Jesus calling the disciples and sending them out two by two
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Planning Ideas And Resources For The Entire Church Year
Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration
One pastor did this:
Begin, Christ is risen; Christ is here! Good morning! Welcome to the corporate celebration of the community of faith, hope, love, peace.
Continue with this litany between pastor and ministers:
Pastor:
Listen! Do you hear God?
Ministers: Yes, we hear God.
Pastor:
Where do you hear God?
Ministers: We hear God in the world of people and events -in the screams of the suffering, in the questions of the doubter, in the gasps of the dying, in the tears of the bewildered, in the laugh of the child, in the joy of the celebrant (add any others appropriate to your congregation)
Pastor:
I invite us to celebrate the presence and power of this God who has not, and will never, desert this world - but who has entrusted this world to us - God's responsible people.
Ministers: God, by your Spirit, teach us, lead us, direct us to accept our responsibility.
All: Amen. So be it. Yes, indeed, we shall; we do.
The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life
Suggestion:
Begin with this statement: Following Jesus is not cheap or easy, even though we often seek to make it that way. We prefer to put the emphasis on Jesus' comforting words, rather than Jesus' confronting words. We prefer security over risk. Jesus will have none of that.
Continue with this printed prayer: God, we tend to minimize the importance of faith, our faith. We seem to think that it makes little difference whether our faith is vital and dynamic, or just a nominal belief. We leave it to others in our homes and congregations to do what we could be doing to keep faith alive and strong. We alibi, we neglect, we do everything but live our faith. Through the indwelling presence of your Spirit, make us aflame with faith. Make it contagious so that it spreads from us to others, until faith in the living Lord encirdes the earth. And make us know, Lord, that faith is the victory that overcomes the world, through Christ, our Lord. (author unknown)
(silent meditation)
To introduce the assurance, use these, or similar, words:
We know that God's love never changes, even with our changing moods, and slippery faith. We, also, know that however we are at any moment God promises Holy Spirit. Here is the symbol of that promise: during the Second World War, a group of Jews, hounded by the Gestapo, found secret refuge in an underground section of the cathedral in Cologne. They knew that they had found only temporary shelter. Huddled in darkness, sharing a common dread of arrest and possible death, they could have been spiritually destroyed by fear, even before the Nazis laid hands on them. Yet their faith enabled them to overcome fear. Scrawled on the cellar walls of the cathedral is their monument to new hope born on the threshold of despair, "We believe in God, even though he be silent; We believe in the dawn, even though it be
dark."
Perhaps you will want to conclude with the last part of Romans 8.
Message with the Children of All Ages
Suggestion:
Ask the children to be the disciples; talk to them as if you were Jesus, sending them out two by two. Give them his directions. Take nothing. Leave those who won't listen. Then, at the end of the lesson, send them out into the congregation as his disciples.
Proclamation of the Word
Consider this:
Begin with the congregation as you did with the children. Deal with that story and how it pertains to Jesus' present-day disciples. Deal with the difficulty of doing what Jesus calls us to do. We can know people for years, even within the local congregation, and never have one intelligent conversation about our faith. Conclude with Karl Barth's idea that if we have heard the message of Easter, we can no longer run around, walk around, mope around with a tragic face and lead a mindless, joyless, loveless life, as if we had no hope.
Stewardship Challenge
Suggestion:
The stewardship of faith: With whom will you talk this week about your faith? Whom will you invite to worship? Who will attract your attention and energy for Christ this year?
Charge to the Congregation
Try this:
A second grader told one of his teachers: "The church is the next best thing to having God here with us." With him I agree; so long as we have the church, and not merely a reasonable fascimile, or unreasonable fascimile, of it. We are the extension of the call to obedience that Jesus gave to his first disciples.
Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions
Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures
Liturgist:
Psalm 132:11-18
Psalm 85:8-14
2 Samuel 7:18-29
Amos 7:10-15
Ephesians 1:1-14
II. Suggested Hymns
Coordinator:
"O Worship the King"
Based on Psalm 104, Robert Grant, 1833; alt.
"God Is Working His Purpose Out"
Arthur Campbell Ainer, 1894
"The Church's One Foundation"
Samuel J. Stone, 1866, 1868; alt., 1972
"Christ Calls Us Now, as Long Ago"
Jane Parker Huber A Singing Faith, Jane Parker Huber, Westminster Press
III. Other Music Possibilities
Organist/Choir director:
Music for Preparation
"The Holy Ten Commandments" Bach
Response to the Pastoral Invitation
"The Lord Is In His Holy Temple" Troxell
Response to the Assurance of Pardon
"Pardoned Through Redeeming Grace"
Edward Osler, 1836; alt., 1972
Response to the Proclamation Adult Choir
"Cry Out and Shout" Nystedt
(text adapted from Isaiah 12:2, 3, 6)
Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"Lord God of Abraham" (Elijah) Mendelssohn
Music for Dismissal
"We All Believe in One God" Bach
IV. Bulletin Cover
Church secretary:
V. Bulletin Symbols
VI. Miscellaneous Details (Assignments:)
Ushers
Candlelighters
Hosts/Hostesses
Banners
Flowers
Greeters
Posters
Name-tags
Others
One pastor did this:
Begin, Christ is risen; Christ is here! Good morning! Welcome to the corporate celebration of the community of faith, hope, love, peace.
Continue with this litany between pastor and ministers:
Pastor:
Listen! Do you hear God?
Ministers: Yes, we hear God.
Pastor:
Where do you hear God?
Ministers: We hear God in the world of people and events -in the screams of the suffering, in the questions of the doubter, in the gasps of the dying, in the tears of the bewildered, in the laugh of the child, in the joy of the celebrant (add any others appropriate to your congregation)
Pastor:
I invite us to celebrate the presence and power of this God who has not, and will never, desert this world - but who has entrusted this world to us - God's responsible people.
Ministers: God, by your Spirit, teach us, lead us, direct us to accept our responsibility.
All: Amen. So be it. Yes, indeed, we shall; we do.
The Act of Recognizing our Humanness and The Act of Receiving New Life
Suggestion:
Begin with this statement: Following Jesus is not cheap or easy, even though we often seek to make it that way. We prefer to put the emphasis on Jesus' comforting words, rather than Jesus' confronting words. We prefer security over risk. Jesus will have none of that.
Continue with this printed prayer: God, we tend to minimize the importance of faith, our faith. We seem to think that it makes little difference whether our faith is vital and dynamic, or just a nominal belief. We leave it to others in our homes and congregations to do what we could be doing to keep faith alive and strong. We alibi, we neglect, we do everything but live our faith. Through the indwelling presence of your Spirit, make us aflame with faith. Make it contagious so that it spreads from us to others, until faith in the living Lord encirdes the earth. And make us know, Lord, that faith is the victory that overcomes the world, through Christ, our Lord. (author unknown)
(silent meditation)
To introduce the assurance, use these, or similar, words:
We know that God's love never changes, even with our changing moods, and slippery faith. We, also, know that however we are at any moment God promises Holy Spirit. Here is the symbol of that promise: during the Second World War, a group of Jews, hounded by the Gestapo, found secret refuge in an underground section of the cathedral in Cologne. They knew that they had found only temporary shelter. Huddled in darkness, sharing a common dread of arrest and possible death, they could have been spiritually destroyed by fear, even before the Nazis laid hands on them. Yet their faith enabled them to overcome fear. Scrawled on the cellar walls of the cathedral is their monument to new hope born on the threshold of despair, "We believe in God, even though he be silent; We believe in the dawn, even though it be
dark."
Perhaps you will want to conclude with the last part of Romans 8.
Message with the Children of All Ages
Suggestion:
Ask the children to be the disciples; talk to them as if you were Jesus, sending them out two by two. Give them his directions. Take nothing. Leave those who won't listen. Then, at the end of the lesson, send them out into the congregation as his disciples.
Proclamation of the Word
Consider this:
Begin with the congregation as you did with the children. Deal with that story and how it pertains to Jesus' present-day disciples. Deal with the difficulty of doing what Jesus calls us to do. We can know people for years, even within the local congregation, and never have one intelligent conversation about our faith. Conclude with Karl Barth's idea that if we have heard the message of Easter, we can no longer run around, walk around, mope around with a tragic face and lead a mindless, joyless, loveless life, as if we had no hope.
Stewardship Challenge
Suggestion:
The stewardship of faith: With whom will you talk this week about your faith? Whom will you invite to worship? Who will attract your attention and energy for Christ this year?
Charge to the Congregation
Try this:
A second grader told one of his teachers: "The church is the next best thing to having God here with us." With him I agree; so long as we have the church, and not merely a reasonable fascimile, or unreasonable fascimile, of it. We are the extension of the call to obedience that Jesus gave to his first disciples.
Planning for Your Congregation
Suggestions
Your Situation
I. Other Scriptures
Liturgist:
Psalm 132:11-18
Psalm 85:8-14
2 Samuel 7:18-29
Amos 7:10-15
Ephesians 1:1-14
II. Suggested Hymns
Coordinator:
"O Worship the King"
Based on Psalm 104, Robert Grant, 1833; alt.
"God Is Working His Purpose Out"
Arthur Campbell Ainer, 1894
"The Church's One Foundation"
Samuel J. Stone, 1866, 1868; alt., 1972
"Christ Calls Us Now, as Long Ago"
Jane Parker Huber A Singing Faith, Jane Parker Huber, Westminster Press
III. Other Music Possibilities
Organist/Choir director:
Music for Preparation
"The Holy Ten Commandments" Bach
Response to the Pastoral Invitation
"The Lord Is In His Holy Temple" Troxell
Response to the Assurance of Pardon
"Pardoned Through Redeeming Grace"
Edward Osler, 1836; alt., 1972
Response to the Proclamation Adult Choir
"Cry Out and Shout" Nystedt
(text adapted from Isaiah 12:2, 3, 6)
Response to the Stewardship Challenge
"Lord God of Abraham" (Elijah) Mendelssohn
Music for Dismissal
"We All Believe in One God" Bach
IV. Bulletin Cover
Church secretary:
V. Bulletin Symbols
VI. Miscellaneous Details (Assignments:)
Ushers
Candlelighters
Hosts/Hostesses
Banners
Flowers
Greeters
Posters
Name-tags
Others
