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Pentecost +9, Proper 11B

Posted in - RCL and other Common Lectionaries, Liturgical Texts: Eucharist, Year B, tagged Proper 11B on July 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Pentecost +9, Proper 11B

July 22

This ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is supported by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund.

Support Our Work … read how you can help keep lifeinliturgy.org available for use without subscription charges.

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:

2 Samuel 7:1-14a or Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 89:20-37 or Psalm 23
Ephesians 2:11-22
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal

86-Great is thy faithfulness

275-Christ is made the sure foundation

517-Love divine, all loves excelling

543-Blessed assurance

385-An upper room did our Lord prepare

More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.

On Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Around the passage of the Lord

the multitudes accrue

that by the mouth of Jesus all

may hear and thus adore.

It is the way of Jesus now

as then in Galilee,

to feed the many on his word,

the statement of delight.

Beyond the boundaries of space

across the Galilee,

the landing at Gennesaret

brought recognition near.

The clustering of eager crowds

accommodate the day

and lure the teacher to provide

his healing touch around.

So certainly we gather now

in circulation round

the teaching and the touch of him

whose gentleness we seek,

Ah, recognize among us now

the teaching of the Lord,

the One whose passage in our midst

is fullness and delight.

DCM Suggested tune: Kingsfold

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 23 (the alternate for the day) is on p. 734

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: Christ our Lord united his followers together in Christian love.

P: His presence makes our fellowship a happy experience.

L: When Christ is our life, our fellowship takes on the nature of Christ, we experience unity, love and humility toward one another.

P: May Christ live in us, that we may be like him.

L: Above the noise of the world, a quiet voice is calling.

P: The rush of the days, the busyness of life, can drain us and leave us empty.

L: But we hear the call of Jesus to come away with him and rest.

P: May we hear his gracious invitation, and center our lives in the refreshing presence of God.

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

Still our spirits, O God, as we gather in this sacred space to join in worship. May the quietness of your presence bring us back to the center of life, so that we may be ready to receive your mission, and be refreshed by your Spirit to carry it out. This we pray through Christ our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

With thankful hearts for the bounties of our lives we come, O God, to offer our prayers and praise. As we gather this week keep us mindful of all the blessings in our lives and those we share our lives with. Be with us in worship as we lift our voices in praise of you, through Christ our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

We who have come to know your love, O Lord, are here to worship you. We ask your blessing upon us in this offering of our praise, and we ask your presence in every act of our lives, that we…your Church…may be confirmed in our faith, and give glory to your son Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray (as he taught us, saying, “Our Father…”)

Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions

Loving and Holy Spirit of God, we pray:

that we and all people may increasingly work together to establish on earth the rule of the kingdom of heaven;
that the resources of the world may be gathered, distributed, and used with unselfish motives and scientific skill for the greatest benefit of all;
that beauty may be given to our towns and cities, and left untarnished in the countryside;
that children may grow up strong in body, sound in mind, and trained in spirit;
that there may be open ways, and peace, and freedom, from end to end of the earth;
and that people everywhere may learn to live in love through keeping the company of Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose great name we pray.

(Prayers from the Book of Common Order, Church of Scotland, on oremus.org)

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 Lord and everlasting God,

we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern

both our hearts and bodies

in the ways of your laws

and the works of your commandments;

that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever,

we may be preserved in body and soul;

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

Strengthen for service, Lord,

the hands that have taken holy things;

may the ears which have heard your word

be deaf to clamour and dispute;

may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit;

may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love

shine with the light of hope;

and may the bodies which have been fed with your body

be refreshed with the fullness of your life;

glory to you for ever.

Additional Collect

Lord God,

your Son left the riches of heaven

and became poor for our sake:

when we prosper save us from pride,

when we are needy save us from despair,

that we may trust in you alone;

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. Amen.

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Encountering the crowds that seek,

in wilderness and town, the word of God

in Jesus of Nazareth,

bring us the satisfaction and the joy

accompanying thy ample care.

For in this earnest eagerness we find

is our discovery of your immense 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

Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Let us prepare the Table of the Lord with the fruits of our lives and our labors.

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

These, your gifts, O God, are returned for glory. Bless us with wisdom to use them as you would have us to; and bless our lives with courage to do your bidding, through Christ our Lord.

OR (Prayers from the Book of Common Order, Church of Scotland, on oremus.org)

Accept, O Lord, the offering we seek to make, of ourselves and our money; and grant that we may ever work and pray to build a world of peace and joy and freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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

Christ’s table is spread for all of us—a place of gathering, of fellowship and of praise. Let us rejoice as we respond to God’s gracious invitation to receive these gifts of Christ’s body and blood that we may be strengthened to live as faithful disciples.

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)

Merciful Father, we thank you for these gifts of your creation, this bread and this wine, and we pray that we who eat and drink them in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in obedience to our Saviour Christ in remembrance of his death and passion may be partakers of his body and his blood. Renew us by your Holy Spirit, unite us in the body of your Son, and bring us with all your people into the joy of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Holy God, creator of heaven and earth, you formed the universe in your wisdom, and set us in families on the earth to live with you in faith. We praise you for good gifts of bread and wine, and for the table you spread in the world as a sign of your love for all people.

We praise you, Lord, for sending your only Son Jesus to live among us, making you known to all who receive him. Even having taken up his cross and dying that we might live, you raised him from death to still be the friend of sinners. We trust him to overcome every power that can hurt or divide us.

Pour out your Spirit upon us, that this bread and cup may be for us the body and blood of Christ, and that we, and all who share this feast, may be one with Christ and he with us. Fill us with eternal life, that with joy we may be his faithful people until we feast with him in glory.

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 2017. Compiled by Simon Kershaw August 2016 from the Common Worship Calendar and Lectionaries using Almanac Maker; compilation © Simon Kershaw 2017; 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.

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.

Pentecost +8, Proper 10B

Posted in - RCL and other Common Lectionaries, Liturgical Texts: Eucharist, Year B, tagged Proper 10B on July 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Pentecost +8, Proper 10B

July 15

This ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is supported by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund.

Support Our Work … read how you can help keep lifeinliturgy.org available for use without subscription charges.

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:

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 or Amos 7:7-15 Psalm 24 or Psalm 85:8-13 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29

Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal

66-Immortal, invisible God only wise

531-Thank you, Lord

534-When our confidence is shaken

544-No, not one

384-Here at thy Table, Lord

More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.

On Ezekiel 2:1-5

Into the hearing we aspire,

that coming on the word,

may be the teasing of the mind

to our refreshment’s core.

So certainly, O Lord, we come

and find the voice alive,

the voice announcing how we rise

and hear your freshened word.

So stand, you say, and lift the frame

that at your speaking life

we may attain a hint of grace

and squander all our strife.

Yet to our heedless, stubborn way

you speak by prophet’s yen,

you speak into our hardened ways

the truth that opens love.

CM Suggested tune: Harington

Dealing with the Psalm of the Day:

This week: Psalm 24 is on page 735

Call to Worship

L: The Spirit of God gave the universe birth.

P: The Spirit of God delivered the world.

L: Our God is the first; our God is the last.

P: No other god declares the word of creation.

L: Yet this same God invites us, saying, “Do not be afraid!”

P: Worship the One who banishes fear, who comforts the trembling and quickens the faint! Worship the One whose creation is renewed and whose creatures are never forsaken!

L: God calls us together to worship this morning.

P: From our work and play within the world, God gathers us so that we may give thanks for creation’s goodness, for the strength to labor, for the wisdom to relax.

L: From amidst our friends and family God brings us here to participate in a community of faith, Christ’s people, a new family.

P: From everyday talk and chatter, God invites us to speak in truth from the depths of heart and mind, and to pray freely.

L: Let us heed God’s call and rejoice in what God enables.

P: Come let us worship together!

Invocation or Prayer of Approach

As we worship this morning, O God, we pray that your spirit will be our strength, your word will be our guide, your love will be our comfort, and your promises will be our hope. We gather now to praise you, O God, in the name of Christ our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

Most Holy God, we await the touch of your Spirit with eagerness. We ask that you enter the lives of each one of us today, refreshing and renewing and healing us with the power of your loving Spirit, that we may live with purpose and enthusiasm and courage after the manner of Jesus our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions

Center us now, O God, on your presence in this place among your people, as we lift up our hearts desires, our soul’s deep needs, our hungers, fears and failures.

As we have often failed to be obedient to your will in our lives as individual disciples and as church, we pray that you will forgive us and enliven us to be and to do the gospel of Christ. Open us to your Spirit’s urgings, and awaken us to live faithfully as your people in a changing, often hurting world.

We pray for those around us who need your care, and ask that you would make of us your instruments of healing, peace and redemption. We pray especially for those we have named to you this day, and others we lift to you in the silence of our hearts.

Reveal your presence with them and with us, God of life, that as people of renewed faith and vitality, we may be empowered to serve your world, and so give glory to you; for we offer our prayers and our lives in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Lord God, we give you thanks for all your gifts to us—for daily food, for health, for each breath we take, for freedom to choose, and for the gifts of your word, your power and your love. Our hearts are truly overwhelmed, O God, when we consider how you have entrusted so much to us. May we be worthy of that trust—may we be a people who are unafraid to live as fully and as richly as you want us to live.

Help us, O God, as followers of Jesus, to multiply all that you have given us, to risk spreading your word and perhaps see it misunderstood, to gamble by loving those whom others think worthy only of hate, to take chances by doing good to those who have not done good to us. Help us be faith filled and desire to increase your glory and your goodness in this world. Make us people who share in both word and deed that which you have given to us.

We pray for the church gathered today, both here and around the world, that it may encourage all of its members to discover, develop and use all their gifts, those of nature and those of grace.

We pray for those who are poor in body or in spirit, for those oppressed and heavy laden, for those sick or in despair. Minister by your Spirit and by us, to all those for whom we have prayed, and help us walk faithfully in the path of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prayers from Common Worship*

Collect

Lord of all power and might,

the author and giver of all good things:

graft in our hearts the love of your name,

increase in us true religion,

nourish us with all goodness,

and of your great mercy keep us in the same;

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 God, whose Son is the true vine and the source of life,

ever giving himself that the world may live:

may we so receive within ourselves

the power of his death and passion

that, in his saving cup,

we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love;

for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Additional Collect

Generous God,

you give us gifts and make them grow:

though our faith is small as mustard seed,

make it grow to your glory

and the flourishing of your kingdom;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect of the Day (from Book of Common Prayer, 1979**)

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who

call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand

what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and

power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ

our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Mark 6:14-28

Into the settlement of a tyrant’s sights,

you entertain, O God, the gifts of life,

of righteousness and dignity.

Throughout the raging of the dreading pomp,

the insolence of power in deceit,

you, O our God, begin to rouse

the mystery of life and joy

beyond the grievance of despair.

Bring us afresh to constancy

in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Service of Table

Offertory / Invitation to Give

Each of us it to look not only to personal interests but also to the interests of others. We come together as the church of Jesus Christ to do this. We are devoted to a mission whose benefits are not for us alone. This is our opportunity to share in important work in this community and around the world.

The Apostle John says, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees another in need, yet closes his heart, how does God’s love abide in that person. Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth.” Indeed, here in our offerings, we find deed and truth – our faith lived out. True, abiding, gospel love.

Many gifts have been sewn into our lives, the seeds of God’s generosity and love for the world. We are stewards of them, and are called by the gospel of Christ to spread them abroad, trusting in God’s care to nurture and bring forth the harvest of righteousness. Let us bring forth the fruits of God’s creative, loving care from the gardens of our lives.

Offertory Prayer

With hearts of praise, O Lord, we dedicate to you these gifts as tokens of our lives and work. Use them, as you use us, to the fulfilling of your purposes for creation, that we might give glory to you not only in the hearing, but in the doing of your word.

May these gifts bring light to those who walk in darkness, hope to those who live in despair, and justice to those who are oppressed. Grant to each giver a sense of participation in the most important opportunity of all time: to share your love with the world. To this end we dedicate our offerings and ourselves. Amen.

You, O God, are the giver of all life. In the offerings we bring today are fruits of the lives you have entrusted to us and the gifts you have given. Help us to bring them with joy and offer them freely, as you have offered yourself to us and to the world so freely in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Invitation to the Table

Because of God’s great love for us and for all the world, we have been called to a new kind of living, where gracious hospitality and lavish love combine to offer help to the helpless, strength to the hurting, nourishment to the hungry and thirsty, and life to the dead. Let us prepare to receive out of God’s own hand of hospitality the gift of life eternal, offered for us and for the world in the body and blood of Christ our Savior.

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)

Merciful God, we thank you for these gifts of your creation, this bread and this wine. We pray that we who eat and drink them in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in obedience to our Saviour Christ in remembrance of his death and passion may be partakers of his body and his blood, and share with him in eternal glory. Renew us by your Holy Spirit, unite us in the body of your Son, and bring us with all your people into the joy of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Open our hearts, O God, to see Christ revealed again in all the walks of our lives, but especially in this gracious meal which you have offered, and to which he has invited us and all the world. Send forth your Spirit upon us and upon these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be for his body and his blood; so that as we receive them, we may be renewed to carry forth his mission from you, to bind up the wounds of those who are suffering, to befriend those who are friendless, to care for those who are struggling outside the hope of life as you intend it, and to love as Jesus himself has loved.

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…

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.

Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.

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Pentecost +6, Proper 8B

Posted in - RCL and other Common Lectionaries, Liturgical Texts: Eucharist, Year B, tagged Proper 8B on June 25, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Pentecost +6, Proper 8

July 1

This ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is supported by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund.

Support Our Work … read how you can help keep lifeinliturgy.org available for use without subscription charges.

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:

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 or Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15; 2:23-24 Psalm 130 or Psalm 30 or Lamentations 3:23-33 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Mark 5:21-43

Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal

606-God whose giving knows no ending

461-Lord, whose love through humble service

382-We give thee but thine own

399-O God, unseen yet ever near

More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.

On Mark 5:21-43

Upon the touch that our Savior has offered

find in the wealth of the welcome the unction.

For in the seeking he follows in mercy,

coming to nurture, to grant full salvation.

Certain the need of all anguish inviting,

quickly comes Jesus to bear this desiring.

Then, on the way, in the bustle and hurry

slips in a hand to acquire fresh deliverance.

Pause on the way to discover the reason

power had left him to answer desiring.

Yes, in delight comes confession of longing,

healing is sure in the faith’s pure delighting.

When in the moment the word is announced,

then Jesus come to recall life’s acquiring,

lifting the child to refresh all delighting.

Come in the way of the Savior’s enticing.

10.10.10.10. Suggested tune: O Quanta Qualia

Dealing with the Psalm of the Day:

This week: Psalm 130 is on p. 762

Call to Worship

L: We gather in the name of the living Christ to worship God.

P: Surely, God is in this place and calls us to worship in spirit and in truth.

L: God’s love is for you and for all people everywhere.

P: That we may share God’s love and life, may we be renewed in the refreshing Spirit of the living Christ.

L: The living Christ is with us.

P: Praise the Lord!

L: Christ has called us onto the road of discipleship. Often that road has been stony and hard. Sometimes we have stumbled and even fallen.

P: But God has been our friend and our guide. We have no cause to be alarmed. God is faithful to us, even when we are faithless.

L: Today we rejoice in God’s faithful love, and together ask for strength and signs of hope and life.

P: And again we are drawn together to celebrate the life that is ours in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God!

Invocation or Prayer of Approach

Satisfy us with your mercy, O Lord, at the beginning of this day that in our fullness of joy all the day long we may find a true delight in singing your praises; through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever (and who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

Most Holy God, we await the touch of your Spirit with eagerness. We ask that you enter the lives of each one of us today, refreshing and renewing and healing us with the power of your loving Spirit, so that we may live with purpose, enthusiasm, and courage in the way of Jesus our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions

Almighty God, maker of all, with joy we give thanks for all your goodness. We praise you for the love which has created and sustained us to this day, and for the gift of your Christ who brings us into covenant with you and with all your people of faith. Help us to treasure your gifts and to show our thankfulness by lives wholly given to your service.

We pray for your church whom you have redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus. Give it pastors and ministers filled with your spirit, and strength to serve by the guidance of your word. Perfect it in love and in compassion, and establish it in the faith of your saints. Unite all your people that one holy church may bear witness to you and your glory.

We pray that you would move our nation toward the justice of your peace. Bless our national, state and local leaders to serve all people with integrity. Purge from us all hatred and prejudice, and build within us your love, that even in our dealings with the other nations of earth we may be servants of peace, truth and justice.

Bless our homes with the joy of your presence. Strengthen our covenants of family and of faith, that our children may grow into fullness of faith, that together we may show forth your praise in our world through deeds and words of love and compassion—especially with those who are alone and lonely.

Let your grace be seen in seed-time and harvest, in labor and business, in leisure and rest, in arts and culture of our people. May all who do work find fulfillment of their vocations, and all who are in need of work find the relief of new endeavors.

Comfort those who sorrow and are in need, sickness or adversity. Have mercy on those to whom death draws near. Bring consolation to those in mourning, and to all give your peace, for these and all our prayers we bring to you in the name of Jesus our Christ. Amen.

Center us now, O God, on your presence in this place among your people, as we lift up our hearts desires, our soul’s deep needs, our hungers, fears and failures.

As we have often failed to be obedient to your will as individual disciples and as a church, we pray that you will forgive us and enliven us to be and to do the gospel of Christ. Open us to your Spirit’s urgings, and awaken us to live faithfully as your people in a changing, often hurting world.

In the dry times of life, O God, as well as the fresh summer mornings, your Spirit comes to us with soul-quenching refreshment. Our longings for your help grow languid and tiresome in those harsher days, and we seek your strength to remind us, again and again, to trust in you, to drink deeply of the life you give, and to keep our hope keenly focused on the future you have promised. Yours is a future of a world made right, of bodies made whole, of relationships healed, of abiding peace and justice. Help us to seek it, to pray for it, to work for it, even as we pray for those troubles close to home and far away which burden our hearts this day.

We pray for those whose lives are endangered by war and unrest, those who struggle for justice, and those who seek after peace. We pray for the suffering, the imprisoned, the hungry, homeless poor. We pray for the sick and those who tend to their needs, who bring a cup of cold water to those who are thirsty. Hear our prayers, gracious God, for those we have named this day, ________________, and for those we name in the silence of our hearts.

Be near to us, Lord, and refresh our spirits as we gather again at your table. May we carry from this place a sure faith and a confidence in your wellspring of goodness, made known to us in Jesus the Christ in whose name we pray. 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.

Additional 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, you have built your Church upon the

foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself

being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together

in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a

holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,

for ever and ever. Amen.

Mark 5:21-43

That we may faith the more, Lord God,

discover in our wary heart the courage

to seek the touch of Jesus.

Bring us to call him to the brink

or lead our hand to own a brush

with him in passing

that, beyond all hope, we find delight

in your surpassing grace.

Service of Table

Offertory / Invitation to Give

Through our offerings we affirm God’s leadership. In the letter to the Ephesians we hear this charge: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Let us prepare the Table of the Lord with the fruits of our lives and our labors.

Every time we come to the table, we are called to share in the offering. Christ’s body and blood was and is the offering of all offerings. That alone ought to appeal to us to give. Our giving will aid others in remembering him and give them the good news of life in Christ.

If our offering enables us to feed the hungry, give a drink of clean water to the thirsty, welcome a stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, then Christ himself will bless that offering. Hear him say, “Come, blessed ones of my Father, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for as you did it for one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it for me.”

Love is a powerful force in the world, stronger than hatred or fear or greed. The love of Jesus inspires us and makes us able to share generously the gifts we have received from God. Our gifts are one way that we love one another and the world around us, the world God loves. Let us be as generous with our giving as our God has been with love, with mercy, and with gifts poured into our lives.

Offertory Prayer

Thank you, God, for the generosity that enables us to share. We are rich in many things. Help us to empty ourselves of pretense, even as we pour out gifts of gratitude. We dedicate our offerings and ourselves to shaping the community you intend, in the spirit of Christ.

Almighty God, giver of every good and perfect gift, teach us to give to you all that we have and all that we are, that we may praise you not with our words only, but with our whole lives.

Invitation to the Table

Christ invites to his supper all those who desire to be nourished by the food of God – this bread, his body; this cup, his blood. This is not an easy thing for us to grasp, and yet the simplest of all things – that in Christ Jesus, God was reconciling the world to God’s own self. As those who seek to grow in faithful discipleship, let us prepare our hearts to receive the gifts of God that are given for all the people of God.

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)

Our God, you sent your brooding Spirit upon the deep when creation dawned upon your Word.

You sent your brooding Spirit upon Mary when you came Incarnate in Jesus, your Word made flesh.

You sent your brooding Spirit upon the Church when you created of us a people devoted in Jesus to your love in this time and in this place.

Send now your Spirit to brood on us that we may be full of your love as the waters cover the sea.

As Jesus claimed bread and wine to reveal himself anew, send now Holy Spirit upon this day that our communion may build of us the Body of Christ, that our meeting with you may feed our souls on heaven’s food, that our joy may be complete in the love your give to us for one another.

Include us wholly in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Loving and life-giving God, you have called us toward living faithfully by giving what we have received at your hand. Bless now this bread which we break, that as we receive it we may freely give ourselves as bread for the sake of all who hunger.
Pour out your Spirit, O God, upon this wine which we bless, that as we receive it from your hand we may be ever ready to pour out our lives for the sake of others who thirst for you, in the spirit of Christ our Lord.

You, O God, have come to us in Christ Jesus to teach by example the way of faithful living. As Christ’s disciples, we pray that you would make yourself known to us now in these gifts of bread and wine. Send forth your Spirit upon us, and upon these gifts, that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ, so that we may indeed be the Body of Christ, cleansed by his blood, strengthened to love you and serve you in this world by serving others in the Spirit of him who was made perfect, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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…

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.

Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.

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Pentecost +5, Proper 7B

Posted in - RCL and other Common Lectionaries, Liturgical Texts: Eucharist, Year B, tagged Proper 7B on June 19, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Pentecost +5, Proper 7B

June 24

This ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is supported by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund.

Support Our Work … read how you can help keep lifeinliturgy.org available for use without subscription charges.

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 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49 or I Samuel 17:57 – 18:5, 10-16 or Job 38:1-11 Psalm 9:9-20 or Psalm 133 or Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 Mark 4:35-41

Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal

453-Called as partners in Christ’s service

72-To God be the glory

629-When the storms of life are raging (Stand by me)

725-God of the ages, whose almighty hand

393-One bread, one body

387-Bread of the world in mercy broken

More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.

On 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Open the heart’s affection now,

now in this needed hour.

For at the burden of delight

God’s broadest love is shown.

The burden of fresh sanctity,

the knowing grace of God,

we find life’s requisition firmed

in offerings divine.

For not in vain have we arrived

and graciously applied;

it is indeed the fullness found

within the saving hour.

To understand the boundless grace,

release the bounds of care,

discover how God’s everything

is owned by nothing’s power.

CM Suggested tune: Dunfermline

Dealing with the Psalm of the Day:

This week: Psalm 133 is available on p. 764

Call to Worship

L: When confidence in our way of life is shaken, to whom do we turn for comfort?

P: We look to friends, we cling to loved ones, we grope for answers in familiar, sacred places.

L: How shall we find strength to recover? Where do we find heart and hope to go on?

P: Our hope is in God alone, our Savior, the Shepherd of our Souls, our sheltering Fortress.

Invocation or Prayer of Approach

God of all glory, on this first day you began creation, bringing light out of darkness. On this first day you began your new creation raising Jesus Christ out of the darkness of death. On this Lord’s day grant that we, the people you create by water and the spirit, may be joined with all your works in praising you for your great glory. Through Christ our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

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…”)

Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions

How vast and deep is your love O God, for us and for all the world. 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.

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 protector of all who trust in you,

without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:

increase and multiply upon us your mercy;

that with you as our ruler and guide

we may so pass through things temporal

that we lose not our hold on things eternal;

grant this, heavenly Father,

for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

Eternal God,

comfort of the afflicted and healer of the broken,

you have fed us at the table of life and hope:

teach us the ways of gentleness and peace,

that all the world may acknowledge

the kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect

Gracious Father,

by the obedience of Jesus

you brought salvation to our wayward world:

draw us into harmony with your will,

that we may find all things restored in him,

our Saviour Jesus Christ.

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.

Mark 4:35-41

Be in our boat, Lord Jesus,

that in our passage in this life

we find our going eased,

the storms abated,

security of heart our own.

For, Lord, we undertake a faith

beyond our ken, the sort that wins

our joyous adoration

in abandon to your loving ways.

Service of Table

Offertory / Invitation to Give

Our offerings take us into the mainstream of God’s work through the church. Jesus said that whatever we do to the least of his brothers and sisters we do to him. May our offerings bring him comfort, relief and joy.

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

Holy one, your heart abounds with gifts. Receive this offering as a sign of our trust in you and our intention to live surrounded by your mercy, inspired by your Spirit, open to the joy of your presence, hospitable to one another, and generous toward your world. Amen.

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

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. 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.

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…

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.

Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.

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Pentecost +4, Proper 6B

Posted in - RCL and other Common Lectionaries, Liturgical Texts: Eucharist, Uncategorized, Year B, tagged Father's Day, Proper 6B on June 11, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Pentecost +4, Proper 6B

June 17 – Father’s Day

This ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is supported by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund.

Support Our Work … read how you can help keep lifeinliturgy.org available for use without subscription charges.

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 Samuel 15:34-16:13 or Ezekiel 17:22-24 Psalm 20 or Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17

Mark 4:26-34

Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal

62-Creator God, creating still

453-Called as partners in Christ’s service

59-This is my Father’s world

140-Hail to the Lord’s Anointed

395-Seed, scattered and sown

610-Living for Jesus

More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.

On Ezekiel 17:22-24

Attentive to distraction, Lord,

we see the high and lofty tree,

the distant sprig you gather, bring

to plant and nurture on the height.

Surprising in your ready care,

this vision of the fresh to rise,

to gather as a cedar must

the many to its favored shade.

Instinctively, majestic Lord,

we learn your courtesy to free

the least to be the great relief,

the dry to rise and flourish soon.

LM Suggested tune: Uffingham

Dealing with the Psalm of the Day:

This week: Psalm 20 and 92 – neither are in the hymnal. See Call to Worship from Ps. 92.

Call to Worship (from Psalm 92)

L: It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

P: to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

L: For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

P: The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.

L: Christ our Lord united his followers together in Christian love.

P: His presence makes our fellowship a blessed experience.

L: When Christ is our life, we experience unity, love and humility toward one another.

P: May Christ live in us, so that we may be like him.

L: With fatherly care, God welcomes us to our shared experience of worship, fellowship, prayer, and praise.

P: We gather to be re-invigorated in our witness, and in the relationships that flow from life in God’s family.

L: Together and individually, we will be cleansed and refreshed by the holy winds of God’s Spirit, as it blows around and within us.

P: The Lord our God gives new life and new blessings as we come together in unity to praise and glorify God.

Invocation or Prayer of Approach

We sing your praise and worship, 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…”)

We call on your name, O God, whose fathering love is extended into all the world you have made, for you have offered us the cup of salvation and welcomed us into your family. How can we thank you for the love you have shown us in Jesus Christ? Meet us again in this hour, that we may grow in faith and be responsive to your truth. Fill us with hope, renewing our confidence to face life in faithful trust and obedience. This we pray through Christ our Lord (who taught us to pray…)

God of Love, you have loved us first and continue to love us. We come before you a people longing to love you in return. We hunger for your healing love in our lives, for we long to love ourselves and our neighbors. Come to us this day and fill our longing. In Christ’s name we pray (as he taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions

Loving and Holy Spirit of God, we pray:

that we and all people may increasingly work together to establish on earth the rule of the kingdom of heaven;
that the resources of the world may be gathered, distributed, and used with unselfish motives and scientific skill for the greatest benefit of all;
that beauty may be given to our towns and cities, and left untarnished in the countryside;
that children may grow up strong in body, sound in mind, and trained in spirit;
that there may be open ways, and peace, and freedom, from end to end of the earth;
that you would hear the prayers we offer to you in silence (silent prayer)
and that people everywhere may learn to live in love through keeping the company of Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose great name we pray.

(adapted from Prayers from the Book of Common Order, Church of Scotland, on oremus.org)

God of love and mercy, you have called us and all your children into one family through the resurrection of your Son Jesus. By his gracious presence, we look with new eyes at the whole human family in its brokenness and pain. We seek your strength and determination to embrace them, love them, heal them, and share with them your great good news of hope and new life.

Hear us as we lift to you our deepest needs, our pressing burdens, our fears and hopes. Be near us, we pray, as your people. Help us to receive your many gifts with gratitude and faithful stewardship.

We pray for those who suffer pain or illness, for the lonely and despairing, for the lost and worn and battered of our world. And we lift to you the leaders of this and every nation, community and faith, that they would be guided by your spirit, and aware of the needs, especially of the least, of their people.

We pray for those whose lives are closely linked to our own; for _______________and for our own needs, which we offer to you in faith.

To the sick, O Lord, give your healing; to the grieving, give hope; to the dying, give your peace; and to all of us, O God, give faith to go forth from this place, determined to live in the light of your good news in Jesus Christ. It is in his name that we offer to you our prayers and our lives. Amen.

Prayers from Common Worship*

Collect

Almighty God,

you have broken the tyranny of sin

and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts

whereby we call you Father:

give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,

that we and all creation may be brought

to the glorious liberty of the children of God;

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

O God, whose beauty is beyond our imagining

and whose power we cannot comprehend:

show us your glory as far as we can grasp it,

and shield us from knowing more than we can bear

until we may look upon you without fear;

through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

Additional Collect

God our saviour,

look on this wounded world

in pity and in power;

hold us fast to your promises of peace

won for us by your Son,

our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Collect of the Day (from Book of Common Prayer, 1979**)

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast

faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim

your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with

compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who

lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now

and for ever. Amen.

Mark 4:26-34

As scattered seed invites a harvest

in time’s fullness, O God,

and from the least of seeds a bush arises

to shelter birds, provide flavor

for pungent feasts,

so in our midst array your kingdom

that it arise among us

and in us that we may joy

in your new age.

Service of Table

Offertory / Invitation to Give

What is right for each of us to give has always been our own decision. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that all must do as we have made up our minds, not reluctantly or under obligation, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Offertory Prayer

Lord, our gifts are not casually presented. There is sacrifice in each of them. We have prospered and our gifts are prayers that your will may prosper in the lives of all who worship here today. For the saving of the world, we give and pray.

Generous God, our lives are renewed as we remember your goodness. You have made us in your image and placed in our hearts the memory of your love made flesh in Jesus Christ. That memory calls us to give and to embrace your world as we offer these gifts. May our lives invested through these offerings create a new reality and extend your grace in remembrance of Jesus, in whose name we pray.

Invitation to the Table

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.

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)

Almighty and ever-living God, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth, and for the gifts of Christ at this Table. Send forth the power of your Holy Spirit now upon us, and upon these gifts of bread and wine, that as we receive them, we may be empowered to be Christ’s people, living faithfully in your world, until he comes again.

Eternal One, who cares for each one of us as if you had no one else to care for, and who cares for all of us even as you care for each, we come here because you have invited us. We recognize at the deepest levels of our beings that it is at this table that we are affirmed and made whole. Enable us to know now the presence of the Christ, the one who calls us to be family, the one in whose presence no other can be called a stranger. Forgive us that we have been hard of heart, that we have failed to acknowledge others as brothers and sisters. Enable us now to accept the fact that we are members of one another, that we are family with all of your creation, and that we are all loved by you. We pray these things in the name of the Christ who has called us to you. 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.

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…

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.

Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.

Read Full Post »

Pentecost +3, Proper 5B

Posted in - RCL and other Common Lectionaries, Liturgical Texts: Eucharist, Year B, tagged Proper 5B on June 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Pentecost +3, Proper 5B

June 10

This ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is supported by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund.

Support Our Work … read how you can help keep lifeinliturgy.org available for use without subscription charges.

Scripture (from the Revised Common Lectionary, with links provided by TextWeek.com – a source for thoughtful worship and preaching throughout the year):

1 Samuel 8:4-11, (12-15), 16-20, (11:14-15) or Genesis 3:8-15 Psalm 138 or Psalm 130 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Mark 3:20-35

Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal

280-God is here

16-Come thou Fount

538-Hope of the world

577-Nearer, my God, to thee

108-Lift high the cross

426-The voice of Jesus calls his people

More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.

On Mark 3:20-35

Distressing settled ways,

O Lord, you press to free.

Thy kingdom undivided reigns

and we remain at call.

We gather to observe,

to hear your word at heart

and thus to register desire

to follow at your call.

In life you see us, Lord,

the gathered to your way,

that as your mother, brother, we

may find sublime your call.

We entertain in awe

the parables of hope,

acclaiming your forgiveness Lord

by Holy Spirit’s draw.

SM Suggested tune: Sandys

Dealing with the Psalm of the Day:

This week: Psalm 130 is on p. 762

Call to Worship

L: Thank the Lord with all your heart, in the gathered assembly of God’s people.

P: Mighty are the deeds of the Lord; great are the God’s works,

studied by all who have pleasure in them.

L: Holy and awesome is God’s name!

To worship the Lord is the highest wisdom; those who do so know all that is good.

P: God’s praises will last forever.

L: Come, let us worship the Lord our God,

P: That we might discern the will of our Maker.

L: Come, let us worship the Lord our God,

P: That we might recall the bondage from which God has delivered us.

L: Come, let us worship the Lord our God,

P: That we might become the people God is calling us to be.

Invocation or Prayer of Approach

God of grace, you have given us minds to know you, hearts to love you, and voices to sing your praise. Fill us with your spirit that we may celebrate your glory and truly worship you; through Jesus Christ our Lord (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

As we worship this morning, O God, we pray that your spirit will be our strength, your word will be our guide, your love will be our comfort, and your promises will be our hope. This we pray in the name of Jesus the Christ (who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”)

Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions

We pray for the church gathered today, both here and around the world, that it may encourage all of its members to discover, develop and use all their gifts, those of nature and those of grace.

Gracious and loving God, we come to you with hearts that need to be opened to your word and your love. There is so much around us that tears at us and causes us to tremble. Keep us ever mindful of your presence and the hope that you have given us in your Son Jesus Christ.

Guide us, we pray, as your church, struggling to spread the good news. Keep us focused on the mission and ministry to which you have called us and lead us forward. We know, Lord, that there will often be bumps and holes in the road along the way. Save us from dwelling on them and make us secure in the goals you have placed before us.

Hear our prayers for all who need your tender touch of healing in their lives—those we name before you each day, and those who are known only to you in the depths of our hearts. Be with those who mourn. May we all remember the love and grace that your faithful people have brought to our world.

We pray for all your creation, always at odds with one another. Guide our leaders and those of other nations that this world might truly be as you created it to be—a world of peace, hope and love.

These are our prayers, together with those that lie on the hearts of all your faithful people, which we offer to you in the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ who said “not my will, but thine be done.” Amen.

Prayers from Common Worship*

Collect

Lord, you have taught us

that all our doings without love are nothing worth:

send your Holy Spirit

and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,

the true bond of peace and of all virtues,

without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.

Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion

Loving Father,

we thank you for feeding us at the supper of your Son:

sustain us with your Spirit,

that we may serve you here on earth

until our joy is complete in heaven,

and we share in the eternal banquet

with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect

Faithful Creator,

whose mercy never fails:

deepen our faithfulness to you

and to your living Word,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect of the Day (from Book of Common Prayer, 1979**)

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your

inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by

your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our

Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one

God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Mark 3:20-35

In holiness, against the throes of wickedness,

you entertain our hope O God,

and lure us to perceive your grace

of Holy Spirit in the midst

of all we fear.

Become in us the urgency forgiveness brings

that in relief we may attain

the fellowship of grace.

Service of Table

Offertory / Invitation to Give

Listen to God’s word concerning our offerings, as told by Moses long ago: “Let everyone give as they are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you.” God has given much. Let us rejoice in this opportunity to share God’s blessings with the world.

God, who has given us food in due season, calls us to share our bread with the hungry. In the name of the one who lived God’s truth among us, we commit ourselves anew to bearing witness. The Holy Spirit, whose winds restore our breath, sends us forth as life-givers. Celebrate this opportunity to give.

Offertory Prayer

O God, we thank you for your great generosity. All that we are and all that we have is a gift from you. Help us to serve one another and so reflect your spirit and goodness. Accept these offerings and grant that the cause to which they are devoted may prosper under your guidance.

We thank you, God for this opportunity to express our love to you through the gifts we bring to support and encourage your work in near and distant places. Make our hearts glad that we can share in extending the gospel and helping to heal humanity’s pain, for we bring them to you with grateful hearts. Amen.

Invitation to the Table

When Jesus touched a funeral bier, or sat at table with tax collectors and sinners, he proclaimed God’s care knows no bounds. We proclaim again the comfort and challenge of that witness: All of you are invited now to share God’s table and be nourished by the Bread of Life.

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, you have always offered yourself to us, and now we seek to receive from your hand again the gift of life that is ours in Jesus Christ. As we give thanks to you for these gifts of bread and wine, we pray that you would pour forth your Spirit upon us, and upon these gifts to be for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus. Make us one with Christ, one with one another, and one in service to all of your world.

O God, your love and mercy are beyond our wildest imagination. In your Son Jesus Christ, you have come among us in our most painful and most joyous human experiences to bring hope and healing, life and breath, and cause for greater celebration. Pour out your Spirit, O God, upon these gifts of bread and wine, that as we receive them we may know the life-giving power of Christ’s resurrection anew in our lives, and be nourished and refreshed to serve him in the hardest of places in our lives, as your faithful witnesses to the hope of life redeemed in him.

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…

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.

Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.

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Pentecost +2, Proper 4B

Posted in - RCL and other Common Lectionaries, Liturgical Texts: Eucharist, Year B, tagged Proper 4B on May 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Pentecost +2, Proper 4B

June 3

This ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in West Virginia is supported by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund.

Support Our Work … read how you can help keep lifeinliturgy.org available for use without subscription charges.

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 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20) or Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 or Psalm 81:1-10 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Mark 2:23-3:6

Suggested Hymns from Chalice Hymnal

618-How firm a foundation

724-O God of earth and altar

594-Dear Lord and Father of mankind/Dear God, embracing humankind

408-Come, share the Lord

More hymn suggestions, as well as helpful references for use of the arts in worship, are available from the United Church of Christ website.

On 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Lord Jesus Christ, we rise

proclaim your gospel news;

the light your face shines over us

we dedicate to hope.

In earthen vessels, life

and treasure do we bear,

to mete delight at every turn,

wherever you command.

Whatever musters time

we bear your message, Lord.

It is the word that livens joy

and rouses all our dare.

Immediate and free,

this gospel raises life

to be the unction of your grace

wherever we may turn.

SM Suggested tune: Doncaster

Dealing with the Psalm of the Day:

This week: Psalm 139 is (in part) on p. 765

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, great treasure in earthen vessels.

Invocation or Prayer of Approach

We are here, Lord. We come to be with your people, 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 adapted from MinistryMatters.com

God of power, you generously share your divine power with us in the plain earthenware that we are as the church of your beloved Son, Jesus. Our offering of praise, of time, money, and ourselves we freely lay before you for the use of your Spirit at work in our world, for the sake of the mission and in the name of the one who sends us, Jesus Christ our Lord (who taught us to pray, saying…)

Pastoral Prayer – Prayers of the People – Intercessions

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 our Lord. Amen.

We pray for the church gathered today, both here and around the world, that it may encourage all of its members to discover, develop and use all their gifts, those of nature and those of grace.

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 God, your never failing providence sets in order all things

both in heaven and earth: Put away from us, we entreat you,

all hurtful things, and give us those things which are profitable

for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Mark 2:23 – 3:6

Against the aggrieved with hardness of heart,

O God, you visit our restraint

with fresh plucked grain

and healing of a withered hand.

Discover in us, our God, the breach

of old, adamant hearts

aggrieved with rage

that in this opening we find our lives in love.

Service of Table

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.

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.

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.”

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)

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.

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.

Book of Common Prayer (1979), Public domain.

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