The Celebration of the Gospel
November 20, 2016 —Sunday of the Reign of Christ
The Christian liturgical year is patterned after the life of Jesus:
his coming, ministry, death and resurrection, and his life through the Spirit in his followers.
The cycle ends with the Reign of Christ Sunday,
focusing not on the earthly ministry of Jesus,
but on Christ as a cosmic figure, sovereign over all Creation.
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All things in heaven and on earth were created in Christ,
everything visible and invisible,
rulers and powers and systems and empires—
everything was created through Christ and for Christ.
— Colossians 1.16
________We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE Glory Be To God on High Max Reger
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.]
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: In thanksgiving we gather to praise you, O God!
All: For all of your abundant blessings we thank you, O God.
For the love of Christ, who reveals your presence to us, we praise you.
For your grace and your love, and for the reign of Christ, we thank you, O God.
For your call to serve you, your cry for mercy and justice
that raises us to action, we thank you.
In the power of your Spirit alive in us, shining with your light, we worship you.
* SONG We Gather Together Blue hymnal # 131
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
___________We Attend to the Word___________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG My Eternal King Jane Marshall
PRAYER OF THE DAY
So many forces work woe in this world. So many powers vie for control. But you rule above all others. Save us, O God! So many leaders would claim our loyalty. So many voices would speak for our souls. Overrule them, O God! Take up your power and reign in our hearts. Call us and equip us to serve you for the sake of your Reign of Grace. Speak to us now that we may hear your word, be awakened and changed, and follow. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Jeremiah 23.1-6
[God judges leaders who abuse people, and promises a new order: God will gather God’s people like sheep and provide good shepherds to protect them.]
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter
the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord.
Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,
concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people:
It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away,
and you have not attended to them.
So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord.
Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock
out of all the lands where I have driven them,
and I will bring them back to their fold,
and they shall be fruitful and multiply.
I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them,
and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed,
nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord,
when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
and he shall reign as king and deal wisely,
and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.
And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
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NEW TESTAMENT Colossians 1.11-20
[Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, who was present before Creation, and whose being includes all Creation. God is fully present in Christ, and in Christ all things are reconciled to God. God has rescued us from darkness and brought us into a new world of light, ruled by Christ.]
I pray that you will lead lives worthy of the Beloved,
fully pleasing to God,
that you will bear fruit in every good work
and grow in knowing God.
May we be made strong with all the strength
that comes from God’s glorious power,
which prepares us to endure everything with patience.
Joyfully give thanks to the Holy One,
who has enabled you to shine with the light
all God’s beloved ones inherit.
God has rescued us from the power of darkness
and transferred us into the realm of the Beloved,
in whom our sins are forgiven
and our lives are made complete.
Christ is the visible appearance of the invisible God,
the beloved older brother of all creation.
All things in heaven and on earth were created in Christ,
everything visible and invisible,
rulers and powers and systems and empires—
everything was created through Christ and for Christ.
Christ came before anything,
and in Christ everything holds together.
Christ is the head and the church is the body.
Christ is the Source of life, and has turned even death into a birth:
so Christ is first in every way.
In Christ God is completely present.
Through Christ God reconciles us to God—
all of us, and everything on earth and in heaven:
making peace in dying on the cross.
GOSPEL Luke 23.33-43
[Jesus displays God’s disturbingly counter-cultural sovereignty: not in domination and invulnerability, but in love, confronting evil, sharing our suffering and offering forgiveness.]
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
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SERMON
SONG O Young and Fearless Prophet Blue hymnal # 444
* CANTICLE Luke 1. 68-79
[God has fulfilled the Covenant to save us and establish a new realm of peace, and has chosen us to bring that realm, in the form of forgiveness, to all people.]
Blessed are you, the Most High God of Israel,
for you have visited your people and redeemed them.
You have raised up a mighty savior for us
in the house of your servant David,
as you spoke through the mouth of your holy prophets from of old,
that we would be saved from our enemies
and from the power of all our foes.
Thus you have shown us the mercy you promised to our ancestors,
and have remembered your holy covenant,
the oath that you swore to Sarah and Abraham,
to rescue us from the hands of our enemies,
that we might serve you without fear,
in holiness and justice ,
in your presence all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before our God to prepare the ways of the Promised One,
to give knowledge of salvation to God’s people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.
* SONG Goodness is Stronger than Evil Black hymnal #2219
_______ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross Wm. H. Doane, arr: Mark Hayes
* OFFERING SONG Light of Love Steve G-H
Light of love, reign in our hearts. Shine in the darkness. (last time:) Light.
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you these gifts as symbols of our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. You reign in love over all the world. Reign over our own hearts; fill us with your light; and send us out to work, to risk and to witness for the realm of justice and mercy you desire for all the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Now Thank We All our God Blue hymnal #102
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE We stand and sing to our neighbors:
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven Tune: “LAUDA ANIMA”, arr: Matt Hyzer
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]