a community creating for the relentless return of Sunday
(based on Ephesians 2:11-22)
You are no longer aliens.
We are citizens with the saints.
You are no longer strangers.
We are members of the household of God.
Here we are built into the dwelling place of God! Alleluia!
Submitted by Rev. Christy Ramsey, Goodyear Heights Presbyterian Church, Akron, Ohio
It’s Tuesday morning! Do you know where your liturgy is? What have you been doing this summer? This would be a great time to check in, leave a comment here, and let us know what you need, what has been helpful to you at LiturgyLink, and what you have written that you want to share with your colleagues! What creative things have you done in worship this summer.
While 2 of us are spending time in Scotland…and one of us is preparing a trip to Kansas City &San Francisco in a week, we still have to deal with the relentless return of Sunday.
So what is your focus on Sunday? Will you reflect on David’s desire to build a house for God (2 Samuel 7:1–14a)? The familiar words of the 23rd Psalm whose writer finds comfort in God’s presence and providence? Paul’s encouragement to the Christians who do not come from the Jewish tradition, that they are part of the promises of God (Ephesians 2:11-22)? Or will you reflect on the relentless nature of the people who wanted to see Jesus, and his unshakeable compassion to care for them (Mark 6:30-34,53-56)?
Let’s talk! 🙂
Guess what? Monday morning means that Sunday is on its way soon. How did last Sunday go? For those of you in America or Canada, did you touch on the national holidays at all? Or will you this coming Sunday? Or are you a “keep the 4th of July out of church!” church?
This week in the lectionary is one of those weeks that makes me glad we are doing a summer series…creating liturgy around some of these texts is going to be a challenge! I look forward to everyone rising to the challenge, though, and sharing the brilliance with friends around the world.
So…in the Old Testament readings this week we have David being anointed king (and hey, check out those verses omitted from the lectionary…whoo-ee!), and a psalm about the presence and might of God/King in Jerusalem being so great it put others to flight/awe. Perfect for the weekend after the Fourth of July, right?
In the New Testament we have an epistle reading that actually made me shake my head in surprise at the beginning (someone taken up into the third heaven? really?), and then wonder again about that pesky thorn…and a gospel reading where the thorn in Jesus’ flesh seems to be the unbelief of the people in his own town (and his response to that–which is to send out others to share the good news too! Indeed, grace is sufficient.)
So what’s the liturgical word on your street this week?
Call to Reconciliation
We know the words we have spoken which have
broken a relationship; we know the deeds we have
done which separate us from friends and families.
We know how we have failed to be faithful followers
of Jesus. Let us confess our sins, trusting that God
will touch us with the healing power of grace.
Unison Prayer of Confession
All too often, God of Excellence, it is the hem of
sin we cling to, letting it drag us through the mud of
fear and failures. You offer us that love which will
always be with us, but we find it difficult to share it
with those who need it most. You fill us with an
abundance of gifts, but we think we need them all
for ourselves.
Forgive us, God of Gentle Hope. You do not
keep a list of all that we have done wrong, but erase
our failings and foolishness, writing a new ending for
our lives. You touch us with your grace, you lift us to
our feet, you strengthen us so we may follow our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, in service to all your children.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
L: This is the good news, dear friends: God’s love
has no ending; God’s hope rests upon us each day;
God’s forgiveness restores us to new life.
P: Our God listens to us – to our cries, and to our joys;
to our hopes and to our hearts. Thanks be to God,
we are forgiven. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.
L: With friends and strangers,
with family and neighbors, we gather:
P: Come among us, Healing God,
with that love which never ends.
L: With faith reaching out to touch,
with hearts straining to trust, we hope:
P: Come among us, Friend of the broken,
with your compassion which makes us whole.
L: With word and wonder,
with silence and song, we wait:
P: Come among us, Dryer of our tears,
to lift us to our feet to follow you.
Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.
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