Virtual Worship for June 13, 2021
Third Sunday after Pentecost
PRELUDE
God Has Chosen Me, Bernadette Farrell
GATHERING
ANNOUNCEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
The mustard seed becomes a great shrub that shelters the birds, recalling ancient images of the tree of life. We’d expect a cedar or a sequoia, but Jesus finds the power of God better imaged in a tiny, no-account seed. It’s not the way we expect divine activity to look. Yet the tree of life is here, in the cross around which we gather, the tree into which we are grafted through baptism, the true vine that nourishes us with its fruit in the cup we share. It may not appear all that impressive, but while nobody’s looking it grows with a power beyond our understanding.
The congregation stands.
GATHERING HYMN
Come Thou Font of Every Blessing (ELW 807)
1. Come, thou Fount of ev'ry blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
While the hope of endless glory
fills my heart with joy and love,
teach me ever to adore thee;
may I still thy goodness prove.
2. Here I raise my Ebenezer:
"Hither by thy help I've come";
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wand'ring from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
3. Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be;
let that grace now like a fetter
bind my wand'ring heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.
Text: Robert Robinson, 1735-1790, alt.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Blessed be the holy Trinity,☩ one God,
the God of manna,
the God of miracles,
the God of mercy.
Amen.
Drawn to Christ and seeking God’s abundance,
let us confess our sin.
Silence is kept for reflection.
God, our provider,
help us.
It is hard to believe there is enough to share.
We question your ways when they differ from the ways
of the world in which we live.
We turn to our own understanding
rather than trusting in you.
We take offense at your teachings and your ways.
Turn us again to you.
Where else can we turn?
Share with us the words of eternal life
and feed us for life in the world.
Amen.
Beloved people of God:
in Jesus, the manna from heaven,
you are fed and nourished.
By Jesus, the worker of miracles,
there is always more than enough.
Through Jesus, ☩ the bread of life,
you are shown God’s mercy:
you are forgiven and loved into abundant life.
Amen.
GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O God, you are the tree of life, offering shelter to all the world. Graft us into yourself and nurture our growth, that we may bear your truth and love to those in need, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
The congregation is seated.
WORD
FIRST READING
Ezekiel 17:22-24
A reading from Ezekiel.
Tree imagery is used in a messianic prophecy to tell how the Lord will choose someone from Judah’s royal family (the cedar tree) to reign over all creation. This tree will be planted on Mount Zion, the location of the holy temple.
Thus says the Lord God:
I myself will take a sprig
from the lofty top of a cedar;
I will set it out.
I will break off a tender one
from the topmost of its young twigs;
I myself will plant it
on a high and lofty mountain.
On the mountain height of Israel
I will plant it,
in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit,
and become a noble cedar.
Under it every kind of bird will live;
in the shade of its branches will nest
winged creatures of every kind.
All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the Lord.
I bring low the high tree,
I make high the low tree;
I dry up the green tree
and make the dry tree flourish.
I the Lord have spoken;
I will accomplish it.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PSALMODY
Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15
(Read responsively.)
It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praise to your name, O Most High;
to herald your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night;
on the psaltery, and on the lyre,
and to the melody of the harp.
For you have made me glad by your acts, O Lord;
and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God;
they shall still bear fruit in old age;
they shall be green and succulent;
that they may show how upright the Lord is,
my rock, in whom there is no injustice.
SECOND READING
2 Corinthians 5:6-17
A reading from Second Corinthians.
Paul encourages believers to live by faith and not by sight. We do not consider Jesus from a human perspective but through the eyes of faith, believing he died for all and was raised. All who are in Christ are now in God’s new creation.
6So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord—7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.
11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. 12We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart. 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.
16From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The congregation stands.
GOSPEL
Mark 4:26-34
The holy gospel according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.
26[Jesus] said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
The congregation is seated.
SERMON
Beside Ourselves for Christ
Pastor Brown
The congregation stands.
HYMN OF THE DAY
Praise and Thanksgiving (ELW 689)
1. Praise and thanksgiving, God, we would offer
for all things living, you have made good:
harvest of sown fields, fruits of the orchard,
hay from the mown fields, blossom and wood.
2. God, bless the labor we bring to serve you,
that with our neighbor we may be fed.
Sowing or tilling, we would work with you,
harvesting, milling for daily bread.
3. Father, providing food for your children,
by Wisdom's guiding teach us to share
one with another, so that, rejoicing
with us, all others may know your care.
4. Then will your blessing reach ev'ry people,
freely confessing your gracious hand.
Where you are reigning, no one will hunger;
your love sustaining showers the land.
Text: Albert F. Bayly, 1901-1984, alt.
Text © Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Duplication in any form prohibited without permission or valid license from copyright administrator.
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.*
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
*Or, “he descended into hell,” another translation of this text in widespread use.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Let us come before the triune God in prayer.
A brief silence.
The response to “Lord, in your mercy,” is “hear our prayer.”
The prayers conclude:
We lift our prayers to you, O God, trusting in your abiding grace.
Amen.
The congregation is seated.
MEAL
OFFFERING
OFFERTORY
This little Light of Mine, African American Spiritual
The GSLC Kids accompanied by Chris Simcox
The congregation stands.
OFFERING PRAYER
Let us pray. Jesus, Bread of life,
you have set this table with your very self,
and called us to the feast of plenty.
Gather what has been sown among us,
and strengthen us in this meal.
Make us to be what we receive here,
your body for the life of the world.
Amen.
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
DIALOGUE
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
PREFACE
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that we should at all times and in all places
give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God.
You reveal your glory
as the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit:
equal in majesty, undivided in splendor, one Lord, one God,
ever to be adored in your eternal glory.
And so, with all the choirs of angels,
with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven,
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
THANKSGIVING AT THE TABLE
You are indeed holy, almighty and merciful God.
You are most holy,
and great is the majesty of your glory.
You so loved the world that you gave your only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish
but have eternal life.
We give you thanks for his coming into the world
to fulfill for us your holy will
and to accomplish all things for our salvation.
Hold up your communion kits.
In the night in which he was betrayed,
our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and gave it for all to drink, saying:
This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup,
we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Remembering, therefore, his salutary command,
his life-giving passion and death, his glorious resurrection and ascension,
and the promise of his coming again,
we give thanks to you, O Lord God Almighty,
not as we ought but as we are able;
we ask you mercifully to accept our praise and thanksgiving
and with your Word and Holy Spirit to bless us, your servants,
and these your own gifts of bread and wine,
so that we and all who share in the body and blood of Christ
may be filled with heavenly blessing and grace,
and, receiving the forgiveness of sin,
may be formed to live as your holy people
and be given our inheritance with all your saints.
To you, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be all honor and glory in your holy church, now and forever.
Amen, amen, amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
Christ has set the table with more than enough for all.
Come!
The congregation is seated.
COMMUNION
Today our First Communicants and their families will commune first.
When they are finished, Holy Communion will be consumed together
by the rest of the congregation at your seats.
When giving the bread and cup, the pastors will say:
The body of Christ given for you. The blood of Christ shed for you.
\Everyone may respond by saying: Amen.
The congregation stands.
POST-COMMUNION BLESSING
The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Jesus, Bread of life,
we have received from your table
more than we could ever ask.
As you have nourished us in this meal,
now strengthen us to love the world with your own life.
In your name we pray.
Amen.
SENDIING
BLESSING
The blessing of God,
who provides for us, feeds us, and journeys with us,
☩ be upon you now and forever.
Amen.
SENDING HYMN
Spread, Oh Spread, Almighty Word (ELW 663)
1. Spread, oh, spread, almighty Word,
spread the reign of God the Lord.
Send forth our Creator's call,
heaven's gifts extend to all.
2. Tell of our Redeemer's grace,
who, to save our human race
and to pay rebellion's price,
gave himself as sacrifice.
3. Tell of God the Spirit giv'n
now to guide us on to heav'n,
strong and holy, just and true,
working both to will and do.
4. Lord of harvest, great and kind,
rouse to action heart and mind;
let the gath'ring nations all
see your light and heed your call.
Text: Jonathan F. Bahnmaier, 1774-1841; tr. Lutheran Book of Worship, alt.
Text © 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, admin. Augsburg Fortress.
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. You are the body of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
There's A Wideness In God's Mercy,
Tune: WELLESLEY
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