Worship Video Archive: Creation 3A - 9/21/2014

Creation  3A

 September 21, 2014

10 am Holy Communion Service

Grace Evangelical Lutheran

Today’s Worship Participants: 

Pastor: Rev. Megan Rohrer

Music Director: Dorothy Clazie

 

Welcome to worship at Grace!

Welcome to long-time Lutherans, Christians from every tradition, and people new to faith. Welcome to all who have no church home, want to follow Christ, have doubts, or do not believe. Welcome to new visitors and old friends. Welcome to people of every age and size, color and culture, every sexual orientation and gender identity, socio-economic status, marital status, ability and challenge. Welcome to believers and questioners, and to questioning believers. This is a place where you are welcome to celebrate and sorrow, rejoice and recover.  This is a place where lives are made new.

Special Welcome to Newcomers

Welcome to our small community of faith.  While we are small in numbers, we have big hearts and a desire to grow.  In order to help you follow along, we have included all the materials you need for worship in this bulletin.

Please join us for worship any Sunday at 10am that you are able.  If you cannot join us in person, you can also join us online via live stream or by watching the archives of our worship and Bible Study that Doesn’t Suck anytime during the week at our website (www.gracesf.com), or on our mobile phone app, Bible Study that Doesn’t Suck, is available on Google Play and ITunes. 

If you have any questions about the service or about Grace, you can fill out the form in pew to let our pastor know you’d like to chat.  Or you can contact Pastor Megan Rohrer at pastor@gracesf.com.

Prelude:     ADD

Greeting:  

In the name of the Creator, the fountain of life, in the name of Christ, the pulse of life,

and in the name of the Spirit, the breath of life. Amen.

Holy! Holy! Holy!

Earth is filled with God’s presence.

Christ, we come into your presence to worship in this sanctuary called Earth,

 a planet pulsating with your presence,

a presence quivering in the forests,

a presence vibrating in the land,

a presence pulsating in the wilderness,

a presence shimmering in the rivers.

God, reveal yourself to us in this place, and show us your face in all creation. 

Opening Hymn: Verses 1, 3 and 4

Welcome  

Prayer of the Day:

Creator God, thank you for all the beauty of the Earth.  Help us to hear your voice in the untamed wild places.  Amen.

First Reading: Joel 1:8-10, 17-20

⁸Lament like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth. ⁹The grain-offering and the drink-offering are cut off from the house of the Lord.  The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord. ¹⁰The fields are devastated, the ground mourns; for the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil fails.  

…

¹⁷The seed shrivels under the clods, the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are ruined because the grain has failed.  ¹⁸How the animals groan! The herds of cattle wander about because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep are dazed.

¹⁹To you, O Lord, I cry.  For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have burned all the trees of the field. ²⁰Even the wild animals cry to you because the watercourses are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

L   Word of hope, word of life.                        Thanks be to God

Psalm  18:6-19 (read responsively)

In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.

⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.

⁹He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water.

¹²Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice.

¹⁴And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.

¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁶He reached down from on high, he took me; he drew me out of mighty waters.

¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

Second Reading: Romans 8:18-27

¹⁸I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.  ²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

L   Word of hope, word of life.                        Thanks be to God

Special Music:   “The Lord Never Closes His Eyes”            David Angerman

                 

 

Gospel Reading:  Mark 1:9-13

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” ¹²And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

The gospel of the Lord.                                Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon: Silence for reflection follows the sermon.  The assembly stands to proclaim the word of God in song.

Scripture in this service is adapted from The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation, by Priests for Equality.  2009, Sheed & Ward. Kindle Edition. The traditional Lutheran liturgy is from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2014 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #28429. Hymns used with permission for worship and podcast under OneLicense.net  #A-723548.

Hymn of the Day:

Prayers of Intercession

A    During this season of Creation, we pray that God will draw near and remind us that we were fearfully and wonderfully made.  May our uniqueness inspire the church to be ever looking to see what God will reveal next.  Let us lift our hearts and expand our community by praying for the world and all people in their need.  A brief silence.

Creating God, help us repair broken relationships, to clean up our messes and debts and to ask for help when we need it. Help us to be good stewards of our planet and its resources.  God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Parent God, bless all who are parents, the family and staff of the Grace Infant Care Center and all who have created families.  Help us to become better at loving and receiving love from others.  God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God, guide our civic leaders and enable them to be good stewards of our natural resources and to help protect the air and water that is vital to our survival.  Be with our bishops Elizabeth and Mark, our pastor Megan and all the staff and leaders of our congregation.  God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We give thanks for all who work in healing and caring professions.  Support doctors, nurses, partners, parents and friends who love and support others.  Provide healing and hope for those whose minds, bodies or spirits are in need of care.  Help us to live as fully as we can as we await the day all pain and suffering will end.   God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

For whom and what else do the people of Grace pray?

(Please offer - silently or aloud- petitions to God.  End spoken petitions with “God in your mercy.”)

P Our prayers rise like incense and are held by a loving God who yearns for us to be our best.  May we sleep well, worry less, and live convinced that God is on our side.    Amen.

Peace

The presiding minister and the assembly greet each other in the peace of the risen Christ.

P   The peace of Christ be with you always.                C   And also with you.

The people may greet one another with the sign of Christ’s peace, and may say, “Peace be with you” or similar words.    Then, the assembly is seated.

Offering

An offering is gathered for the mission of the church, including the care of those in need. 

Offertory: “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us”        Hymntune: Bradbury        arr. Vicki Courtney

Offering Prayer:

After the offering is gathered, the assembly stands.

A    Let us pray.   God, bless all that we have to offer.  May our financial support match the generosity of our lives.  Help us to be good stewards of our financial and emotional investments.  Amen.

Communion:

P  It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise . . . we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

P   On the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.

The pastor invites the Holy Spirit to be in the meal and with the people present.

The pastor takes the bread.

You are blessed indeed, God of all creation.  Through your goodness we have this bread which the Earth has given and which we have received from the silent soil.  Bathed in morning light, this beautiful planet rests in the galaxies of space, faithful and surprising, bringing forth life in all its forms.   Blessed be God forever.

The pastor takes the wine.

 You are blessed too, Loving God, in the wine we have, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.  In our Earth of many blessings the vine was planted, its roots reaching down to that richness from which nourishment, strength and health are drawn.  Blessed be God forever.

The Creation Creed:  
We believe that God creates all things,

renews all things, and celebrates all things.

We believe Earth is a sanctuary,

a sacred planet filled with God’s presence,

a home for us to share with all creatures.

We believe every creature joins us in praising God.

We see many suffer with Earth

because of human crimes against creation.

We believe that God became incarnate

as a part of Earth, Jesus Christ,

that he lived and breathed and spoke among us,

suffered and died on a cross,

for all human beings and for all creation.

We believe that the risen Jesus Christ

fills the whole creation,

reconciling all things to God,

renewing all things.

We believe the Spirit renews life in creation,

groans in empathy with every suffering creature,

and waits with us for the rebirth of the whole creation.

We believe that with Christ we will rise

and with Christ we will

celebrate a new creation,

reconciled, restored, and renewed.

The bread is broken.

Creator God, meet us in this bread and wine, and be with us on the journey which is the future, that we and all creation may make anew the story of Life. People of God, draw near in faith and travel far in Grace.  Come, to be renewed by the Spirit who makes all things new.

Blessing

Announcements

Closing Hymn

Dismissal

A:  Go in peace and serve our God.

C: Thanks be to God.

Postlude "Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow,”           Hymntune: Old 100^th          Setting: Johann Christoph Bach

Please join us for coffee and refreshments downstairs in the Fellowship Hall.

To get to the Fellowship Hall, exit to the right of the communion railing at the front of the church.

Announcements:

You can find more information and find archived sermons and worship live streams at our website: www.gracesf.com  or on our blog: www.sfgrace.blogspot.com

Upcoming Events and Dates: 

·        Every Wednesday – June 11-September 24, 6:30-8pm  – Summer Bible Movie Night: (@ St Paulus Lutheran 1541 Polk St) We will be watching the 10 part Bible Series created by the History channel.  You can come and join us or you can use our study guide questions that are posted online and watch at home each week.  The Bible series is available for streaming on Netflix.

·        September 6 and December 6 - Beatles Mass, 7pm Eucharist

·        September 20 – Neighborhood Block Party: Our street closure permit is submitted and awaiting approval.

·        October 9 – Night Ministry Fundraiser: We will invite singing groups to come to grace to help us raise money for the Night Ministry.

·        November 7-8 – Welcome Fundraiser: We will have three Musical Events featuring the movie RENT.

·        November 27 – Thanksgiving:  A meal served for 300 individuals (mostly homeless or seniors) by Welcome at St. Francis Lutheran Church.

·        December 4 – 18  - Holden Evening Prayer, 6:30pm: Each Thursday night in Advent.

·        December 11-13 – West Coast LGBTQ Conference for Christian College Students

·        December 24 – Christmas Eve Service of Carols, 9:30pm