The Celebration of the Gospel
October 20 , 2019 — 19th Sunday after Pentecost
There was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people….
—Luke 18.2
_____ We Are Received as Children of God_____
GREETING
PRELUDE – What A Friend – Tune: CONVERSE, arr: Mark Hayes
[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: God of justice, you brought us up out of slavery into a place of freedom.
All: We thank you and we praise you.
God of mercy, you have given us your law;
you have given us gifts of wisdom and power to order our world according to your grace.
We bow to you, and pray that we may so order our lives.
God of truth, you speak your Word to us; you raise your voice in our inner hearts.
Help us to listen.
Speak to us now, and shape us by your love, that we may do your will. Amen.
* SONG – The Fragrance of Christ – Black hymnal # 2205
_____We Are Transformed by the Love of Christ____
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG
Be Thou My Vision – Words: Irish, 8th Century; arr. John Rutter
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Pastor: The grace of God is with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
God of gentle mercy,
we confess our sin;
for our brokenness,
known to us and unknown,
keeps us from loving perfectly.
Receive us, forgive us,
transform us,
and set us free to live by your grace alone. Amen.
SILENT PRAYER … THE WORD OF GRACE
RESPONSE – Come and Fill Our Hearts – Black hymnal #2157
PRAYER
God of love, in this world of hurt we cry to you: hear our prayer.
God of love, speak to us, and give us grace to listen.
God of truth, help us to hear the truth, and to live accordingly. Amen.
(10:30) HEBREW BIBLE – Jeremiah 31.31-34
[The prophet announces God will establish a new Covenant: not a legal code that can be written down, but a faithful relationship that is alive in our hearts. In this relationship we won’t worry about suffering for our ancestor’s sins. Instead each person experiences the consequence of their own sin. ]
The days are surely coming, says our Sovereign God, 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 God. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says our Sovereign God: 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 Holy One,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says God; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
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(10:30) * PSALTER – Psalm 119.129-144
[A celebration of God’s Word and its life-giving power. Each line uses a different image for God’s Word: law, statutes, precepts, etc., but they are not “rules:” they are God’s promises. It enriches our lives to listen to them.]
Your decrees are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
With open mouth I pant,
because I long for your commandments.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is your custom toward those who love your name.
Keep my steps steady according to your promise,
and never let iniquity have dominion over me.
Redeem me from human oppression,
that I may keep your precepts.
Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
My eyes shed streams of tears
because your law is not kept.
You are righteous, O Lord,
and your judgments are right.
You have appointed your decrees
in righteousness and in all faithfulness.
My zeal consumes me
because my foes forget your words.
Your promise is well tried,
and your servant loves it.
I am small and despised,
yet I do not forget your precepts.
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your law is the truth.
Trouble and anguish have come upon me,
but your commandments are my delight.
Your decrees are righteous forever;
give me understanding that I may live.
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NEW TESTAMENT – Romans 7.14-25
[Paul reflects on how insidious sin is: even though we want to do the right thing, sin is like a force that possess us that we can’t get free from. God alone can save us—and does. This is the good news of Christ.]
The law of God guides me in my relationship with God. But there’s a shadow side of me that has secret power over me. I am its slave. I don’t understand myself. I don’t do what I mean to do— I do the thing I hate. It doesn’t matter how much I believe in God’s law: I still do the wrong thing. In fact it’s no longer I that do it: it’s my selfish fear—my sin. There’s nothing life-giving in selfish anxiety. I can intend what is right, but I can’t actually do it. I don’t do the good I intend: instead I do the evil I wanted to avoid. I am powerless over my sin. It controls me.
It’s a basic law of nature: though I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. I delight in the will of God in my soul, but in my flesh another power—the power of my selfish fear— is at war with the will of my soul. I think I am obedient to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin. How wretched I am! Who will rescue me from this death sentence? Thanks be to God —it is Jesus Christ our Savior!
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GOSPEL – Luke 18.1-8
[Jesus tells 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 Jesus 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 – Pleading widow
SONG I Want a Principle Within – Blue hymnal # 410 v. 1-2
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
____We Are Sent in the Power of the Holy Spirit__
RECEIVED… TRANSFORMED… SENT…
OFFERING OUR GIFTS – In God, My Faithful God – J. S. Bach
* OFFERING SONG – Do Justice – Steve G-H
Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.
God, help us humbly live your justice, your love, your mercy.
* 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. Help us by your spirit to hear your call for justice in the vulnerable, and to work for justice, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG – Song of Hope – Black hymnal #2186
* 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 – Postlude on “Lancashire” – Jason D. Payne