- Aug 7, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 9, 2022
Veradale United Church of Christ An Open & Affirming Congregation Worshiping God in Christ – Welcoming All – Working for Justice & Peace “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!” August 7, 2022 • 10:30 a.m. _________________________ 10:20am Gathering and Prelude Wayne Shull, Music Director Charlie Salt, Acolyte and AV Naomi Hanvey Facebook Monitor Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor 10:30am Worship begins God is heard in the wind. . . all the time! All the time . . . God is heard in the wind! Opening prayer “O great spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds, I come to you as one of your many children. I need your strength and your wisdom. Make me strong, and not to be superior to my brother, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, Myself.” Chief Dan George (1899-1980) Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Chief Dan George was a Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a Coast Salish band whose Indian Reserve is located on Burrard Inlet in the southeast area of the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He also was an actor, musician, poet, and author. Passing the Peace and Welcoming the Light Christ Hymn: “Many and Great” 3 (NCH) Public domain 1. Many and great, O God, are your works, maker of earth and sky. Your hands have set the heavens with stars; your fingers spread the mountains and plains. Lo, at your word the waters were formed; deep seas obey your voice. 2 Grant unto us communion with you, O star-abiding One. Come unto us and dwell with us; with you are found the gifts of life. Bless us with life that has no end, eternal life with you. Community Prayer CCLI license #11038266 ALL: My peace I give unto you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you. Prayers of Gratitude ALL: My peace I give unto you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you. Prayers of Concern ALL: My peace I give unto you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you. Silent Prayer ALL: My peace I give unto you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you. The Lord’s Prayer Response 812 (NCH) Amen, amen, amen. A Time of Offering An Invitation to Share Dedication: Dedication hymn 459 (NCH) vs. 1 Come of fount of every blessing tune my heart to sing your grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of endless grace.Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mount I’m fixed upon it, mount of God’s unfailing love. Prayer of Dedication The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air, the fragrance of the grass speaks to me. The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky, the rhythm of the sea, speaks to me. The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning, the dew drop of the flower, speaks to me. The strength of the fire, the taste of salmon, the trail of the sun, and the life that never goes away, they speak to me and my heart soars. Amen By Chief Dan George Listening for God Scripture 1 Samuel 18:1-5 The Message 18 By the time David had finished reporting to Saul, Jonathan was deeply impressed with David—an immediate bond was forged between them. He became totally committed to David. From that point on he would be David’s number-one advocate and friend. 2 Saul received David into his own household that day, no more to return to the home of his father. 3-4 Jonathan, out of his deep love for David, made a covenant with him. He formalized it with solemn gifts: his own royal robe and weapons—armor, sword, bow, and belt. 5 Whatever Saul gave David to do, he did it—and did it well. So well that Saul put him in charge of his military operations. Everybody, both the people in general and Saul’s servants, approved of and admired David’s leadership. Philippians 2 The Message 2 1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. 5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. 9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father. 12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. 14-16 Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing. 17-18 Even if I am executed here and now, I’ll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ’s altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout’s fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don’t feel sorry for me. 19-24 I plan (according to Jesus’ plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy’s the real thing. He’s been a devoted son to me as together we’ve delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I’m hoping and praying to be right on his heels 25-27 But for right now, I’m dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I’m sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he’s been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others. 28-30 So you can see why I’m so delighted to send him on to you. When you see him again, strong and strapping, how you’ll rejoice and how relieved I’ll be. Give him a grand welcome, a joyful embrace! People like him deserve the best you can give. Remember the ministry to me that you started but weren’t able to complete? Well, in the process of finishing up that work, he put his life on the line and nearly died doing it. Message: She’s My Sister, He’s My Brother Silence Holy Communion Wayne: Friends in Christ, we gather at our many tables mindful of the presence of God’s Spirit that is here with us. We seek to honor the request of Jesus given in the scripture. Of all the teachings Jesus gave to our ancestors, this is one he asked them and us to do that we might remember him. When Jesus and his friends sat together at a Passover meal, Jesus took bread; giving God thanks and praise, he broke the bread. He gave it to his friends saying, “Take this all of you and eat of it. This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” After the meal had ended, Jesus poured out the cup and again he gave God thanks and praise. He gave the cup to his friends and said, “Take this all of you and drink from it. This is the cup of the new covenant. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me.” Let us pray. All: Come, Holy Spirit come. Bless this bread and this cup and all who have gathered in your Spirit. Help us to remember that you have dwelt among us. Help us to dwell in the world today as living temples of your presence. Bless us to remember your teachings, commandments, and example. May we be renewed in this sharing. Amen. Silence Prayer of Thanksgiving All: We thank you, God, for your presence as we remember the Living Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you are among us still, in each of us, and in all of your creation. Bless us to more fully live as your people. Amen. Announcements Our Light moves into the World God Loves Hymn: ““Bind us Together” Bind us together, Lord, bind us together With cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord, Bind us together, Bind us together with love. There is only one God, There is only one King; There is only one Body, That is why we sing: Refrain You are the family of God, You are the promise divine; You are God's chosen desire, You are the glorious new wine. Benediction and “What does the Lord Require of You” Postlude
