August 25, 2019

August 25, 2019

Proper 16

Worship Resources from
the Center for Faith and Giving

Jeremiah 1:4-10 

Psalm 71:1-6 

Hebrews 12:18-29

Luke 13:10-17

 Call to Worship  (from Psalm 71)
One:  Come!  We have a rock of refuge ready to receive us.
Many:  In the face of so much which tears down and scatters,
we gather to worship the Rock of our salvation.
One:  We turn to lean on the Lord,
Many:  and offer our praise to the One we can trust.
One:  God yearns to rescue us from the grasp of the unjust,
Many:  so come!  Let us worship the Lord our God!

(consider singing Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, CH 622
or Source and Sovereign, Rock and Cloud, CH 12 as an opening hymn)

Opening Prayer
You are the strong deliverer, God!  We rejoice, knowing you hold us in your powerful hand.  In this hour, help us find refuge in you.  Strengthen each one of us, and this congregation, so we might step from this service back into the swirl and sweep of our daily lives, secure in your presence. AMEN

Moment for Stewardship 

Anyone who has thrown out your back, pinched a nerve, or endured deteriorating discs might have true empathy for the woman of Luke 13.
This un-named woman had endured a crippling spirit for 18 years!

Jesus saw her, called her over to declare, “you are set free from your ailment”, and laid hands on her. Healing was a gift Jesus could give.

What about you?

In this offering time, it’s great for you to give gifts of coin and check – and this congregation depends on you faithfully sharing financial resources which can be translated into the means of ministry.  But this also is an opportunity for you to offer your gifts of care and compassion, your gift of encouragement, of challenge, of courageous commentary.

Jesus recognized and seized the moment.  How will you do that today?  Your actions may well be the cause for rejoicing.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

May we welcome your gifts, and the gifts of each one here, with thanksgiving, Loving God.  May we share these gifts with grace, so others might be touched by your love, healed by your touch, fed and nourished by your compassion.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.

(adapted from Thom Shuman, http://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.com/2016/08/liturgy-wcommunion-for-august-21-2016.html)

Invitation to Communion 

Today our table deserves to be lit by fire – not mere candles but a hot, vibrant flame that cooks bread, chases away fears, and brings comfort to those lost in darkness.
This simple table of bread and cup is anything but simple.  Around this table, we’re united with brothers and sisters of all time and place and practice.  At this table, can you hear the testimony of the woman freed from crippling bondage?  In the midst of bread and cup, do you feel the freedom cries from all those liberated by Jesus?  This is the table of many who recognize the desire to take refuge from the toils of life.
Come.  Eat the bread of life.
Come.  Drink the cup of the new covenant.
Come!  Find you are healed to stand tall once more.
Come!

(adapted from  https://ruachwords.org/2016/08/15/twenty-first-sunday-in-ordinary-time-c-august-21-2016/)

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