The Celebration of the Gospel
September 22, 2019 — 15th Sunday after Pentecost
Creation is but the outskirts of God’s work,
and how small a whisper do we hear of God!
—Job 26.14
________ We Gather as the Body of Christ______
GREETING
PRELUDE – Andante Cantabile – Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky, arr: Lee Evans
[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: Eternal God, whose breath is the universe, whose Word is the world—
All: amazed, we praise you.
Creating God, who with delight and play, with wisdom and beauty
fashions every creature—
in love, we thank you.
Loving God, you weave us into the great web of life,
which is our shared home, our common body, our one belonging.
Grateful, we worship you.
* SONG – This Is My Father’s World – Blue hymnal # 144
____________We Attend to the Word__________
CHILDREN’S TIME
THE WORD IN SONG – As the Deer – Martin Nystrom. arr. Douglas Wagner
PRAYER
Eternal God, in the beginning was the Word, and all things were created in the Word. All Creation is your Word made flesh. Speak your Word to us now, that our flesh may become your Word. We open our hearts to your presence and your grace. Amen.
HEBREW BIBLE – Job 26.7-14
[Celebrates God’s creation— which is merely the “outskirts of God’s work.”]
God stretches out the North over the void,
and hangs the earth upon nothing.
God binds up the waters in thick clouds,
and the cloud is not torn open by them.
God covers the face of the full moon,
and spreads over it God’s cloud.
God has described a circle on the face of the waters,
at the boundary between light and darkness.
The pillars of heaven tremble,
and are astounded at God’s rebuke.
With power God stilled the Sea;
with understanding, God settled the chaos.
God’s breath made fair the heavens;
God’s hand plumbed the depths of non-being.
These are indeed but the outskirts of God’s ways;
and how small a whisper do we hear of God!
But the thunder of God’s power
who can understand?
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PSALTER from Psalm 104
[Celebrates God’s work in Creation, depicted not merely as an object but an act of love, a masterpiece of care and relationship.]
Sung Response: Praise be to God, the Almighty, who rules in Creation.
Bless the Holy One, O my soul.
O Holy One, my God, you are great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
wrapped in light as your robe.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent;
You make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
You set the earth on its foundations,
and cover it with the deep as with a garment.
You make the springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
giving drink to every wild animal.
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
R
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle
and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
and wine to gladden the heart.
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart.
The trees of God are watered abundantly;
in them, the birds build their nests.
O God, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom, you make them all.
These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
when you open your hand they are filled with good things.
When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
when you send forth your spirit they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
May your glory, O God, endure forever.
I will sing to God as long as live.
I will sing praise to God while I have being. R
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NEW TESTAMENT Colossians 1.15-17
[“All things in heaven and on earth were created in Christ.” Christ is not merely a person, but the embodiment of God’s love encompassing (and even exceeding) all Creation. In Christ—God’s love embodied—everything holds together. We’re all one.]
Christ is the visible appearance of the invisible God,
the beloved older sibling 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.
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GOSPEL Luke 8.22-25
[Jesus calms a storm on the Sea of Galilee. People marvel that the natural elements obey him.]
One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, Teacher,, we are perishing!” And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”
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SERMON – One Creation
SONG – I Am Your Mother – Black hymnal # 2059
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
We believe in God, Creator of all, who is creating even now, bringing all things into existence, whose Word is made flesh in all Creation, whose presence is embodied in all living beings.
We follow Christ, who perfectly embodied God’s love. He taught and healed; he fed the hungry and embraced the outcast. He was at one with all Creation: even the seas upheld
him, and the wind and the waves listened to his voice. He was crucified, but even in death life blessed him: God raised him from the dead, the Ruler of Life.
We live by the Holy Spirit, the breath of life in us and all creatures: the power to love, to forgive, to create, to give life. We trust in this grace that makes us one with all Creation. And by the power of that Spirit, we devote ourselves in covenant faithfulness to humble reverence and grateful service to all Creation, in the name of Christ. Amen.
* SONG – God Is So Good – Black hymnal #2056, v. 1-2
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
______We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____
OFFERING OUR GIFTS – Sonata in G Minor – Arcangelo Corelli, arr: Paul Hamill
* OFFERING SONG – God Is So Good – Black hymnal #2056, v. 3-44
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. You give us all of Creation, to share and sustain life. As we give these gifts we give our lives for the sake of the wholeness of all Creation. Send us and empower us to serve, to witness, and to heal, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG – Join in the Circle – Steve G-H
God, we are one with the water and land,
made from the dust of the earth by your hand:
one in your Spirit that in us all sings,
one with Creation, and all living things.
Giver of Life, God, our Source and our Womb,
in selfish greed, we abuse and consume.
Heal us, forgive us, and bring us new birth;
bring us back home to our place in the earth.
Maker, Sustainer, and Healer of all,
Servant of Love, may we honor your call:
“Join in the circle, and flourish and live:
take, bless and share, now, this life that I give.”
* 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 – The Heavens Declare – Benedetto Marcello