The Celebration of the Gospel
October 16, 2016 —22nd Sunday after Pentecost
You are our God, and we are the people of your pasture,
the sheep of your hand.
If only today we will listen to your voice!
— Psalm 95.7
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE Gelobst Seist Du, Jesu Christ J. S. Bach
[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: Creating God, by your Word you bring all things into being.
All: Speak, for all the universe listens.
In Christ you have spoken your love to us.
Speak, for your people are listening.
Holy Spirit, your Word unfolds in us, and gives light.
Speak in us, for we are listening.
* SONG Without Seeing You Black hymnal # 2206
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
___________We Attend to the Word___________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Precious Lord Take My Hand arr by Cathy Moklebust
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of patient love, we confess that we often lose heart, and forget to pray. Speak to us in scripture, in our hearts and in one another, for we are hungry for your Word. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Jeremiah 31.27-34
[The prophet promises restoration after a time of calamity. He announces God will establish a new Covenant: not a legal code that can be written down, but a faithful relationship that is alive and written on our hearts. In this relationship we won’t worry about suffering for our ancestor’s sins (an ancient belief). Instead each person experiences the consequence of their own choices. ]
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
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PSALTER Psalm 119.33-40
[This song celebrates God’s Word and its life-giving power for us. Each line uses a different image for God’s Word: law, statutes, precepts, etc. But these “commandments” are not rules: they are God’s promises.]
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your Word, and I will observe it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you.
Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good.
See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.
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NEW TESTAMENT 2 Timothy 3.14—4.5
[The writer encourages us to be faithful in speaking the truth, even if people want us to say only what they want to hear.]
Continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, because you trust your teachers. From childhood you have known the sacred writings that are a source of wisdom for you as you flesh out your salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in doing justice, so that God’s people may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of the appearance and reign of Christ, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether it seems like the right time or not; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with the truth. They will surround themselves with people who meet their desires, and they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to rumors. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
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GOSPEL Luke 18.1-8
[Jesus encourages faithfulness in prayer with a story of a callous judge who won’t hear, but finally responds to a persistent widow who pleads for justice.]
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to God’s chosen ones who cry out day and night? Will God delay long in helping them? I tell you, God will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Human One comes, will they find faith on earth?”
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SERMON
SONG My Heart Is Open Steve G-H
Refrain: I listen for your Word. My heart is open. (Repeat.)
1. I hunger for your Word. I listen for your voice.
I hold the silence, Love, so you may gently speak to me.
Refrain
2. Show me your ways, O God, teach me, O Holy One,
and lead me in your path. For you I listen all day long.
Refrain
3. I listen for you, Love, and in your Word I hope.
More than the watchers wait for morning, God, I wait for you.
Refrain
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Mother, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
PASSING THE PEACE
______ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
8:15: Precious Lord, Take My hand
10:30: I’ll Fly Away — Albert E. Brumley, arr: Mark Hayes
* OFFERING SONG Lead Me, Lord Blue hymnal #473
* PRAYER
Gracious God, in gratitude for all you have given us, and in faithful stewardship of what you have placed in our hands to share with the world, 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, for the sake of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Open My Eyes Blue hymnal #454
* 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
8:15: I’ll Fly Away Albert E. Brumley, arr: Mark Hayes
10:30: Toccata for a Joyous Day Paul McKlveen
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners].