The Season of Pentecost 2023

—focus on Spiritual Growth (Aug 13)

This Liturgy of Growth is drawn from many sources, edited by Dr DJ Cheek.

Prelude

*** Love, Pray, Gather, Serve ***

Welcome stand

P: The Lord be with you.

C: And also with you.

P: The God of love is with us.

C: The Spirit of his love is in our midst.

P: Jesus, the Son of God, moves among us.

C: We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

P: We are gathered in the name of the Father, the of Son + and the of Holy Spirit, One God.

C: Amen.

P: Come now all who thirst

C: and drink the water of life.

P: Come now all who hunger

C: and be ?illed with good things.

P: Come now all who seek

C: and be warmed by the ?ire of love. (from the Iona Abbey Worship Book)

Blessing of Water (with “Asperges”—rite of sprinkling)

AM: O God, make haste to save us.

C: Make haste to help us, O Lord.

AM: Save us; as you preserved Noah through the Slood waters,

C: Bless us, and keep us, O Lord;

AM: Deliver us, as you saved Moses and the Children of Israel through the waters of the Red Sea;

C: Set us free, Father;

AM: Save us, as you recalled Jonah from the abyss;

C: Redeem us from the cords of Death;

AM: Reach down and lift us up, as you stretched forth your hand to Peter as he sank in the Storm,

C: Rescue us, and increase our faith;

AM: Wash us in the holy waters of victory over sin, Death and the Devil.

C: All who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.

AM: We were buried with him by baptism into death.

C: As Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too should walk in newness of life, because the powerful Spirit of his resurrection lives in us, too. (Ro6:3-5)

AM: Clothe us in your truth, enfold us in your mantle of light, encircle us with the belt of your love, adorn us with your deeds of compassion and mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

C: Amen (inspired by the Stowe Sacramentary ca. 792, Ireland)

AM: The righteous Slourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

C: They are planted in the house of the LORD; they ?lourish in the courts of our God.

AM: They still bear fruit in old age; they are always full of sap and green,

C: They declare that the LORD is upright; he is our rock, and full of justice. (Psalm 92:12-15)

AM: We worship the Father who created us, the Son + who redeemed us, and the Spirit, who gives us life.

C: Amen. (from Carmina Gadelica, 1992)

Invitation

P: Come, Lord, enter our darkness with your light; Sill our emptiness with your presence;

C: Come, refresh, restore, renew us.

P: In our sadness, come as joy, In our troubles, come as peace,

C: In our fearfulness, come as hope, In our darkness, come as light,

P: In our frailty, come as strength, In our loneliness come as love,

C: Come, refresh, restore, renew us. (modiSied from Rev David Adam, Lindisfarne)

Prayer of the Day

LP: Through the storms of life, O God, you are with your people in the person of Jesus your Son. Calm our fears and strengthen our faith that we may never doubt his presence among us but proclaim that he is your Son, risen from the dead, living for ever and ever.

C: Amen. sit

Readings

L: The Old Testament reading is from: Genesis 37 Feed our Faith!

L: Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the Slock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. And Israel said to Joseph, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the Slock; and bring word back to me. […] Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams." But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life. Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of [their cousins the] Ishmaelites coming, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, "What proSit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own Slesh." And his brothers agreed. They drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt. …This is the Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

Psalm 85:8-13

I will listen to what the Lord | God is saying; for you speak peace to your faithful people and to those who turn their | hearts to you.

Truly, your salvation is very near to | those who fear you, that your glory may dwell | in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness have | met together; righteousness and peace have | kissed each other. Faithfulness shall spring up | from the earth, and righteousness shall look | down from heaven. The Lord will indeed | grant prosperity, and our land will | yield its increase. Righteousness shall go be- | fore the Lord and shall prepare for | God a pathway.

L: The New Testament reading is from: Romans 10 Feed our Faith!

L: The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justiSied, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

…This is the Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.