Worship Guide
August 14, 2022
Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World
ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE
Greetings:
Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
People: And also with you!
Special Music: “Look What You’ve Done” Stefanie
Centering Words:
As the ancients remind us, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Life is around us, even in the memories of ghosts and loved ones long gone. Death is but the other side of the coin of life. Hope is but the other side of the coin of despair. Unity is but the other side of the coin of division. Flip a coin. Choose your side. For life and hope await us on the other side.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: In the fire and the flames,
People: Spirit appears to bless and inspire us.
Leader: In the division and the despair,
People: Christ arrives to challenge and invite us.
Leader: In the shadows and the sorrow,
People: God walks alongside to lift us up.
Leader: In this moment, we gather together to worship, to pray, to sing, and to lament.
People: We gather on this blessed journey of life, death, and resurrection.
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: Christ of mysterious paradox, enter the paradoxes of our lives. Divide us when false unity divides us from you. Unify us when false division separates us from one another. Connect with us so securely, that we may connect with one another in the power of your Holy Spirit, as we worship together this day. Amen.
Hymn: “Shine, Jesus, Shine”
Shine, Jesus, shine,
fill this land with the Father's glory,
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire;
flow, river, flow,
flood the nations with grace and mercy,
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.
Lord, the light of your love is shining
in the midst of the darkness shining;
Jesus, Light of the Word, shine upon us,
set us free by the truth you now bring us.
Shine on me, shine on me.
Shine, Jesus, shine,
fill this land with the Father's glory,
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire;
flow, river, flow,
flood the nations with grace and mercy,
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.
Lord, I come to your awesome presence
from the shadows into your radiance;
by the blood I may enter your brightness,
search me, try me, consume all my darkness.
Shine on me, shine on me.
Shine, Jesus, shine,
fill this land with the Father's glory,
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire;
flow, river, flow,
flood the nations with grace and mercy,
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.
As we gaze on your kingly brightness,
so our faces display your likeness;
ever changing from glory to glory,
mirrored here may our lives tell your story.
Shine on me, shine on me.
Shine, Jesus, shine,
fill this land with the Father's glory,
blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire;
flow, river, flow,
flood the nations with grace and mercy,
send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light.
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
God’s face looks upon us with mercy and love.
Christ’s light shines through us as the image of God we are created to be.
Amen
*New Testament Reading: Luke 12:49-56
49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Leader: This is the Word of God, for the People of God
People: Thanks be to God!
WORD AND RESPONSE
Time with Young Friends: “Jesus Loves Me”
Children’s Message: “God Speaks to Me”
Hymn: “For One Great Peace”
This thread I weave, this step I dance,
this stone I carve, this ball I bounce,
this nail I drive, this pearl I string,
this flag I wave, this note I sing,
this pot I shape, this fire I light,
this fence I leap, this bone I knit,
this seed I nurse, this rift I mend,
this child I raise, this earth I tend,
this check I write, this march I join,
this faith I state, this truth I sign,
this is small part, in one small place,
of one heart's beat for one great Peace.
Sermon: “Yielding Wild Grapes” Isaiah 5:1-7
1 Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Hymn: “I Have a Dream”
“I have a dream”, a man once said,
“where all is perfect peace;
where men and women, black and white,
stand hand in hand, and all unite
in freedom and in love.”
But in this world of bitter strife
the dream can often fade;
reality seems dark as night,
we catch but glimpses of the light
Christ sheds on humankind.
Fierce persecution, war, and hate
are raging everywhere;
God calls us now to pay the price
through struggles and through sacrifice
of standing for the right.
So dream the dreams and sing the songs,
but never be content:
for thoughts and words don’t ease the pain:
unless there’s action, all is vain;
faith proves itself in deeds.
Lord, give us vision, make us strong,
help us to do your will;
don’t let us rest until we see
your love throughout humanity
uniting us in peace.
The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God
the Father Almighty.
From thence he shall come
to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father
and to the son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Amen.
Prayers of the People Joys and concerns
Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer
SENDING FORTH
Hymn: “What a Mighty God We Serve”
What a mighty God we serve
What a mighty God we serve
Angels bow before Him
Heaven and earth adore Him
What a mighty God we serve
What a mighty God we serve
What a mighty God we serve
Angels bow before Him
Heaven and earth adore Him
What a mighty God we serve
What a mighty God we serve
What a mighty God we serve
Angels bow before Him
Heaven and earth adore Him
What a mighty God we serve
Benediction
