Bulletin – Sunday, August 15, 2021

Sunday, August 15, 2021

  Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost / Forest Church

Welcome!

Approach

Gathering

We begin our worship this day in the name of the God our Creator, Jesus our Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our comforter.

We gather out here in the wilderness, in nature, knowing that we are truly in the presence of our God to celebrate the blessings of life.

We gather to respond to the call of God and share our common faith which binds us together as the body of Christ.

We gather in worship and praise to God who calls us to commitment, a commitment to care for creation.

God of love, we thank you for the gift of life and the beauty of creation. We worship you. We praise you. We give thanks to you!

Prayer of Confession

Loving God, we hear in the creation story, that all that was created was declared to be good. We then hear that you have tasked us with the stewardship of all that has been created, but when we hear the words “dominion over” we put ourselves above, over, ahead of all that you have created. In our arrogance we see ourselves as the only important parts of creation, thinking that everything that exists is only there to serve our needs. So we have abused your creation, we have destroyed the wondrous diversity that you have offered to us, so that we might make our lives more comfortable at the expense of what you created. We have lost so much, so many species extinct, so many habitats destroyed, so much land made unlivable, so that our needs might be fulfilled. Help us to recognize that you are a part of creation, as you are a part of us. As we continue to destroy, we destroy not only you, but we also ourselves. Give us the wisdom to know that for us to truly thrive we must live in harmony, live in respect with all creation.

Prayer of Response

May all I say and all I think

be in harmony with thee,

God within me,

God beyond me,

maker of the trees.

— Chinook prayer, Pacific Northwest Coast, North America

The Word

Scripture Reading: Genesis 1: 1- 31

¹In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ²the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. ³Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. ⁸God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. ¹¹Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. ¹²The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. ¹³And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” ²¹So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

²⁴And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. ²⁵God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

²⁷    So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

²⁸God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” ²⁹God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. ³⁰And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Meditation

Matthew Fox, former priest with the Dominican Order of the Roman Catholic Church until his expulsion in 1993 now an Episcopal priest and theologian who speaks on deeply and passionately on creation spirituality, has stated, ““We are not consumers. For most of humanity’s existence, we were makers, not consumers: we made our clothes, shelter, and education, we hunted and gathered our food.”

The Response

Prayer

The warmth of the sun’s embrace,
the gentle breeze swept in by incoming tide,
the rhythm of seasons,
of new birth,
death and recreation.

All these speak so clearly of your love,
your power
and your beauty.
All are expressions of your creativity,
and more importantly of yourself.
As an artist might share his personality
within each brushstroke,
so within the myriad colours of a butterfly’s wing
you share the exuberance of your love

That we can glimpse you within creation
is a beautiful thought,
but also tells us that you desire to be seen,
to be found and known.

Open our eyes, God,
as we walk through this world,
feel the wind and sunshine,
see the majesty of creation
unfolding before our eyes.
Help us to see you

Under the warmth
of the summer sun
the world awakes and blossoms
into every imaginable colour.
You created a garden for us to enjoy,
and within it planted
the most magical of flower and trees.
You needed no horticultural training
to plan your colour scheme,
no gardening expert
to recommend variety or design.
Your garden is perfect,
its colours harmonious,
its scale immense,
spoilt only by the clumsiness
of those who tend it.

Creator God
who breathed this world into being,
who is discernible within
the harmony of nature,
the perfection of a butterfly’s wing,
the grandeur of a mountain range,
the soaring eagle and hummingbird,
thank you for this world
which you have created.

Thank you for summer sun,
which reminds us
that your creative breath
is still alive and active.
Thank you for the warmth of your love,
sustaining this world,
your garden

This world
Your creation
Rolled into a sphere
Packaged in sunshine
Gift-wrapped in love
Given to us
Thank you

Benediction

Let us recognize that Earth itself IS God.
The giver of life, the Divine Creation.
We receive what we give.
Live in Harmony with the Divine. – written by Noel