Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
February 23, 2014
A third of the women in our community experience domestic violence.
Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham,
be set free?
—Luke 13.16
———————— We Gather as the Body of Christ
GREETING
PRELUDE As The Deer Martin Nystrom, arr: Mark Hayes
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Creator God Source of Life, you call us to this place.
All: We come with beauty. We come with praise.
Crucified and Risen Christ, beacon of our hope, you accompany us to this place.
We come with wonder. We come with thanksgiving.
Holy Spirit, fountain of love within us, you bring us to this place.
We come with open hearts. We come with all our lives.
God of love, give us courage and compassion.
Receive us, change our hearts, and give us in love to the world. Amen.
* SONG How Can We Name a Love Blue hymnal # 111
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME 2
———————— We Attend to the Word
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG
Lord, I Want to Be a Christian Jewel Taylor Thompson
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Loving God, you have created us to love one another. Yet fear and hurt confine our love. In this world full of abuse, we long to hear your Word: fill us with your grace, empower us to love, and grant us your Spirit to help Jesus in the healing of the world. We pray in the Spirit of Christ. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Isaiah 61.1-3
[God’s mission is to bring healing and freedom to all who suffer, who are imprisoned or afraid.]
* PSALTER Psalm 3
[ A cry for God’s help amidst suffering. It could be the cry of an abused woman, praying for deliverance from violence and expressing her trust in God.]
GOSPEL Luke 13.10-17
[ A religious leader wants to turn away a woman who needs healing (citing Sabbath laws) but Jesus re-frames the issue in terms of God’s universal mandate for liberation. ]
SERMON
SONG For Households Steve G-H
For households where your love is shared we give you thanks, O Lord,
where all your children hear your grace and know they are adored.
And, God, we pray for those where fear and hurt and loneliness stay.
For those abused, unsure, not free, your blessing, Lord, we pray.
As when the slaves from Egypt fled and crossed the parted Sea,
Lord, make a way and go with those who are becoming free.
God help your church to be a home that is a healing place,
where all are free and whole and blest and honored in your grace.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
PASSING THE PEACE
—— We Are Sent in Ministry to the World
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
Precious Lord, Take My Hand Traditional Spiritual, arr: Fred Bock
* OFFERING SONG Doxology Blue hymnal # 95
* 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. Give us courage and compassion to reach out to all who are hurting, to speak your good news to all who are afraid, and to work for the healing of the world, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Christ Be Your Shalom Blue hymnal # 666
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE [ Please turn across the aisle and sing to one another.]
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you, my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.