Proper 15B/Ordinary 20B/Pentecost 13

Proper 15B | Ordinary 20B | Pentecost 13 August 15, 2021 NEW: FOR POETRY PEW CLICK HERE! FOR A BEAD AND A PRAYER CLICK HERE A Liturgy For Worship and Meditation —Use All Or Any Portion As You Choose—
	Prayer Of Centering In Preparation Almighty God, Wisdom beyond our most daring imaginations, you come to us in every breath we take. Help us to breathe deeply, that your Wisdom would stir our heart of hearts, and bring us to know your presence here. Teach us, O God, the Wisdom of your ways. Call To Worship O God Most High, our God of Hosts, we are famished. Life has been challenging. We have tried to live our days in love, with hope, and by just peace. Some days we have done better than on other days. Some days we failed big-time. We come acknowledging our need to be restored and refreshed. Renew us, O God, revive us unto life that is abundant and fulfilled in your promises. All that we might worship you in Spirit and in Truth. Opening Prayer God of all, Wise and Holy, we long for wisdom and truth, but are often seduced by the clamor of the world and its foolishness. Help us hear your clarion call to wise and righteous living. Move the Spirit boldly through our lives so we live as children of truth with hearts and minds set on the things above. Feed us with the bread of compassion and the wine of joy so we dance through your world with hope, honesty, and love and for all, in the name of the One Living Bread who gives life for the life of the world. Amen. —Dawn Roucka https://revgalblogpals.org Prayer Of Illumination Almighty God, through the reading of holy Scripture, feed us with your living Word, open to us the wisdom of your realm, and reveal to us the way of everlasting life. Amen. —Long, Kim. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. I Kings 2. 10-12; 3. 3-14 10 Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 He had reigned for forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the judgment seat of David, and his rule was firmly established. —————————— 03 Solomon showed his love for God Most High by following the precepts of David, except that he still offered sacrifices and incense at the shrines. 04 Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice since that was the chief shrine—Solomon offered one thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 05 At Gibeon God appeared in a dream to the ruler during in the night, saying, “Ask what you would like me to give you.” 06 Solomon replied, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, David, who was faithful, righteous, and obedient to you. And you have generously maintained this constant love toward us and now you have appointed a successor to sit on the judgment seat this very day. 07 Now, God of Hosts, my God, you have continued this kindness to David’s successor to sit on the judgment seat this very day. 08 Here I am in the midst of your chosen people, a people so numerous they cannot be counted. 09 Give me, your servant, a discerning heart, so that I may distinguish good from evil govern your people with wisdom.” 10 God Most High was very pleased that Solomon requested what he said. 11 So God said to Solomon, “Because this is what you asked for and not for a long life, or for wealth, or for the lives of your foes, but asked for discernment in administering justice, 12 I grant your request. And I give you a heart so wise and so understanding that there has been no one like you before your time, nor will there be after your time. 13 And furthermore, I give you those items which you did not ask for: wealth and glory which no ruler in your time can match. 14 If you keep my ways, keep our laws and commandments as David followed them, I will grant you long life.” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. Hebrew Lection Prayer You have made a covenant with humankind, O God, a promise of your life and truth. In your wisdom, you have gifted us with the commandments of peace and justice. Help us to keep your covenant and to always be following in your way. Grant us the discernment we need to understand your will. Amen. Psalm 111 01 Alleluia! I will thank you, God Most High, with all my heart in the meeting of the just and their assembly. 02 Great are your works, to be pondered by all who love them. 03 Majestic and glorious are your works, and your justice stands firm forever. 04 You make us remember your wonders—you are compassion and love. 05 You give food to those who revere you, keeping your Covenant ever in mind. 06 You reveal to your people the power of your actions by giving them the lands of the nations as their inheritance. 07 The works of your hands are truth and justice, and all your precepts are sure, 08 standing firm forever and ever, and carried out uprightly and faithfully. 09 You have sent deliverance to your people and established your Covenant forever. Your Name is holy and awe-inspiring! 10 Reverence for God Most High is the beginning of wisdom—and those who have it prove themselves wise. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. Psalm Prayer Great are your works, O God. Your creation proclaims your will. Grant that we may admire the greatness of your works, praise the glory of the Creator, and search out your perfect will in your commandments, that we may reverence, love and obey you and grow in our understanding. Amen. Ephesians 5. 15-20 15 Keep careful watch over your conduct. Don’t act like fools, but like wise and thoughtful people. 16 Make the most of your time, for these are evil days. 17 Don’t continue in ignorance, but try to discern the will of God. 18 Avoid getting drunk on wine—that is debauchery! Instead be filled with the Spirit, 19 meditating on psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music to God in your hearts. 20 Always give thanks to God for everything, in the name of Jesus the Anointed One. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. Epistle Lection Prayer We will bring to you our praise this and every day, in sacred places and working places, in the songs we sing and the whispers of our heart. For you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in mercy, abounding in love. You have blessed us through our lives and we will bring to you our praise this and every day. —Birch, John. The Act of Prayer: Praying through the Lectionary. Bible Reading Fellowship. John 6. 51-58 51 I myself am the living bread come down from heaven. If any eat this bread, they will live forever; the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Temple authorities then began to argue with one another. “How can he give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus replied, “The truth of the matter is, if you don’t eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Chosen One, you won’t have life in you. 54 Those who do eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Everyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in them. 57 Just as the living Abba God sent me and I have life because of Abba God, so those who feed on me will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. It’s not the kind of bread your ancestors ate, for they died; whoever eats this kind of bread will live forever.” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. Gospel Lection Prayer Incarnate God, when we gather under the signs and symbols of bread and wine, we begin to understand what it means to be your body in this world today. When we break the bread, are we not sharing in the Kin-Dom of God? When we share the cup, are we not claiming God's way for life on earth and it is in heaven? Here are now, we are the Body of Christ. Help us, O God, to be faithful to our identity. Amen. Invitation To Reconciliation In a world with much evil, God continues to work for good. In a culture which worships foolishness, God still offers wisdom as a gift. In a time filled with lies, God's promises are true. In a society obsessed with "reality," God's love is constant. Let us come to the One who offers the Bread of Life, the promise of redemption, and the grace of forgiveness.                      —https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning                  Prayer Of Brokenness Precious people of God, so often we have dined at the table of Folly, breaking God’s heart with our foolish and death-dealing ways. Come now, let us live as wise people feasting on the promises of life and redemption, grace and truth. Please join me as we layout our foolishness before God and others. —(SILENCE)— O God, you know, we have lived as unwise people. God, forgive us for wasting time, dining with folly and not being filled with you. We have often forsaken all that is good and right for that quick and easy snack. We have shunned and turn away from your table all who seem different. We have spoken bitter words or stayed silent poisoning relationships. We have feasted on the lies of the world and are starved for the wholeness that comes from You. Give again the bread of compassion and forgive our sins. Fill us and help us live wisely and walk with you. —Dawn Roucka https://revgalblogpals.org/ Words For Healing Taste again, the bread of life. Christ, the Living Bread from Heaven, came that you will have life forever. Your sins are forgiven; you are made new. Live as wise people, singing songs of forgiveness. We are the body of Christ. Amen —Dawn Roucka https://revgalblogpals.org Prayer Of Intercession Holy and awesome is your name. Faithful God, you are ever mindful of your covenant and invite us to ask gifts of your goodness. In your steadfast love, receive our requests for the well-being of your church, your world, and your people. You have redeemed your people. Holy and awesome is your name. Grant your church understanding and discernment to faithfully carry out your mission in the world. You have redeemed your people. Holy and awesome is your name. Cause us to walk in wisdom concerning your creation, mindfully stewarding its provision for all living creatures. You have redeemed your people. Holy and awesome is your name. Give those who govern wise and discerning minds, that your way of justice and compassion may prevail among the nations. You have redeemed your people. Holy and awesome is your name. Provide food for the hungry, hope for the despairing, and wisdom for the wandering. You have redeemed your people. Holy and awesome is your name. Help us make the most of the time, walking in your ways, filled with your Spirit, living out your will. You have redeemed your people. Holy and awesome is your name. In your steadfast love, let your wisdom uphold those we remember now aloud and in our hearts. You have redeemed your people. Holy and awesome is your name. We give you thanks for our ancestors, the great people you have chosen in all generations, who now rest with you. You have redeemed your people. Holy and awesome is your name. Holy and awesome God, you are the answer to our prayers. Amen. —Long, Kim. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Prayer For Wisdom (In Times Such As These) God we need wisdom, in these days of madness and misdirection, of panic and confusion Those who carry the weight of authority cannot adequately discern the common interest nor negotiate with allies and enemies on the strength of their own intelligence; Those who direct economies cannot easily recognise the value of things nor address the questions asked by wealth and poverty by human insight alone; Those who voice dreams and anxieties in sounds and images cannot offer hope and guidance nor challenge and disturb us to justice and compassion with their own frail inspiration; God we need wisdom, if we are to find the life we long for; And so we pray, lead us to yourself. Amen. —https://sacredise.com Prayer Of Thanksgiving When the journey is long and we hunger and thirst, Bread of Life, you sustain us. When the road is hard and our bodies weak, Bread of Life, you heal us. When our spirits are low and we can’t carry on, Bread of Life, you revive us. When we offer our hands in service and love, Bread of Life, you bless us. When the challenge is great and the workers are few, Bread of Life, you empower us. When the victory is won and we see your face, Bread of Life, you will rejoice with us. Thank you for feeding us in so many ways. —Birch, John. The Act of Prayer: Praying through the Lectionary. Bible Reading Fellowship. Prayer Of Dedication May we make wise choices, O God. May we choose life over selfishness. May we choose hope over comfort. May we choose justice over complacency. May we choose you over all other things. May we choose to speak when others are silent. May we choose to live peacefully when others are at war. May we choose to live in balance when others take for themselves. May we choose you over all other things. May we choose love over greed. May we choose grace over power. May we choose forgiveness over grudges. May we choose you over all other things. So that you choose us to be yours always and forever. Amen. —https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship Sending Forth Go, stuffed full with the blessings and grace of God our Provider Nourished by the Bread of Life, Jesus our brother And guided by the power of the Spirit, Lady Wisdom Go now in peace to nourish the world with God’s Grace. Live wisely in God’s name, now and always. Amen. —Dawn Roucka https://revgalblogpals.org
POETRY PEW "The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist" by Mary Oliver Something has happened To the bread And the wine. They have been blessed. What now? The body leans forward To receive the gift From the priest’s hand, Then the chalice. They are something else now From what they were Before this began. I want To see Jesus, Maybe in the clouds Or on the shore, Just walking, Beautiful man And clearly Someone else Besides. On the hard days I ask myself If I ever will. Also there are times My body whispers to me That I have. ———————————————————— Commenting on her poem Oliver wrote words of wisdom for theologians. "Centuries ago theologians claimed they had parsed with precision how God acted on the bread and wine during the celebration of the Eucharist. This wasn't helpful. Their lust for certitude bruised a mystery which was best left alone. It eventually birthed theological wars about the nature of a meal that was ironically intended to mend, not tear apart. I don't need to know what happens to the bread and wine to experience the oceanic love of God that I feel when I receive it, anymore than a newborn needs to know the mother's name and address to see and feel the adoration in her gaze." To which I wish all God's people might say, "Amen". —https://livingwittily.typepad.com/my_weblog/2013/10/the-vast-ocean-begins-just-outside-our-church.html (She published the poem in her collection titled ‘Thirst’ in 2006)] ———————————————————— A BEAD AND A PRAYER
	CROSS O God Most High, our God of Hosts, we are famished. Life has been challenging. We have tried to live our days in love, with hope, and by just peace. Some days we have done better than on other days. Some days we failed big-time. We come acknowledging our need to be restored and refreshed. Renew us, O God, revive us unto life that is abundant and fulfilled in your promises. All that we might worship you in Spirit and in Truth. INVITATORY God of all, Wise and Holy, we long for wisdom and truth, but are often seduced by the clamor of the world and its foolishness. Help us hear your clarion call to wise and righteous living. Move the Spirit boldly through our lives so we live as children of truth with hearts and minds set on the things above. Feed us with the bread of compassion and the wine of joy so we dance through your world with hope, honesty, and love and for all, in the name of the One Living Bread who gives life for the life of the world. Amen. —Dawn Roucka https://revgalblogpals.org CRUCIFORM Invitation To Reconciliation In a world with much evil, God continues to work for good. In a culture which worships foolishness, God still offers wisdom as a gift. In a time filled with lies, God's promises are true. In a society obsessed with "reality," God's love is constant. Let us come to the One who offers the Bread of Life, the promise of redemption, and the grace of forgiveness. —https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning Prayer Of Brokenness Precious people of God, so often we have dined at the table of Folly, breaking God’s heart with our foolish and death-dealing ways. Come now, let us live as wise people feasting on the promises of life and redemption, grace and truth. Please join me as we layout our foolishness before God and others. —(SILENCE)— O God, you know, we have lived as unwise people. God, forgive us for wasting time, dining with folly and not being filled with you. We have often forsaken all that is good and right for that quick and easy snack. We have shunned and turn away from your table all who seem different. We have spoken bitter words or stayed silent poisoning relationships. We have feasted on the lies of the world and are starved for the wholeness that comes from You. Give again the bread of compassion and forgive our sins—fill us and help us live wisely and walk with you. —Dawn Roucka https://revgalblogpals.org/ Words For Healing Taste again, the bread of life. Christ, the Living Bread from Heaven, came that you will have life forever. Your sins are forgiven; you are made new. Live as wise people, singing songs of forgiveness. We are the body of Christ. Amen —Dawn Roucka https://revgalblogpals.org WEEK 1 I Kings 2. 10-13; 3. 3-14 ♦ Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. He had reigned for forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ♦ So Solomon sat on the judgment seat of David, and his rule was firmly established. Solomon showed his love for God Most High by following the precepts of David, except that he still offered sacrifices and incense at the shrines. ♦ Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice since that was the chief shrine—Solomon offered one thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon God appeared in a dream to the ruler during in the night, saying, “Ask what you would like me to give you.” ♦ Solomon replied, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, David, who was faithful, righteous, and obedient to you. And you have generously maintained this constant love toward us and now you have appointed a successor to sit on the judgment seat this very day. Now, God of Hosts, my God, you have continued this kindness to David’s successor to sit on the judgment seat this very day. ♦ Here I am in the midst of your chosen people, a people so numerous they cannot be counted. Give me, your servant, a discerning heart, so that I may distinguish good from evil govern your people with wisdom.” ♦ God Most High was very pleased that Solomon requested what he said. So God said to Solomon, “Because this is what you asked for and not for a long life, or for wealth, or for the lives of your foes, but asked for discernment in administering justice, I grant your request. And I give you a heart so wise and so understanding that there has been no one like you before your time, nor will there be after your time. ♦ And furthermore, I give you those items which you did not ask for: wealth and glory which no ruler in your time can match. If you keep my ways, keep our laws and commandments as David followed them, I will grant you long life.” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. CRUCIFORM You have made a covenant with humankind, O God, a promise of your life and truth. In your wisdom, you have gifted us with the commandments of peace and justice. Help us to keep your covenant and to always be following in your way. Grant us the discernment we need to understand your will. Amen. WEEK 2 Psalm 111 ♦ Alleluia! I will thank you, God Most High, with all my heart in the meeting of the just and their assembly. ♦ Great are your works, to be pondered by all who love them. Majestic and glorious are your works, and your justice stands firm forever. ♦ You make us remember your wonders—you are compassion and love. You give food to those who revere you, keeping your Covenant ever in mind. ♦ You reveal to your people the power of your actions by giving them the lands of the nations as their inheritance. ♦ The works of your hands are truth and justice, and all your precepts are sure, standing firm forever and ever, and carried out uprightly and faithfully. ♦ You have sent deliverance to your people and established your Covenant forever. Your Name is holy and awe-inspiring! ♦ Reverence for God Most High is the beginning of wisdom—and those who have it prove themselves wise. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. CRUCIFORM Great are your works, O God. Your creation proclaims your will. Grant that we may admire the greatness of your works, praise the glory of the Creator, and search out your perfect will in your commandments, that we may reverence, love and obey you and grow in our understanding. Amen. WEEK 3 Ephesians 5. 15-20 ♦ Keep careful watch over your conduct. ♦ Don’t act like fools, but like wise and thoughtful people. ♦ Make the most of your time, for these are evil days. ♦ Don’t continue in ignorance, but try to discern the will of God. ♦ Avoid getting drunk on wine—that is debauchery! Instead be filled with the Spirit, ♦ meditating on psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music to God in your hearts. ♦ Always give thanks to God for everything, in the name of Jesus the Anointed One. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. CRUCIFORM We will bring to you our praise this and every day, in sacred places and working places, in the songs we sing and the whispers of our heart. For you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in mercy, abounding in love. You have blessed us through our lives and we will bring to you our praise this and every day. —Birch, John. The Act of Prayer: Praying through the Lectionary. Bible Reading Fellowship. WEEK 4 John 6. 51-58 ♦ I myself am the living bread come down from heaven. If any eat this bread, they will live forever; the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” ♦ The Temple authorities then began to argue with one another. “How can he give us his flesh to eat?” ♦ Jesus replied, “The truth of the matter is, if you don’t eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Chosen One, you won’t have life in you. ♦ Those who do eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ♦ Everyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in them. ♦ Just as the living Abba God sent me and I have life because of Abba God, so those who feed on me will have life because of me. ♦ This is the bread that came down from heaven. It’s not the kind of bread your ancestors ate, for they died; whoever eats this kind of bread will live forever.” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward CRUCIFORM Incarnate God, when we gather under the signs and symbols of bread and wine, we begin to understand what it means to be your body in this world today. When we break the bread, are we not sharing in the Kin-Dom of God? When we share the cup, are we not claiming God's way for life on earth and it is in heaven? Here are now, we are the Body of Christ. Help us, O God, to be faithful to our identity. Amen. INVITATORY God we need wisdom, in these days of madness and misdirection, of panic and confusion Those who carry the weight of authority cannot adequately discern the common interest nor negotiate with allies and enemies on the strength of their own intelligence; Those who direct economies cannot easily recognise the value of things nor address the questions asked by wealth and poverty by human insight alone; Those who voice dreams and anxieties in sounds and images cannot offer hope and guidance nor challenge and disturb us to justice and compassion with their own frail inspiration; God we need wisdom, if we are to find the life we long for; And so we pray, lead us to yourself. Amen. —https://sacredise.com CROSS Go, stuffed full with the blessings and grace of God our Provider Nourished by the Bread of Life, Jesus our brother And guided by the power of the Spirit, Lady Wisdom Go now in peace to nourish the world with God’s Grace. Live wisely in God’s name, now and always. Amen. —Dawn Roucka https://revgalblogpals.org