The Celebration of the Gospel
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 14, 2014
8:15 & 10:30 am
The waters were parted, and Israel went into the Red Sea on dry ground.
—Exodus 14.21-22
_______ We Gather as The Body of Christ_______
GREETING
PRELUDE Prayer in A Flat Alexandre Guilmant
[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 Psalm 139. 7-12
Leader: O God, where could I go from your Spirit?
All: Where could we escape your presence?
If I rise above the earth, there you are!
If I make my bed in the grave, there you are!
If I take the wings of the morning and fly to the farthest sea,
even there your hand will lead me, And in your gentle arms you will hold me.
I could say, “Let the night cover me, and everything about me be total darkness,”
but even the darkness is not dark to you: the night is bright like the day,
and with you even the darkness is light.
In your light, Lord, we turn to you.
In your presence, we worship.
* SONG 8:15: You Are My Hiding Place Black hymnal # 2055
10:30 O Mary, Don’t You Weep Blue hymnal #134
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
____________ We Attend to the Word__________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG How Excellent is Thy Name
adapted from Psalm 8) Eugene Butler
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our brokenness to God with one another.
God of love, we give you our whole selves,
and invite your grace into all that is not whole,
that is not free, that is not loving.
Forgive us, heal us, and restore your Spirit in us.
SILENT PRAYER … THE WORD OF GRACE
RESPONSE You Are My Hiding Place Black hymnal # 2055
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of grace, God of mercy and justice, you have come to set us free from all that diminishes life, that enslaves our hearts, that imprisons our spirits, that constricts our love. Come to us and speak your liberating Word to us. Set us free and bring us on your Way through the Red Sea. Amen.
Today’s texts show us, in several forms, God’s liberating grace that ushers us into a new reality.
OLD TESTAMENT from Exodus 13 and 14
[Israel crosses the Red Sea and escapes from slavery in Egypt.]
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night.
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
The Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear they said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, “Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”
The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night.
The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.
At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.” At dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea.
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
NEW TESTAMENT from Romans 14.1-13
[When we judge one another we act as if they are accountable to us. They are not. It is we who are accountable to God. Since “God has welcomed them,” so must we. We are not even our own masters, let alone theirs. “Whether we live or we die, we are the Lord’s.” ]
Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only certain foods. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. … Those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.
We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. … Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? … For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. …. Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.
GOSPEL Matthew 18.21-34
[Jesus teaches that our need to forgive never ends: forgive a person not once, not seven, but 77 times. He tells a story about how forgiving and being forgiven are one and the same.]
Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven times.”
For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt
But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt
SERMON The Red Sea of Forgiveness
* SONG How Firm a Foundation Blue hymnal #529
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
RESPONSE: This is my prayer. All: This is our prayer.
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.
PASSING THE PEACE
_____ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World______
OFFERING OUR GIFTS Since I Have Been Redeemed Tune: OTHELLO, arr: Mark Hayes
* 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. Go with us toward the pain of the world with healing. Go with us toward our own darkness with trust and humility. Go with us toward the unknown with hope, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
SONG Keep On Walking Steve G-H
In the beginning, water and the Spirit. “Let the light shine through.”
Always a beginning, Spirit and the water. God makes all things new.
Refrain:
Keep on walking, step into the water.
God will bring us over with an outstretched hand.
remember our history: through the pain and mystery
leads the Way to the Promised Land.
We have been walking, walking through the water, walking through the great Red Sea.
Pharaoh once bound us; chaos now surrounds us. That’s how God sets us free.
We have been walking, walking on the water, walking on the storm-tossed sea.
“I will give you power to live, to do great things. Follow me.”
We have been walking, walking by the water, baptized in God’s name.
Died in the water, born in the water, we will never be the same.
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE 8:15: 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.
10:30: Choir.
POSTLUDE Sing Praise To God arr: Gilbert M. Martin
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candle in the corner.]