The Celebration of the Gospel

Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 7, 2015

“Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
— Mark 3.35

______ We Gather as the Body of Christ________

GREETING
PRELUDE Abide With Me – Tune: EVENTIDE 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     (Psalm 138)
[The Psalm gives thanks to God, who sustains us through difficulty. But our focus is not on ourselves alone. The meaning of our lives belongs in the context of God’s desire. So we pray, “Lord, fulfill your purpose for me.”]
Leader: I give you thanks, O Love, with my whole heart.
All:    When my heart cries out, you answer.
Though I walk through trouble you preserve my life.
In the face of what I fear, your love sustains me.
O Lord, fulfill your purpose for me.
May your steadfast love endure forever.

* SONG   Let All Things Now Living    Black hymnal #2008

(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME

____________ We Attend to the Word__________

(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG   Listen to the Lambs    R. Nathaniel Dett
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Holy One, we come to listen for your voice, to hear your Word in our hearts and to live it out with grace. Bless us that we may hear and be changed, and that we may live by your Spirit in us as sisters and brothers in Christ. Amen.

NEW TESTAMENT     2 Corinthians 4. 5-12

[Paul’s message is not about himself but about Christ. With Christ in us, we shine with the light of God, who said “Let there be light.” We bear this treasure in the “clay jars,” the humble, imperfect vessels of our lives: the treasure is the grace within. We face difficulties, because we are living out the death of Christ, but we are not defeated, because we also embody his resurrection. ]

Leader: We do not proclaim ourselves.
We proclaim Jesus Christ as our Sovereign.
We are one another’s servants for Jesus’ sake.
All: For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
has shone in our hearts also
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 clear
that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
we have difficulties, but we do not despair;
we are opposed but not abandoned;
we are struck down, but not destroyed.
We bear in our bodies the death of Jesus,
so that in our bodies the life of Jesus may thrive.
So death is at work in us, but life in you.
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GOSPEL   from Mark 3. 20-25
[Jesus’ family think he’s gone mad and want him to come home. But alarmingly he re-defines family, not as blood kin but whoever shares in doing God’s will. ]

Jesus went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’  Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.’ And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’
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SERMON

SONG   Who Is My Mother, Who Is My Brother   Black hymnal #2225

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
8:15: Rejoice, My Soul, With Gladness – Sigfrid Karg-Elert
10:30: Ain’a That Good News – William L. Dawson
(8:15:) * COMMUNION SONG   Food For the Body Steve G-H

Food for the Body, food for the soul, making us one again, making us whole,
grateful we are that you faithfully give the Spirit of love, the power to live.

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.

… We proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

THE PRAYER OF JESUS
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. At your table you make of us one family, one Body. Send us into the world in the unity of your love to bear your blessings to all our sisters and brothers in the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

______ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World_____

THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD

HONORING OUR GRADUATING SENIORS
Margaret Follett     Michaela Kendrick       Andrei Weber

* SONG   Sending Song      Steve G-H

You have grown in grace among us; you have given us your gifts.
You have shown the face of Christ, who changes us, and who uplifts.
When you face yet greater changes, as you travel brand new ways,
God will rise with greater power, working in you all your days.

From our midst, our faith confessing , now we send you forth in love.
With you go our hope and blessing, and deep grace from God above.
Serve in love with humble courage. Know in all you say and do,
though you journey far, in Spirit we are always near to you.
* 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 May Jesus Christ Be Praised Joseph Barnby, arr: Don Wyrtzen

[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]