Worship Archive: February 22, 2015: Lent 1B: Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, San Francisco, CA

February 19, 2015

10:30 am Holy Communion Service

Grace Evangelical Lutheran, San Francisco

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 10:30am 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:                                                                                                             

Confession and Forgiveness

Please stand.  The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of your Baptism.

P     In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Amen.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Silence for reflection and self-examination.

Most merciful God,

C     we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen

Almighty God, in his mercy, has given his Son to die for us and, for his sake, forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The Grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.                          And also with you.

Gathering Hymn

Prayer of the Day: Gracious God, out of your love and mercy you breathed into dust the breath of life, creating us to serve you and our neighbors. Call forth our prayers and acts of kindness, and strengthen us to face our mortality with confidence.

Welcome                

First Reading          Mark 1:9-15

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.  ¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

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

Genesis 9:8-17

⁸Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ⁹“As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. ¹¹I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
¹²God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: ¹³I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Psalm 25  (read responsively)

¹To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
²O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
³Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
⁴Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
⁵Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. ⁶Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
⁷Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!
⁸Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.   ⁹He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
¹⁰All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

Second Reading                 1 Peter 3:13-22

¹⁸For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

²¹And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

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

Special Music:

Gospel Acclamation

Gospel Reading                 Mark 1:9-15

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.  ¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

P   The gospel of the Lord.                           C   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  - Verses 1-3

Prayers of Intercession

A    During this season of Lent, we pray for all who long for better days, suffer, mourn and for the church, the world and all people in their need.  A brief silence.

Creating God, help us take the time to enjoy the world, live greener and love the animals and pets in our lives. 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.  Take special care of all who have lost children, parents or partners before their time.  Help us to love the best we can.  God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Help our civic leaders to bring justice to a war torn world and cultivate love beyond borders.  Be with our bishops Elizabeth and Mark, our pastor Megan and all the staff and leaders of our congregation.  Help us follow your path towards wholeness.  God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

A   Help us to love each other, our neighbors and care for the poor.  We pray especially for immigrants, refugees, the homeless, hungry and all who care for and advocate for them.  We pray for the members of our congregation, their family and friends, who are need healing.  We pray especially, during this season of Lent, for Anna Marie* who has requested our prayers for her health.  God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

A   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 find comfort, hope and love in our days to come.    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.  After the offering is gathered, the assembly stands.

Offering Prayer

A    Let us pray.   God, bless our diversity gifts.  Beyond our times, talents and treasures, we give thanks for the relationships and visions that we bring into this holy place.  May our relationships with money, giving and receiving become one of the ways we live our faith in the world.  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 Lord’s Prayer

C  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen

Blessing

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

*Please let Pastor Megan know if you would like your name to be included in Grace’s public prayers.  You may also add names of others to Pastor Megan’s private prayer list, by giving Pastor a note with your prayer request on it.  Special prayer requests in today’s bulletin were submitted during our Ash Wednesday service.

Upcoming Special Worship Dates

·        Congregational Meeting: Sunday, February 22^nd after worship

·        Singing Hymns at the Civic Center Bart Station to raise money for Singers of the Street: Tuesday, February 24^th 3-7pm (evangelism/mission)

·        Pulpit Swap – Pastor Megan will be preaching at St. Mark’s Lutheran and we’ll be joined by the new pastor of St. Matthew’s: March 1^st, 10:30am

·        Infant and Toddler Clothing and Toy Swap at Grace: Saturday, March 7^th, 1-4pm (mission)

·        Maundy Thursday at Grace: April 2^nd, 12pm  (worship)

·        Sadder with St. Paulus Lutheran @ Grace: the Evening of April 2^nd  (worship)

Easter Sunday April 5^th (worship)

Sending Hymn

Dismissal

A:  Go in peace and serve our God.

C: Thanks be to God.

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.            Today’s coffee hour will also serve as our congregation’s annual meeting.

About the Season of Lent:  Lent is the time in the church year when we get a little bit more solemn and serious.  Ancient Christians used this time to contemplate the fragility of life, serve the poor and reoriented their lives towards health, love and wholeness.  Some people choose to give something up and remember the suffering of Jesus on the cross.  Others choose to add rituals or practices to their life that help them enjoy life, decrease their stress or improve their ability to care for the world. 

Regardless of how you celebrate in your day-to-day life, we hope you will join us at Grace for worship.  Our services during this season will focus more on confession and forgiveness than other times of the year.  This is not because we believe that we are more in need of forgiveness.  Actually, Lutherans believe that everyone is equally a saint and a sinner.  We also believe that God’s grace is a gift that erases all the times we’ve done the wrong thing - even when we’ve enjoyed it.  Our congregation’s name is Grace because we really love how God names, claims and loves everyone. 

So why so serious this time of year?  We know that life is rough sometimes.  Cancer, HIV/AIDS, depression, debt, racism, the death of those who leave us too soon, war, poverty and homelessness and countless other things are very real and heartbreaking.  Faith and worship that ignores all the rough things in life, leaves us unprepared, unable to mourn and unable to respond to the unjust parts of life. 

During this time of Lent, we invite you to sit with all the uncomfortable parts of your life.  Our worship is designed to help you notice that even during the rockiest times, God is with you and loves you. 

If you would like support during your Lenten journey, please reach out to Pastor Megan for a special visit or phone call.

Pastor Megan Rohrer’s  contact info:                        pastor@gracesf.com                   415-827-2587