The recording is of both worship services; The first 10 minutes are the Gospel lesson and Pastor Steve’s sermon at the first service,
and after 10 minutes, the recording is of the second service, which was run by the youth of Saint Matthew’s.
The messages of two seniors can be found attached as PDF here on this page.
The Celebration of the Gospel
June 3, 2018 Second Sunday after Pentecost
8:15 Service
We have this treasure in clay jars…
—2 Corinthians 4.7
GREETING
PRELUDE
* CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: In the beginning was the Word,
All: and the word was love.
God said “Let there be light,
and all things came from the light of love.
We are created in the light of your love,
and it shines in us.
God of mercy, we open our hearts to your light.
May the sun of your love rise in us and shine in us always. Amen.
* SONG The Promises of God Steve G-H (1 Peter 2.19)
Pay attention, my friends to the promises of God
like a candle shining in a dark place,
till the morning star rises brightly in your hearts,
so that even in the darkness you may walk in the light of God.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (Pastor)
Pastor: The grace of God is with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, we open ourselves in honesty to God.
God of love, help us to see ourselves with the eyes of love,
to see what in us is loving,
and what is not loving.
God, we recall when we have been in harmony with you, or with life, and we give thanks. [silent prayer…]
We recall when we have been out of harmony, and we seek your grace. [silent prayer…]
God of mercy, in Christ you have shown us your grace.
Forgive us, heal us, and perfect your love in us. [silent prayer…]
THE WORD OF GRACE
RESPONSE Alleluia
LISTENING PRAYER
God of love, you want to open our eyes.
You speak deep within us.
Give us grace to listen, to hear, and to be changed
by your loving presence, your living Word. Amen.
NEW TESTAMENT 2 Corinthians 4.5-12
[We shine with the light of God, but we are merely the earthenware jars that hold the light. The life/light at work in us is eternal.]
We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For God, the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”, has shone in our hearts so the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ will shine in our own faces as well.
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
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PSALTER Psalm 139-1-12
[We marvel at how intimately God knows us—from the inside.]
O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before, a
nd lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
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GOSPEL Mark 2.23- 3.6
[ Jesus expresses in both a teaching and a miracle how the spirit of the law (which is love) is more important than the letter of the law.]
One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Human One is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
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SERMON
SONG Into My Heart Black hymnal # 2160
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
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.
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
* OFFERING SONG I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light Blue hymnal # 206 v. 1
* PRAYER
Gracious God, we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Shine in us with your love. Send us, as beams of your light, into the world, for the sake of all Creation, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
SONG The Promises of God
BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you, my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE