Login / Signup

Free Access

Proper 22

Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series IV, Cycle A
Hymns
Cantemos al Senor (O Sing To The Lord) (UM149, CBH55, NCH39, PH472)
O Day Of Rest And Gladness (CBH641, NCH66)
From All That Dwell Below The Skies (CBH49, UM101, NCH27, PH229)
All Beautiful The March Of Days (CBH159, NCH434, PH292)
Awake My Soul (CBH609, NCH491)
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross (NCH224, CBH259, 260, UM298, 299, PH100, 101)
When Jesus Wept (NCH191, CBH234, PH312)
Be Thou My Vision (PH330, NCH451, CBH545, UM451)
God's Law Is Perfect And Gives Life (PH167)

Anthems
The Holy Ten Commandments, Josef Haydn, Mercury, 3 to 5 equal voices
The Heavens Are Telling, Josef Haydn, G Schirmer, SATB, with STB solos
God Called Moses, John Horman, CGA, Unison
O Sing To The Lord, Cantad al Senor,
arr. Ziegenhals, CGA, Unison/2--part, optional maracas

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 19)
Leader:The heavens are telling the glory of God,
People:The firmament proclaims God's handiwork.
Leader:Day to day pours forth speech;
People:Night to night declares knowledge.
Leader:There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;
People:Yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
All:Their words to the end of the world.

Prayer of Invocation
We call to you, O God. You have given us laws that we are to keep. And yet you sent your son to show us that some laws can and should be broken. Give us insight as we hear the ancient laws read and interpreted. Help us to know which laws are God--given, and which have been created out of human need or greed. Grant us wisdom as we listen to your word for us today. Amen.

Scripture Readings
Exodus 20:1--4, 7--9, 12--20: This passage can be strengthened by having an amplified voice read the Ten Commandments without the congregation being able to see that person. It can be very effective if you have someone with a good and authoritative voice. The sex of the person does not matter as long as he/she speaks confidently. Have a Narrator at the lectern, and have people in the congregation stand up and read together the People's part.

Narrator: Then God spoke all these words:

God: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Honor thy father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male, or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Narrator: When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses,

People: You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.

Narrator: Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin."

Psalm 19: This is a wonderful psalm, and makes mention of God's precepts. Use it in the service, and have the congregation read it responsively. The right side would read the odd--numbered verses and the left side the even--numbered verses. A deaf sign language interpreter might stand at the front of the church and sign it as the people read and watch the interpretation.

Matthew 21:33--46: This passage is very violent, so do not act it out. But it is an important passage as it is also about the Law and the Pharisees' interpretation of the Law. It is definitely a warning to the Pharisees. One person could read it, as Jesus taught, or it could be quite effective read by a choral speaking choir.
1 2 3
4 5 6 10 11
7 8 9 12

All: Listen to another parable.

Voice 7: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower.

Voice 8: Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.

Voice 9: When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce.

Voices 10, 11, and 12: But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

All: And again he sent other slaves, more than the first;

Voices 10, 11, and 12: And they treated them in the same way.

Voice 4: Finally he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son."

Voice 5: But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves,

Voices 1, 2, and 3: This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.

Voices 10, 11, and 12: So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

Voice 6: Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?

Voice 1: They said to him,

Voices 1 to 9: He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.

Voice 2: Jesus said to them,

Voice 3: Have you never read in the scriptures: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes?"

Voice 4: Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you

Voices 5 and 6: And given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.

Voices 7, 8, and 9: The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces;

Voices 1 to 9: And it will crush anyone on whom it falls.

Voices 10, 11, and 12: When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him,

Voices 7 to 12: But they feared the crowds,

All:
Because they regarded him as a prophet.

Call to Offering
In Philippians 3, Paul says that he presses on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Jesus Christ. May we all push on toward that goal as the ushers wait upon us for our gifts and offerings.

Prayer of Dedication
Great and awesome God, may the gifts we bring today be used to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comforted as we press on toward the goal of your kingdom on earth. Amen.

Benediction
Leader:
Go from this place today striving to keep God's laws. Let all your words and thoughts be as God would have them be, and show the love of God in all you do and say. Be kind yet brave in all your actions, and fear not, for God is with you. Amen.

Choral Response
God's Law Is Perfect (v. 1)
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Ascension of the Lord
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Easter 7
20 – Sermons
170+ – Illustrations / Stories
26 – Children's Sermons / Resources
24 – Worship Resources
20 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Pentecost
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: The lying game. You have probably played this game but called it something else. The idea is that you will ask a child a question, have them either answer truthfully or with a lie, and then have everyone else try to guess if they are telling the truth or not. After everyone has guessed, ask the child if they told the truth or not so everyone knows if they were right and then either congratulation the child for tricking everyone, or congratulate the others for guessing correctly.

The Immediate Word

Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
George Reed
Katy Stenta
Nazish Naseem
For June 15, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Wayne Brouwer
When Ryan Barbarisi was in fifth grade at Grace Community Christian School in Tempe, Arizona, his teacher asked each member of his class to finish this sentence — “I would be rich if . . . ” — and then to draw a picture of what he or she was thinking about. Here is what Ryan wrote: “I would be rich if I had enough money to buy a mansion and a red Ferrari. I would like to have these things because if I had a mansion, I would have a good life. If I had a Ferrari, I would burn up the streets.”
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Mark Ellingsen
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8

StoryShare

Frank Ramirez
A little while, and you will no longer see me…. (v. 12)

As the autumn of 1796 approached George Washington, who was nearing the end of his second term as President of the United States, set about to accomplish what many considered unthinkable — write a farewell letter to the nation he’d led in battles both military and political for 45 years.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Prayers usually include these concerns and may follow this sequence:



These responses may be used:




Let us pray for the Church and for the world, and let us thank God for his goodness.

Almighty God our heavenly father, you promised through your Son Jesus Christ to hear us when we pray in faith.

SermonStudio

James Evans
(See Trinity Sunday, Cycle A, for an alternative approach.)

John Jamison
He had been looking forward to Sunday afternoon all week. As a pastor, Sunday afternoons were usually as busy as any time, with youth groups and then preparing for Sunday evening services. But this week, there was no youth group meeting. And this week, there were no Sunday evening services. He had been very careful to protect the calendar so that nothing got scheduled in place of these things, and he would have a full Sunday afternoon, and evening, all to himself -- or at least with the family. Who knows? Maybe he would read a book. Or maybe go for a walk.
Stephen P. McCutchan
If I mentioned Sophia to you, what memories would it evoke? Would you think of a movie called Sophie's Choice? Or perhaps you know of someone whose name is Sophia. Some of you might think of a controversy stirred up several years ago at a women's conference that was exploring feminine images for God. Some who objected to their ideas accused them of pagan worship when they used Sophia to refer to the feminine side of God.
Glenn E. Ludwig
Probably most of us are familiar with the phrase that serves as the title for my sermon this day -- on a need-to-know basis. Some of you who work in government jobs or on highly classified positions where national security is involved certainly know what it means. When I first came to this church I made the mistake of asking someone where he worked and when he told me of the famous government agency whose headquarters are near here I made the mistake of asking him what he did there. The response was: "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Okay. I learned a big lesson on that one.
One of the Apollo 17 astronauts said that, as he looked back upon the earth from the moon, the earth, spinning slowly against the vast, black background of space, looked like "a big, blue marble." Think about how beautiful, but fragile and precious, irreplaceable and unique, the earth is. Consider the earth.

From Psalm 8, our First Reading:

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL