The Celebration of the Gospel
September 6, 2015 — 15th Sunday after Pentecost
“Yes, but even the dogs under the table
eat the children’s crumbs.”
—Mark 7.28
“Be opened!”
— Mark 7.34
_______ We Gather as the Body of Christ_______
GREETING
PRELUDE Oh, That I Had A Thousand Voices Max Reger
[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: Infinite God, Heart of Being, you draw us near.
All: Open our lips to sing your praise.
Loving Christ, beloved Friend, you lay your healing hands upon us.
Open our eyes and ears to see and hear your presence.
Holy Spirit, Word of new Creation. you burn within us.
Open our hearts and minds to live in new ways.
Your will be done. Alleluia!
* SONG First Song of Isaiah Black hymnal #2030
___________ We Attend to the Word___________
THE WORD IN SONG
The Gift Of Love arr: Hal Hopson (Beth Bennett and Sara Huang)
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Gentle God, we come to you seeking healing, wisdom and life. Bless us with your love, your Word, your touch. Only say the word and we shall be made whole. Have mercy, O Lord, and bless us. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Ezekiel 11.14-21
[God promises to bring demoralized exiles home. Then God says God will remove their hearts (yikes!) and give them new hearts of obedience.]
Then the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, “God has sent them far away; their land has been given to us to possess.” Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I sent my people far away among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone. Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. When they come there, they will get rid of their detestable idols and vile practices.
I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart from their flesh —a heart of stone— and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, the consequences of their deeds will come back upon them, says the Lord God.
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GOSPEL Mark 7.24-37
[Jesus turns down a woman’s request to heal her daughter because she is a foreigner. But in her faithful persistence he sees that she is a human being, and he heals the girl. Then he cures a deaf man with a speech impediment, touching the man’s ears and tongue and crying out “be opened!”]
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice: a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.
She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
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SERMON
SONG Change My Heart, O God Black hymnal #2152
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
PASSING THE PEACE
__________We Share at Christ’s Table__________
OFFERING OUR GIFTS He Leadeth Me Wm. Bradbury, arr: Larry Shackley
* COMMUNION SONG Take Our Bread Blue hymnal #640
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is good to give God thanks and praise.
Blessed are you, O God, for you create all things in love.
Left side: You make us in your image and call us your Beloved,
and continually re-create us by your grace.
Right side: You know our struggles and bear our suffering.
You judge the forces of oppression and set us free.
Left: You guide us into a new world of mercy and justice;
you heal the splinterings of race and clan, creed and status.
All: You draw us into the Empire of Grace
in the company of Jesus your Christ.
Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
Right: He taught and healed, and loved all people,
calling us to repentance and offering new life.
Left: He defied barriers and created a new community
of love, justice and inclusiveness.
All: For his resistance to injustice he was crucified,
but you raised him from the dead.
[… The Blessing and Covenant…]
With gratitude we remember your mighty acts in Jesus Christ.
All: Therefore we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving
as a living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Right: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us:
open us to your grace and to the new life you offer us;
make us vessels of your love.
Left: Open us to one another: make us one in your Spirit.
Right: Open us to the suffering of the world,
and to your healing flowing through us.
All: By your grace in this meal
make us the Body of Christ for the world,
working for healing and justice
for the sake of your delight.
Pastor: All glory and honor is yours,
faithful and loving God, now and forever.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
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.
[Ecumenical Version]
SHARING THE HOLY MEAL [Everyone is welcome at the table of Christ’s self-giving love.
The bread is wheat-, soy- and dairy free. We dip the bread in the juice.]
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. You have opened our hearts to your grace. Now open our hands to do the work you give us, to work for justice and healing for the sake of the wholeness of all Creation, in the name and Spirit of Christ. Amen.
_____ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World______
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG Spirit of God, Descend Upon my Heart Blue hymnal #500
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE Please stand and sing to your 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 Fugue In C Major– J. S. Bach
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]