Bulletin – Sunday, August 7, 2022 – Ninth Sunday after Pentecost / Communion

Sunday, August 7, 2022
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost / Communion

Approach

Lighting the Christ Candle

We light this candle this morning to remember. We light this candle to remember Christ; the Christ that was born in a stable to a young single woman, who would, along with her partner, become a political refugee, the Christ who walked the dusty roads of the ancient world with those whom society deemed as ‘less than,’ the Christ who included women in a world where they were excluded, the Christ who was not satisfied with the status quo and was seen as counter-cultural. As we remember this Christ we are challenged to embody this counter-cultural nature of Christ in all that we do. So let us remember, let us embody, let us change the world. Amen.

Call to Worship

One:   By the word of our God the heavens were made.
All:      By the spirit of our God life begun.

One:   By the wisdom of our God laws were laid.
All:      Bu the love of our God was born his Son.

One:   By the grace of our God mankind was saved.
All:      By the power of our God the victory was won.

One:   Let us come to worship our God.
All:      Let us worship our God this day, in word, song, and prayer.

Hymn – “All Things Bright and Beautiful”

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
In love, God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colours,
God made their tiny wings.

The purple headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky;

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
In love, God made them all.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden:
God made them every one.

The rocky mountain splendour,
The lone wolf’s haunting call,
The great lakes and the prairies,
The forest in the fall;

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
In love, God made them all.

God gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God our maker,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
In love, God made them all.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for…(Isaiah 40:1-2).

Your prophets, called to make known your Word proclaiming justice, convicting sin, displaying fruits of your love and grace. Comfort, comfort my people, says our God. Your prophets, called to fore tell your Word, unfolding a vision of your eternity, making straight a highway to walk along. Comfort, comfort my people, says our God. But the people do not listen they believe that they know of a better way. So the people wander away from you God, we wander away from you God.

You call and we do not answer. You sing songs of faith and we do not join in the chorus. You offer us grace, love, forgiveness, but we would rather turn away, turning towards the temptations of this world and away from the world that you desire. We become lost, confused, alone, and we lose our way back to you and yet you still call. Help us to hear your call, help us to hear your song, help us to recognize all that you have given us. We pray all this in the name of the one who came, Jesus. Amen

Words of Assurance

Time for All Ages

The Word

Scripture Reading:           Genesis 2:4b-15

In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; ⁶ but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— ⁷ then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. ⁸ And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹² and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

Scripture Reading:           1 Timothy 6:6-10

⁶ Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; ⁸ but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. ⁹ But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

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

Video – “Imagine” (UNICEF World Version)

Meditation – “Prophetic Imagination”

The Response

Communion

One:   Holy One, the beginning and the end, the giver of life: Blessed are you for the birth of creation. Blessed are you in the darkness and in the light. Blessed are you for your promise to your people. Blessed are you in the prophets’ hopes and dreams. Blessed are you for your Son Jesus, the Word made flesh.

One:   Holy God, holy and might, holy and immortal: you we praise and glorify, you we worship and adore. You formed the earth from chaos; you encircled the globe with air; you created fire for warmth and light; you nourish the lands with water. You molded us in your image, and with mercy higher than the mountains, with grace deeper than the seas, you blessed the Israelites and cherished them as your own. That also we, estranged and dying, might be adopted to live in your Spirit, you called us through the life and death of Jesus.

One:   In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: “Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

One:   Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and give it for all to drink, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this in remembrance of me.”

One:   Together as the body of Christ, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

One:   With this bread and cup we remember your Son, the first-born of your new creation. We remember his life lived for others, and his death and resurrection, which renews the face of the earth. We await his coming, when, with the world made perfect through your wisdom, all our sins and sorrows will be no more. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

One:   Holy God, holy and merciful one, holy and compassionate, send upon us and this meal your Holy Spirit, whose breath revives us for life, whose fire rouses us to love. Enfold in your arms all who share this holy food. Nurture in us the fruits of the Spirit, that we may be a living tree, sharing your bounty with all the world. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit.

One:   Holy and benevolent God, receive our praise and petitions, hear the names of those whom we raise up to you this day that they might feel you in their lives…just as Jesus received the cry of the needy, and fill us with your blessing, until, needy no longer and bound to you in love, we feast forever at your table of love and inclusion: through whom all glory and honour is yours, O God, O Living One, with the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

(adapted from Creation Restoration, Lutherans Restoring Creation website)

Prayer after Communion

In this moment and this meal, we have remembered that the whole creation is held in the hand of God and that the whole creation is filled with the life of God; that the whole creation has been restored by the work of God and that the whole creation is flooded with the Spirit of God; that the whole creation will be renewed according to the promise of God and that the whole creation reflects the glory of God from eternity to eternity. As we are strengthened by this meal let us see all creation as the work of God’s loving hands. Amen.

Hymn – “I, the Lord of Sea and Sky”

I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in deepest sin my hand will save.
I who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of snow and rain, I have borne my people’s pain,
I have wept for love of them; they turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them. Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of wind and flame, I will tend the poor and lame,
I will set a feast for them; my hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give my life to them. Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

Benediction

God before and God behind, God for us and God for your own self, Maker of heaven and earth, creator of sea and sky, governor of day and night. We give thanks for our ordered gift of life to us, for the rhythms that reassure, for the equilibriums that sustain, for the reliabilities that curb our anxieties. We treasure from you, days to work and nights to rest. We cherish from you, days to control and nights to yield. We savour from you, days to plan and nights to dream. Be our day and our night, our heaven and our earth, our sea and our sky, and in the end our true home. Amen.