Bulletin – Sunday, September 15, 2024 – Second Sunday of Creation

Sunday, September 15, 2024
Second Sunday of Creation

We Gather as People of Faith

Welcome

Announcements

Lighting the Christ Candle

Spiral for Reflection

We Begin With Gratitude

Hymn – “It’s a Song of Praise to the Maker” (MV #30)

It’s a song of praise to the Maker, the thrush sings high in the tree.
It’s a song of praise to the Maker, the gray whale sings in the sea,
And by the Spirit you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
And sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

It’s a call of life to the Giver when waves and waterfalls roar.
It’s a call of life to the Giver when high tides break on the shore,
And by the Spirit you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
And sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

It’s a hymn of love to the Lover, the bumblebees hum along.
It’s a hymn of love to the Lover, the summer breeze joins the song.
And by the Spirit you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
And sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

It’s the chorus of all creation; it’s sung by all living things.
It’s the chorus of all creation; a song the universe sings,
And by the Spirit you and I can join our voice to the holy cry
And sing, sing, sing to the Maker too.

Sung Response – “O Beautiful Gaia” (MV #41)

O beautiful Gaia,
O Gaia, calling us home.
O beautiful Gaia,
Calling us on.

Seeing with New Eyes

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

¹⁵ See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. ¹⁶ If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰ loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Scripture Reading: Mark 8:27-38

²⁷ Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ ²⁸ And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ ²⁹ He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ ³⁰ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

³¹ Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

³⁴ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶ For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷ Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸ Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

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

Hymn – “For the Beauty of the Earth” (VU #226)

For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies,
God of all, to you we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light,
God of all, to you we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of hymn love, brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild,
God of all, to you we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For each perfect gift sublime to our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine, flowers of earth and buds of heaven,
God of all, to you we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

Meditation – “Lose Life and Choose Life”

Anthem – “With Respect in Creation”

All creation groans as earth, our fragile home,
Turns in paths that lead to devastation,
Fish and bird and tree, threatened until we
Will live with respect in creation.

Skies and seas and land, created for God’s plan,
Not for our own selfish domination,
Drought or rising sea threaten until we
Will live with respect in creation.

All creation sighs, we hear the Spirit’s cries,
Calling for rebirth and restoration,
Warmth for every heart, healing of each part
That lives in respect in creation.

All creation sings, let fields and forests ring
As we make this holy declaration,
Mountains, lakes, rejoice, joining every voice
To live with respect in creation.

We’ll live with respect in creation.

We Respond to God’s Word

Invitation to Share

Offering Response – “For the Gift of Creation” (VU #538)

For the gift creation, the gift of your love,
And the gift of the Spirit by which we live,
We thank you and give you the fruit of our hands.
May your grace be proclaimed by the gifts that we give.

Offering Prayer

One:   Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there your heart is also.
All:      We offer our treasure to you, gracious God to your Church, to your world so that our hearts might find a true home in you. We pray that these gifts and our very lives may be used to bring new life to a hurting world. Amen.

Prayers of the People

We Go Into God’s World

Hymn – “To Show by Touch and Word” (VU #427 with adapted lyrics)

To show by touch and word devotion to the earth,
To hold in full regard all life that comes to birth,
We need, O God, the will to find the good you had of old in mind.

Renew our minds to choose the things that matter most,
To speak and do the truth, creating peace and trust.
For every challenge that we face we need your guidance and your grace.

Let love from day to day be touchstone, guide, and norm,
And let our lives portray your Word in human form.
Now come with us that we may have your wits about us where we live.

Benediction

One:   We have come together today
All:      In gratitude and vulnerability.

One:   We have sung songs of praise, uttered words of prayer
All:      We have listened to one another.

One:   We have been challenged by God’s sacred word
All:      And now we go. Into a hurting world, we go to re-connect, to listen with compassion, to speak justice, to life into hope. Amen.

Response – “When You Walk from Here” (VU #298)

When you walk from here, when you walk from here,
Walk with justice, walk with mercy, and with God’s humble care.