This Is Me: July 2022

Gathering of the Community

Opening Hymn: Part of the Family

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The Greeting:

Leader We come to this place from all kinds of places.

All We bring our hearts and our minds and our faces.

Leader We've come from near and we've come from far.

All We've come just the way we are.

Leader And while the words might be amusing,

We know they wouldn't be everyone's choosing.

Some folks who will remain anonymous,

Like their worship to be deuteronimous.

And that's OK if it floats your boat,

The readings, the hymns, the reciting by rote.

But today I think that's not what it takes.

Today our boats float on quite different-ish lakes.

The style will be different and before we begin it.

We have to make sure that we put our hearts in it.

So bring on the whimsy, the tunes and the rhymes.

Let our worship reflect our tides and our times.

And we gather this gathering in a gatherly way.

All To sing and to laugh and to dance and to pray.

Birthday/Anniversary Prayer

Is it your birthday? Let's give a big cheer!

We pray God will bless you all through the next year.

Be it one year, or eighty, we know you'll do fine

If His love surrounds you each moment of time.

And, for those who married, recall, if you may,

When you said your 'I do's' in a meaningful way.

May God's hand still guide you, may peace come to stay

May love fill your hearts as on your wedding day.

Hymn of Praise: Give Thanks

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The Collect for the Day

Presider Let us pray ...

God of all glory, of wind, and of fire,

All: We can’t praise you more, we can’t lift you higher!

Thank-you on behalf of all races and nation.

For a Spirit that fills us with great acclamations!

Though our tongues may be many, through you we find oneness.

Your Spirit unites us in joy and in fun-ness.

All praise be to Jesus, our Lord and Sin-taker;

And also to God who is Father and Maker;

All praise to the Spirit in Pentecost days.

Amen and always! Amen and always!!

The Proclamation of the Word

Children’s Hymn: Give Me Oil in My Lamp

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Reading (A dramatic reading of Genesis 21: 9-21)

Narrator:

A story that's old, a story that's true

Two women, one household, makes trouble for you.

While Sarah was watching two boys at play

She worried that Ishmael would get in the way.

If HE should inherit, why that would be bad.

Isaac was HER son; they had the same Dad.

Sarah:

“My husband, I beg you, send Hagar away.”

Narrator:

She pestered, she pleaded, all night and all day.

Her husband grew weary of his nagging wife.

He loved both boys dearly, but hated the strife.

Like husbands before him, he gave up the fight.

Abraham:

“I'll do what you want, dear, although it's not right.”

God:

“You don't need to worry. Just follow her plan.

It will be as simple.....as ….green eggs and ham.”

Narrator;

So off on her journey, the boy on her back

Walks Hagar. She carries some food in a sack.

No river near by, no lake or a stream

Soon the water runs out. Is this a bad dream?

Hagar:

“My young son will perish. I can not stand by.

My heart will be broken if I hear him cry.”

Narrator:

But, while she was waiting for his life to pass

An angel spoke to her, making her gasp!

Angel:

“Stop weeping now, Hagar and go get your boy.

God's heard enough wailing; he wants to give joy.

Your son will be famous, he'll found his own clan

God's eye is upon him. He'll be a great man. “

Narrator:

Hagar stopped crying, and she spied a well.

Found water there flowing, gave some to Ishmael.

Which proves with this reading, a message so true

Just open your eyes. See! God's there for you.

Gradual Hymn: Light Dawns on a Weary World (ELW #726)

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Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

An Affirmation of Faith

All: I believe in our God who made heaven and earth.

I believe in the Christ who knew human birth.

Was conceived by the Spirit and suffered the pains

Of the cross and the grave, and the whips and the chains.

Knew the darkness of death and then in three days

Left the grave to be empty, to heaven he raised.

I believe in the Spirit, the life that it brings,

And the way that it works through all sorts of things.

I believe in the Church and our God three in one,

Put together there's room for all sorts of fun,

And with God, Christ and Spirit, we've only begun!

The Prayers of the People

Leader: We pray for the world and all of creation,

Save it from damage and devastation.

Give us the strength to clean up the place,

And use our resources with wisdom and grace.

In this place and on this day,

All Hear our voices as we pray.

Leader: We pray for the church, more than windows & steeples,

We pray for its work and we pray for its peoples.

We pray for the outreach, the needs that it's meeting.

We pray for the folks doing clothing and feeding,

And bringing compassion and comfort and care,

To places where folks feel like no one is there.

In this place and on this day,

All: Hear our voices as we pray.

Leader: We pray for our leaders both lay and ordained.

May their courage be strong and their spirits sustained.

Keep our bishops and deacons and priests in your care.

Bless their work and their rest and their study and

prayer.

In this place and on this day,

All: Hear our voices as we pray.

Leader: We pray for those folks whose ends don't seem to meet,

And people who don't have enough food to eat.

We pray for the homeless who sleep in the cold.

We pray for the young and we pray for the old.

We pray for people whose health may be failing,

Especially for those of our friends who are ailing.

pause

In this place and on this day,

All: Hear our voices as we pray.

Leader: We pray for our loved ones who now rest in peace.

May our memory and love of them only increase.

We pray for workers in factories and shops,

In tall office buildings, for doctors and cops,

And teachers and students and workers at home,

And we pray for travelers wherever they roam.

And among all our prayers we list last but not least,

In this world you've created, we pray for peace.

With our family and our friends, From our beginnings and our ends,

All: We stand together and we send,

From earth to heaven our Amen.

Celebration of The Eucharist

Offering Hymn: Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness (ELW #396)

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Prayer over the Gifts

All: Dear God,

Everything that's done through you

Becomes refreshed and made anew.

Take the gifts that we have brought

These simple things, or so we thought,

And do the things that you do to 'em.

May your love be made known thru 'em.

And remember, just the same,

We bring ourselves in Jesus' name.

The Great Thanksgiving

Minister God is with you.

All And with you as well.

We’ve got a story to pray.

All And a prayer to tell.

So lift your hearts high

All right to the sky.

We come to the table …

And I'll tell you why ...

It's all about thanks, for this and for that

For the sun and the rain and the Cat in the Hat

For everything that comes from God

The high and the low,

the even, the odd.

Our thanks are to God,

the God who made us,

And loved us and laughed us

and danced us and played us

So God, we say thanks, right from our hearts

`Cuz everyone knows that that's where it starts.

Thanks for your guidance through deserts and seas

And protection from plagues like the frogs and the fleas

And thanks for apostles and prophets of old

For the lessons they taught and the stories they told

We know it wasn't all cookies and cake

What you would offer, we wouldn't take

We figured "we're clever. We'll find something new"

And we wound up worshipping ... something. Not you.

And when we were guilty of too much celebrating

We came to our senses and found you were waiting

- and waiting for us to return

`Cuz sooner or later you knew we would learn

That your voice had an "I heard it before" kind of ring

And your welcome was always an "open arms" kind of thing.

We remember your blessings all through the ages

They colour our windows, we wrote 'em on pages

And because we're so grateful we just can't resist

Singing your praises with something like this:

Holy, and holy, and holier still

O, God you're all that and more

Your glory is known through heaven and earth

So we sing like never before:

Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna to the max!

The one who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed,

and those are the facts.

So we sing it again like we sang it before,

Hosanna to the max!

As time went by we made it awful hard for you to reach us

And so you sent the Christ to come and be with us and teach us.

He talked of peace, He shared his healing

He heard our words, He felt our feeling

And lifted us right through the ceiling.

The blind were sighted, Daylight came to the dark-of-nighted

And the frightened soon became unfrighted.

The lame were walking, the mute were talking,

The locked up prisoners got their unlocking

All this was so you'd have our attention

So we could approach without apprehension

And on the night before he died,

Jesus did something he hadn't tried

In a room up where the stairway ends

He shared a meal with some of his friends

He looked at them, He took the bread

He gave the blessing and then he said,

"This bread we share is my body, you see

Take it and eat it in memory of me"

Then after supper, before they cleaned up

The wine was poured and He took the cup

And offered thanks and said, "Here, drink.

There's more in here than what you think."

"This is my blood I give for you

And those who think their life is through

Because they've sinned.

They should be living

And remember that our God's forgiving."

"I know it's a lot. Don't try to think through it.

What's really important is just that you do it.”

So bless this meal with your Holy Spirit

And those who taste it, and see it, and hear it

And make us one with him you sent

To show us you're so excellent

So glory to God, for now and for then

Forever and always and together,

Amen.

The Jesus Prayer

All: We hold you dear as children should.

Your name is holy, true and good.

Your kingdom come, your will be done

In heaven like on earth as one.

Give us today our daily bread,

Forgive the things we've done and said,

As we forgive things done to us,

And save us from the temptuous.

Keep evil times from us and ours,

For the kingdom and the powers,

And the glory, just for you.

For all time 'til time is through.

The Breaking of the Bread

Minister One bread, two bread,

me bread, you bread.

All Take the old and make it new bread.

Prayer After Communion

All: Dear God,

May we who've taken holy things

Know the joy that blessing brings.

And as we move from where we are

To share those blessings near and far,

Give us strength along the way.

This, in Jesus' name we pray.

The Blessing

Minister Hold the knowing and the feeling

In your hearts and in your brains

Of the God who makes,

the Christ who leads,

The Spirit that sustains,

And be blessed.

When you're at your worst and at your best,