Bulletin – August 23, 2020

Sunday, August 23, 2020

Approach

Lighting the Christ Candle

This candle dances with the presence of the Spirit, reminding us of the warmth of the community in which God calls us to gather and the light that shines with wisdom, insight, and clarity for us in our time of worship.

Call to Worship

Praise God.
Praise God for Spring, summer, and fall.

Praise God for warmth and sunshine.
Praise God for family and friends, for love and support.

Praise God with our prayers and singing.
Praise God as we come together this day in worship.

(adapted from Elaine Bidgood Sveet, Gathering, Pentecost, 1 2020, page 33)

Hymn – “We Praise You, Creator”

We praise you, Creator, in earth, sea, and sky;
Our Ruler, our Maker, our Sovereign most high.
Each new generation lifts voices in praise;
How good your creation, how gracious your ways!

Each springtime the blossoms bloom fragrant once more;
Each summer and autumn brings forth its rich store.
With witness compelling our praise and our prayer,
Creation is telling of your faithful care.

Your wondrous works teach us, Creator to trace
The limitless reaches of your love and grace.
Your grace dwells among us, your love goes before:
From eldest to youngest we praise and adore.

Prayer

Creator God, we come today grateful for the gentle breezes of summer and secure in the faith that we live surrounded by your love.

We come here today professing a simple faith: You are God, and in you all things are possible. Yet, Creator God, we spend our time comparing, measuring, worrying, working, judging, competing, buying, selling, and we try to win at the race of life.

We confess that we have forgotten the great gift you’ve given us in Sabbath, a time set apart to be with you. We have chosen to avoid the promise that you have offered in being ‘enough’ for us if we would only stop…just stop, observe the Sabbath, and know that in you, we have all we need.

Receive our prayer. Forgive our misguided choices. Forgive our avoidance of you. Forgive us, we pray. Amen.

(adapted from Allison Abbot-Weibe and Deborah Ambridge Fisher, Gathering, Pentecost, 1 2020, pages 39 and 40)

Words of Assurance

Time for All Ages

Hymn – “Jesus, United by Your Grace”

Jesus, united by your grace, and each to each endeared,
With confidence we seek your face, and know our prayer is heard.
Help us to see in each a friend, each other’s cross to bear;
Let all their friendly aid extend, and feel the other’s care.

Up unto you, our living head, let us in all things grow,
Til you have made us free indeed and faithful here below.
Drawn by the lodestone of your love, let all our hearts unite;
Let us toward each other move, and move toward your light.

The Word

Scripture Reading:

Matthew 15:21-28
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God!

Meditation – “Learning as We Go”

Anthem – “Call On Me”

The Response

Prayer

Circle us, God. Circle us with the light of your presence within this dark world. Enable us to be overcomers of fear and temptation. Enable us to be victors over sin and despair. Enable us to become that which you would desire…God of Creation, God of Salvation.
Circle us with the light of your presence.

Circle us, God. Circle our family within the shelter of your outstretched arms. Protect them in each moment of their daily lives. Protect them in the decisions that they face. Protect their homes and relationships.…God of Creation, God of Salvation.
Circle us with the light of your presence.

Circle us, Lord. Circle this world with the joy of your Salvation. Where there is sickness and disease bring healing. Where there is hunger and despair bring hope. Where there is torture and oppression bring release. Circle those we pray for today with in your gracious, healing love…God of Creation, God of Salvation.
Circle us with the light of your presence. Amen.

Hymn – “I Heard the Voice of Jesus”

I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, O weary one, lay down your head upon my breast.’
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;
I found in him a resting place, and he has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirst one, stoop down, and drink, and live.’
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, ‘I am this dark world’s light;
Look unto me, your morn shall rise, and all your day be bright.’
I looked to Jesus, and I found in him my star, my sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk till travelling days are done.

Benediction

As we leave this place, remember this: nothing that we encounter in this world can ever separate us from the love of Jesus Christ: not hardship or disaster, poverty or danger, neither death nor life, our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow, nothing in all creation can ever separate us from God’s love. So go from here with joy to love and serve God. Amen.

Response

Serve God, serve God.
Serve in the morning, serve in the noon time.
Serve God, serve God.
Serve when the sun goes down.