Second Sunday After Pentecost
**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.
Introduction to the Day
A house divided against itself cannot stand. Jesus makes this
observation in light of charges that he is possessed. He is possessed, not by a
demon, but by the Holy Spirit. We who have received the Holy Spirit through
baptism have been joined to Christ’s death and resurrection and knit together
in the body of Christ. Those with whom we sing and pray this day are Jesus’
family. With them we go forth in peace to do the will of God.
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who forgives all our sin,
whose mercy endures forever.
Amen.
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we
are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in
thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as
ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive
us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your
ways, to the glory of your holy name.
Amen.
God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. In the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith.
Amen.
Gathering Song – What a Friend We Have in Jesus (ELW #742)
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.
Canticle of Praise – Glory to God (page #213)
Prayer of the Day
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
All-powerful God, in Jesus Christ you turned death into life and defeat
into victory. Increase our faith and trust in him, that we may triumph over all
evil in the strength of the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Readings
A reading from the First Book of Samuel 8.4-20, 11.14-15
Then all the elders of Israel gathered
together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “You are old and your
sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us,
like other nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a
king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel,
“Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have
not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as
they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day,
forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then,
listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the
ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
So Samuel reported all the words of the
Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “These will be the
ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint
them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots;
and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of
fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his
implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your
daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your
fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will
take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers
and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of
your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of
your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out
because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will
not answer you in that day.”
But the people refused to listen to the
voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us,
so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and
go out before us and fight our battles.”
Samuel said to the people, “Come, let
us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” So all the people went to
Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they
sacrificed offerings of well-being before the Lord, and there Saul and all the
Israelites rejoiced greatly.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 138
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your
praise;
I bow down toward
your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your
steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your
word
above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of
soul.
All the kings of the
earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your
mouth.
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for great is the glory of the
Lord.
For though the Lord
is high, he regards the lowly;
but the haughty he perceives from far away.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me against the
wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your
hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord,
endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of
your hands.
A reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 4.13-5.1
But just as we have the same spirit of
faith that is in accordance with scripture – “I believed, and so I spoke” – we
also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord
Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his
presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to
more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
So we do not lose heart. Even though
our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of
glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what
cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
For we know that if the earthly tent we
live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Children’s Message
From Sermons 4 Kids
Have you ever been to a family reunion? You know what that is, don't you? It is a time for all the members of a family to get together — grandpas and grandmas, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and lots and lots of cousins. Most of the time it will include playing a lot of games and eating a lot of food, but the main reason for a reunion is to help family members to stay in touch with one another. Many times family members become scattered and live in different towns and different states far away from one another. They may keep in contact by email or by phone, but nothing beats a family reunion to help a family to stay in touch.
We should never overlook the importance of family. In the very first book of the Bible, God established the family. He created Adam and Eve, blessed them, and said, "Be fruitful and multiply." God intended for family members to be there to care for one another in times of need. Family is there to help us when we are sick. When we are young, our parents and grandparents look after us. As our parents and grandparents get older, that sometimes changes and we become the ones to take care of our parents or grandparents. That's what family is all about.
You might not realize it, but when we put our faith in Jesus, we become a part of another family. We become a part of God's family. In our Bible reading today, Jesus looked at a group of people seated around him and said, "See my mother and my brothers. Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." When we put our faith in Jesus, we become a part of a family of believers — the church. Just as the members of our earthly family have a responsibility to love and care for one another, members of our church family have a responsibility to love and care for one another.
What are some ways we can show love to our brothers and sisters in the family of God?
• Pray for those who are sick.
• Feed those who are hungry.
• Give clothing to those in need.
• Give shelter to the homeless.
• Comfort those who are sad.
• Be a friend to those who have no friends.
Family is important — our earthly family and our spiritual family. Never take them for granted.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, we thank you for our families. Thank you for grandparents, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. We also thank you for our church family. Help us to love and care for one another as you have taught us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark 3.20-35
Glory to you, O Lord.
and the crowd came together again, so
that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to
restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the
scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler
of the demons he casts out demons.” And he called them to him, and spoke to them
in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself
and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a
strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong
man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
“Truly I tell you, people will be
forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of
an eternal sin” – for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
May only truth be spoken and only truth
received. Amen.
Over the next couple of months, we will be reading about the vast saga of Samuel, Saul, David, and Solomon that is spread over the books of Samuel. These books are not archeological history, but stories passed down from generation to generation that tells about the leadership of Israel. There are lessons we can learn from these stories so let’s learn them together.
Israel was supposed to be unique because God would be its leader and God kept calling prophets to help with this leadership.
Prophets like Abraham who was called to start a new community.
And Moses who was called to free that community from enslavement.
Today we heard the passage from Samuel chapter 8. Samuel was the current prophet called by God to help with leading the people of Israel.
All of the Israelite elders got together and went to Samuel, who was getting on in years. They said to him, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed and the Lord answered, “Comply with the people’s request, everything they ask of you, because they haven’t rejected you – no, they’ve rejected me as king over them.”
The people of Israel demanded to have a king, a human king, just like everyone else. Since all the other nations have a king, the people essentially tell Samuel, we want one too. After all, if everyone else has a king, it must be right, right?
Samuel, however, can see no wisdom in this plea for a king. He probably recognizes that Israel’s desire to be like “all the other nations” conflicts with Israel’s status as God’s special people. Samuel also knows that God longs to form a people in God’s image rather than in the image of everyone else.
Eventually, Samuel complies with their request, but he says, “When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose for yourselves, but on that day, the Lord won’t answer you.” But the people refused to listen to Samuel, and said, “No, there must be a king over us so we can be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us to fight our battles.”
This generation was simply unable to envision a nation led by God. By God’s amazing grace, Israel enjoyed an intimate relationship with God that none of “the other nations” enjoyed. Yet the Israelites remain stubbornly willing to surrender that uniqueness in order to be just like all the other nations, no matter how much it costs them.
This new stage in Israel’s communal life, the movement from theocracy to monarchy, begins with a stern warning from God. God made it plain. Leadership by anyone other than God, was a bad idea.
God told Samuel to inform the people that their king would eventually make slaves of them, but the people refused to listen.
God insisted that if the people were to persist and pursue this course of action, the consequences would not be happy ones:
• He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.
• He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work.
• He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
• And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
Bad idea or not, the people insisted and God relented. God (and later the people) chose Saul, whose only qualifications were that he was tall and handsome.
Saul comes into a very difficult situation. He has never been king, nor has Israel ever had a king.
There is no instruction manual available, no human resources department, or any previous king to serve as a mentor; further Saul’s reign begin during a period of transition.
Saul does not always make the best choices and angers Samuel and God. He is a successful military leader, but several of Saul’s decisions actually lead to his demise and eventual loss of the kingship.
Ultimately, tragically, Saul will fail at a job he neither sought nor wanted.
In summary, Today’s passage from 1 Samuel is about a marginalized group of people finding a bit of liberation, then seeking to recreate some of the very systems they escaped, and in the process turning their back on God and oppressing themselves.
From God’s perspective, Israel is selling short its own freedom gained in the exodus for a form of royal oppression. Freed to be God’s servant through the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites turn and subscribe to the very yoke of royal oppression that Samuel details to them: drafts for war, labor for the king, land appropriation, taxation, livestock confiscation, and finally, permanent enslavement.
In God’s eyes, a king’s unbridled, brutal rule would amount to Israel changing her identity and selling her freedom drastically short: from a dynamic and unique servanthood directly under the leadership of God, to the servanthood of a despotic human ruler.
God tried to talk them out of it, but they wouldn’t listen.
God warned them of what would happen to them, but they wouldn’t listen.
In the end, God threw in the towel and let the Israelites decide for themselves. From there, they decided to live under a king and to not heed God’s warnings.
God’s words of warning are as relevant today as they were in biblical times. Leadership is not to be taken lightly, nor handled frivolously.
As well, not everyone is built to be a leader. It takes a certain skill set to be a leader. While Saul may have been appointed king, his leadership skills left something to be desired.
As we will see in the coming weeks, David and Solomon don’t fare much better.
Leadership is, ultimately, a matter of the heart. Although other leadership qualifications may be needed, the heart remains a constant in any circumstance. As will be seen in the life of David, good leadership is, indeed, a matter of the heart — a heart tuned to God and the good of all.
In the end, God may allow us to deal with the consequences of those bad choices, just as Israel had to accept the grim consequences of her demand for a king. Yet even in those bad choices and grim consequences, the Lord always somehow works for our good.
Hymn of the Day – Holy Spirit Truth
Divine (ELW #398)
Creed
Let us confess
the faith of our baptism, as we say the 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.
Prayers of Intercession
Let us come before the triune God in prayer.
Silence
God of wholeness, we pray for believers all over the globe. Unify us in service of the gospel, that we may work together as beloved siblings to share your love with all.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God of the cosmos, we pray for creation; the gardens, waterways and creatures near to us and diverse forms of life that remain unseen. Teach us to treat the natural world with reverence, seeking restoration when human divisions have caused harm to your beloved creation.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God of all people, we pray for harmony among the nations. Cast out from us unclean spirits of greed and fear, that we may work in solidarity with one another for the common good.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God of abundance, we pray for those who are oppressed or in any need. Encourage those who have begun to lose heart. Strengthen and renew us with your Spirit.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God of righteousness, we pray for this holy house of worship. Set our gaze upon things eternal, that in thanksgiving for your mercy, we may extend grace to more and more people.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.
God of the ages, in your goodness you have sent us faithful witnesses for every time and place. We give you thanks for those saints who now rest in your eternal mercy.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
(The remainder of today’s prayers provided by Melanie Delva.)
God who came into the world as a child, we bring before you in deep grief the children who did not survive Residential Schools. Continue to hold them closely in the safety, comfort and everlasting Love which you desire for all creation. Hear again our cries of sorrow and lament for our participation in a system that allowed these deaths to happen. Forgive us.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Holy Spirit, in the unimaginable pain of this loss, when all words fail, hear and hold our “groans too deep for words” as we see and honour the anguish of families left without the life, love and laughter each child represents. Be present with us in the myriad of emotions that the release of these names may bring – sadness, anger, relief, confusion, fear. Guard also the hearts and minds of survivors as they are faced again with memories of their own trauma and suffering.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Jesus, who showed us how Love is meant to live in the world, call us again out of denial and into truth, out of despair and into hope. Spur us to action in the places where systems of injustice prevail. Provoke us to speak out against racism, discrimination, climate injustice, and all that stands between us and the good, just, beautiful life you designed for us together. Be our strength when weak, our courage when afraid, our light in dark places.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Hear our prayer, God of all, in the name of your son the Reconciler of all things.
Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Hymn of Thanksgiving – Rock of Ages (ELW
#623)
**Although not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking place.
Thanksgiving for the Word
Let us pray.
O God of justice and love, we give thanks to you that you illumine our
way through life with the words of your Son. Give us the light we need, awaken
us to the needs of others, and at the end bring all the world to your feast;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy
Spirit, be honor and glory forever.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
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.
Blessing
May our glorious God grant you a spirit of
wisdom to know and to love the risen Lord Jesus.
The God of life, Creator, ☩ Redeemer, and Sanctifier, bless you now and forever.
Amen.
Sending Song – What a Fellowship, What a Joy Divine (ELW #774)
Dismissal
Go in peace. Christ is with you.
Thanks be to God.
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