share this meal, and throughout all our lives, that we may know you as the Holy One, who with Christ and the Holy Spirit lives forever.
OR
O God, who brings peace in the midst of life’s chaos and hope where all is lost, we give you thanks for the gracious offering of yourself to us in Jesus Christ, and for his offering of himself in these gifts of bread and wine. Send now your Spirit upon us and upon these gifts. Transform us, as we receive the broken bread and cup outpoured, to be his body in this world, bringing peace and promise to all through his Good News spoken and lived. 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.
OR
- Renew our faith, O God, as we come to your Table of grace. Bless this bread, we pray, that as we break and share it, our hearts might be opened to life upon the solid foundation which is only in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Bless this cup, O Lord, that as we receive the wine of our salvation, poured out in the life of Jesus Christ, our souls might be empowered to live at peace with you and with one another. Receive our lives to be made new again, we pray in his name.
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 2018. Calendar for 2019
Sun 2 Dec 2018. CW* Almanac and Lectionary 2018-19. Common Worship Almanac and Lectionary. for the year beginning Advent Sunday 2018. Compiled by Simon Kershaw August 2018 from the Common Worship Calendar and Lectionaries
using Almanac Maker. compilation © Simon Kershaw 2018 Almanac Maker © Simon Kershaw 2010-2018.
Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.
NOTE: We hope you return to this posting often (and are subscribed to the feed by email, on Facebook or your favorite reader), since the content of each week’s posting may change several times before Sunday. We’d also like to include your content, even after the fact, since everything will roll around again in 3 years, and your contributions may find new life in the great cycle of the lectionary. Send your comments or content here.
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