12.07.01 Ordinary 13B English

Prelude:  Prelude on MATERNA (Calvin Hampton)

Hymn:  God of justice (Shirley Erena Murray/RHUDDLAN, John Evans) *
Call to Worship RAEH

One:  From the corners of this city,

from the confusion of life,

from the loneliness of our hearts

All: Gather us, O God.

One:  To feed our minds,

to fire our imagination,

to free our hearts

All: Gather us, O God.

One:  We pray:

All:  God of surprises,

startle us with truth we do not see,

amaze us with your power and grace,

beckon us, and lead us

far above restricted hope and narrow faith.

Amen.

Song:  Amen, amen, it shall be so (The Beatitudes/John Bell) L&A
Prayer of Confession LL

One:  How do we approach you, Exalted God, with our confessions? We make you weary with our inability to do justice for the poor and outcast.  We gossip about those who are close to us, instead of being their loving friend. We make promises, and then go back on our word.
All:  Forgive us, God of Hope, and bless us with your mercy. By your peace, we can do justice. By your love, we can act kindly. By your grace, we can walk with you as humbly, and hopefully, as did our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

—Silent reflection—

One: It is through foolishness that God makes us wise;
it is through weakness that God strengthens us to serve;
it is through forgiveness that God makes us whole.
All: We cannot boast in what we have done, but only in the grace and joy of our God, who showers us with mercy. Amen.

Song of Praise:  Ain't-a that good news (African-American Spiritual/EM) *
Prayer of the Day BDP

God of Jesus, our Holy Friend, by your grace please change us as we worship you. May the words we speak and sing, and the Bible words to which we listen, bite deeply. Let them penetrate into the deep reaches of thought and feeling, and there colonise the essence of our being. May we all be changed and resourced in ways we may not understand yet which will overflow into the lives of those around us.  Through Christ Jesus our Redeemer,

Amen!

Sh'ma Israel (Tsvika Pik)
Reading from Hebrew Scripture:  Deuteronomy 11:26-32 (non-lectionary)
Alleluia (Simei Monteiro) *
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:1-16 (non-lectionary)
Sermon:  ¡Bienaventurados, America!
Song:  Come and help me build a land (Jim Strathdee/EM) 
Act of Commitment Sac

One:  We long to know your presence
        and your blessing God;
    to know that we have found a place
        in your kingdom;

And so we commit to being those
    who acknowledge our poverty of spirit,
        and who grieve rightly our brokenness and losses;
All:  For this is how we open ourselves to blessing.

One:  We dedicate ourselves to humility,
    and to a constant, never-ceasing hunger and thirst
        for justice;
All:  For this is how we open ourselves to blessing.

One:  We seek to always act with compassion and mercy,
    and to keep our hearts pure -
        free from destructiveness,
        and bound by integrity;
All:  For this is how we open ourselves to blessing.

One:  We devote ourselves
    to working for peace,
    and to constant celebration and rejoicing,
        even in the face of hardship,
        persecution,
        and struggle;
All:  For this is how we open ourselves to blessing.

Gracious and Compassionate God,
    We offer ourselves to you again,
        in worship and obedience,
        in lives committed to the purposes and practices
            of your reign;
    For in this way, we know, we are blessed,
        and we are a blessing.

Amen.

Prayer Song:  The Spirit of the Lord (Isaiah 61:1/Elaine Loukes) TI *
Prayers of the People
Announcements
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Hymn:  How beautiful our spacious skies (Miriam Therese Winter, after Katherine Lee Bates/MATERNA, Samuel A. Ward) NCH

*seasonal for Ordinary Time/July




Forces:
Soprano
Organ/Piano