14.09.28 Ordinary Time 26A English

Hymn:  Christ has changed the world’s direction (Shirley Erena Murray / NEW DIRECTIONS, Barry M. Brinson)*
Call to Worship
Song:  The harvest of justice (David Haas)

Prayer of Confession
Song of Praise:  Glory to God (Paul Vasile)*

Prayer of the Day

Gospel Acclamation (Howard Hughes)

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon:  (Matthias Peterson-Brandt)
Hymn:  For the fruit of all creation (Fred Kaan / AR HYD Y NOS, Welsh traditional) 

Affirmation of Faith: A new creed

Prayer Song:  Casa del Sol Prayer of Jesus (Philip J. Newell, based on the Lord’s Prayer / Daniel E. Poole)*
Silent Meditation
Prayers of the People
Announcements

Offerings (regular and food)

Song:  There’s a wideness in God’s mercy (Frederick William Faber / ST. HELENA, Calvin Hampton)

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Hymn:  God gives us a future (Elizabeth J. Smith / CAMBERWELL, Michael Brierley) 

*Seasonal for Ordinary Time/September

Forces:
Soprano

Piano/Organ

September 28, 2014

26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Please stand, all who are able.

Hymn

Christ has changed the world's direction!

Christ can change the human heart:

agents of the new creation

mend the people torn apart;

               so are we

               charged to be

go-betweens for unity.

Peace will be our way of thinking:

common wealth and common state.

Gone the wounds, the words and weapons

that conspire to hurt and hate,

               and no power

               shall devour

earth or air where peace might flower.

Debts and doubts will be forgiven,

cancelled in the name of God,

olive trees again be planted

there where soldiers' boots have trod,

               hunger fed,

               terror fled,

justice shining in its stead.

What have we as commendation,

sent to speak, as speak we must?

Love will be our global language,

hands an enemy can trust,

               faith to faith,

               race with race,

all shall find a meeting place.

Envoys of a High Commission,

gifts of hope we find to share,

Christ the Spirit reconciling,

Christ our internet of care.

               Though we stall,

               fail or fall,

shall we now refuse God's call?

Call to Worship

One:  God of teeming galaxies and the great empty freeways of space,

Shepherd of the meek,

All:  we approach you with loving awe.

One:  God of mother earth, of sunlit mountains and moonlit deserts,

Shepherd of the poor,

All:  we approach you with loving gratitude.

One:  God of countless millennia and the rise and fall of cultures and empires,

Shepherd of the merciful,

All:  we approach you with loving faith.

One:  God of incarnation and redemption, of the dying and rising Christ,

Shepherd of the lost,

All:  we approach you with loving hope.

One:  As we gather here to worship you,

open our minds to your truth,

our souls to your beauty,

and our hearts to your grace.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord;

All:  Amen!

Please be seated

Song

May we find richness in the harvest of justice

Which Christ Jesus has ripened for us.

Bread for the journey, bread for the hungry,

All for the glory and praise of God.

1.  Gather with patience for those who have nothing.

Leave them your riches, and you will receive.

Make room for the poor ones, make way for the stranger;

for I am the Lord, the Lord your God.

2.  For to have mercy on those forgotten,

This is my true law, this is my command:

Clothe the naked, be home for the homeless,

Care for the prisoner, the sick and the lost.

3.  For to have little is to be in abundance.

To give what remains, to give all we have,

Is to walk with the poor ones, and become the stranger,

One with the Lord, the Lord our God.

May we find richness in the harvest of justice

Which Christ Jesus has ripened for us.

Bread for the journey, bread for the hungry,

All for the glory and praise of God.

Prayer of Confession: Balancing the Scales

NOT ON PPT

God is always more eager to forgive than we are to confess.

Let us pray.

One:  O God,
All:  we confess the blindness that is not even aware of sinning;
One:  the pride that dares not admit that it is wrong;
All:  the selfishness that can see nothing but its own will;
One:  the righteousness that knows no fault;
All:  the callousness that has ceased to care;
One:  the defiance that does not regret its own sins;
All:  the evasion that always tries to make excuses;
One:  the coldness of heart that is too hardened to repent.
All:  God, we are sinners; be merciful to us.

—silent reflection—

One:  Almighty God have mercy on us, pardon and deliver us from all our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and keep us in eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All:  Amen.

Please stand, all who are able.

Song of Praise

Glory to God, whose goodness shines on me,

and to the Son, whose grace has pardoned me,

and to the Spirit, whose love has set me free.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.  Amen.

///World without end, without end.  Amen.///

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.  Amen.

Prayer

NOT ON PPT

Ruler of the universe,
you call us to radical loyalty
beyond all earthly claim.
Grant us strength to offer ourselves to you
as people who have been raised from death to life
through Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and forever. Amen.

Please stand, all who are able.

Gospel Acclamation

Gospel Reading

Matthew 21:23-32

NOT ON PPT

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Reader:  The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

All:  Thanks be to God!

Please be seated

Sermon

Please stand, all who are able.

Song

1.  Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

2.  Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

3.  Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

4.  Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

5.  Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In Your company I'll go where Your love and footsteps show.
Thus I'll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

Affirmation of Faith:  A New Creed

We are not alone,
we live in God's world.

We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God's presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.

Thanks be to God.

Please be seated

Prayer Song

Cantor:  Ground of all being,

All:  Ground of all being,

Cantor:  Mother of life,

All:  Mother of life,

Cantor:  Father of the universe, your name is sacred, beyond speaking.

May we know your presence,

All:  May we know your presence,

Cantor:  may your longings be ours,

All:  may your longings be ours,

Cantor:  our longings in heart and action.

May there be food

All:  May there be food

Cantor:  for the human family today,

All:  for the human family today,

Cantor:  for the whole earth’s community.

Forgive us the falseness

All:  Forgive us the falseness

Cantor:  of what we have done,

All:  of what we have done,

Cantor:  as we forgive those who are untrue to us.

Do not forsake us

All:  Do not forsake us

Cantor:  in our time of conflict,

All:  in our time of conflict,

Cantor:  but lead us into new beginnings.

For the light of life,

All:  For the light of life,

Cantor:  the vitality of life,

All:  the vitality of life,

Cantor:  and the glory of life are yours,

now and forever.

Amen.

All:  Amen.

Cantor:  Amen.

All:  Amen.

Silent Meditation

Prayers

News of the People

Not on ppt:

Welcome cards

Service concludes with bilingual celebration

9/28 Blood drive

10/4 Women’s gathering

10/11 Disaster preparedness workshop

10/19 Organ concert

10/25 Project Mercy

Offerings

(regular and food)

Song

There’s a wideness in God’s Mercy (Calvin Hampton)

sung by Elyse Willis

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Please stand, all who are able.

Hymn

1.  God gives us a future
daring us to go
into dreams and dangers
on a path unknown.
We will face tomorrow
in the Spirit's power
we will let God change us
for new life starts now.

2.  We must leave behind us
sins of yesterday
for God's new beginning
is a better way.
Fear and doubt and habit
must not hold us back:
God gives hope, and insight
and the strength we lack.

3.  Holy Spirit, teach us
how to read the signs
how to meet the challenge
of our troubled times.
Love us into action
stir us into prayer
till we choose God's life, and
find our future there.

Song

1.  In the midst of every blessing

may my heart be filled with grace.

Streams of goodness, ever flowing

call for songs of highest praise.

May my words be filled with gratitude;

may my glad heart humble be.

As a holder of a blessing

May I share it gratefully.

2.  In the midst of every trial

may my heart be filled with grace.

Streams of comfort, ever flowing

call for songs of highest praise.

May I find the strength within me;

may I sense it everywhere.

As I face what must be handled

may I find truth I can share.

3.  In the midst of all our living

may our hearts be filled with grace.

Streams of goodness ever flowing

call for songs of highest praise.

May we seek and find encouragement;

may our choices worthy be.

As we journey on together,

may we know integrity.