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Proper 23 | Ordinary Time 28

Worship
Lectionary Worship Aids
Series VII, Cycle B
First Lesson: Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Theme: And Another Thing, Lord ...

Call To Worship (Psalm 8)
One:

O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
All:
Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
One:
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
All:
what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
One:
Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
All:
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
One:
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
All:
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
One:
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Collect

God of creation, Lord of light, giver of all good things, we live in your beautiful world and celebrate your glory in its wonders. As the season changes we recognize an opportunity for us to change. As leaves prepare to fall we let fall our sins and dedicate our lives to your work. As hunters prepare for the autumn we humbly recognize our own mortality and our place in a larger task of stewardship and conservation. Our worship today celebrates both the mystery and majesty of your will for our lives. Bless us today. These things we pray in your name. Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

No matter what happens, blessed be the name of the Lord. Amen.

Hymns
I Know That My Redeemer Lives
I Know Not Why God's Wondrous Grace
Away With Our Fears

* * *

Second Lesson: Hebrews 4:12-16
Theme: Walk In Faithfulness

Call To Worship

Not in the glory of stars exploding, or in the majesty of an imperial process, not with the preening feathers of a peacock, or with the roar of a lion, but in this do we find our King, Savior, Shepherd, High Priest, walking humbly, the man of sorrows, bearing our burdens, enduring our pain. This is glory! Come together, God's people, in worship and praise.

Collect

Lord, we seek to walk in faithfulness as did your Son, not hiding from the world, but immersing ourselves in the troubles and trials so we might offer a cup of cold water in your name. Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

God did not arrive as the son of a Caesar, insulated by luxury from the pain of our daily lives. We have a high priest who's been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt. Paid a pretty high price for it, too. Since we have such a high priest let us boldly approach him on his throne, holding fast to our confession that Jesus Christ is Lord! Amen.

Hymns
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
When In The Hour Of Deepest Need
Blest Be The Tie That Binds

* * *

Gospel Lesson: Mark 10:17-31
Theme: What's The Absolute Least I Can Do?

Call To Worship

God's people -- it is not in preserving blocks of concrete that the Ten Commandments come to life, but in our resolve to leave everything and follow Jesus. Are you ready? Really ready?

Collect (Micah 6:8)

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Prayer Of Confession

Lord, we haven't murdered anyone recently. We don't get caught stealing. We tell the truth under oath. That's enough, isn't it? What's the absolute least we can do and still call ourselves, if not your disciples, at least your followers? Fans? Help us out here. It looks next to impossible to get into your kingdom. Speak to us, Lord. Amen.

Hymns
What Does The Lord Require Of You?
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Blest Be The Tie
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
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160+ – Illustrations / Stories
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Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
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31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

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Object: This message involves roleplay. You will need a chair for Zach to stand on, unless it is ok for him to stand on a front pew. For the best fun, you will also want to have an adult volunteer play the role of Jesus and walk in when it is time. Whether he is in costume is up to you.

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Bill Thomas
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Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 and Psalm 119:137-144
Walter Elwell in the Shaw Pocket Bible Handbook notes of righteousness that it is, “Right standing, specifically before God. Among the Greeks, righteousness was an ethical virtue. Among the Hebrews it was a legal concept; the righteous man was the one who got the verdict of acceptability when tried at the bar of God’s justice.” God is a righteous God, even when is people are not righteous.
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One of the features of synagogue worship is the Shema. The Hebrew word is “Hear!” and is the opening for Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” God’s people are commanded to “hear” these words. They come from the Lord. And these three scriptures invite us to hear God and each other, something that is lacking in our society today.
Wayne Brouwer
Fred Craddock tells of a vacation encounter in the Smokey Mountains of eastern Tennessee years ago that moved him deeply. He and his wife took supper one evening in a place called the Black Bear Inn. One side of the building was all glass, open to a magnificent mountain view. Glad to be alone, the Craddocks were a bit annoyed when an elderly man ambled over and struck up a nosey conversation: “Are you on vacation?” “Where are you from?” “What do you do?”
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Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 and Psalm 149

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John E. Sumwalt
Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, but your commandments are my delight. Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live. (vv. 143-144)

When I was an associate pastor in Janesville, Wisconsin one of my responsibilities was to give a lecture on spirituality once a month at a drug treatment facility. The students who attended were persons who had been convicted of drunk driving and were required to attend the class as a condition of their sentence. Attendance was always good.
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Call them the good old days. Call it the Golden Age. It’s not unusual for people to look back in their youth, or to the youth of their country, as somehow more perfect, honorable, or simpler. C.S. Lewis was always skeptical about claims that chocolate was better in one’s youth. It wasn’t better. Our taste buds were stronger and more receptive.

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The Roman Catholic Church's canonisation of Edith Stein some years ago, fuelled considerable controversy. Edith Stein was born and bred into a Jewish family, becoming a Roman Catholic Christian at the age of 31. She was also a leading German intellectual in the early thirties, during the run-up to World War 2, although she gave up that career in order to become a Carmelite nun. But she didn't deny her Jewish roots, for in 1933 she petitioned the Pope, Pious XI to write an encyclical in defence of the Jews.
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Call to Worship:

Jesus didn't reject anyone, even those who were liars and cheats. By a simple act of friendship Jesus turned Zaccheus' life around. In our worship today let us consider friendship and all that it means.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, there are some people I don't like.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, there are some people I reject.
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, there are some people I keep out of my circle of friends.
Lord, have mercy.


Reading:

SermonStudio

Carlos Wilton
Theme For The Day
The world offers many blessings, but none of these things will save us: only the blessing of God in Jesus Christ can do that.

Old Testament Lesson
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Daniel's Apocalyptic Dream
Perry H. Biddle, Jr.
Comments on the Lessons
John W. Clarke
This chapter of Luke brings us ever closer to the end of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus enters Jericho, just fifteen miles or so from the holy city of Jerusalem. It is here that Jesus transforms the life of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. This is one of the few stories that is peculiar to Luke and is a wonderful human-interest story. The fact that Zacchaeus is willing to climb a tree to see Jesus is a clear indication that he really wanted to see and meet the carpenter from Nazareth. His eagerness to see Jesus is rewarded in a very special way.
Scott A. Bryte
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
Mark Ellingson
This is a story written for people who had been or were about to be persecuted, if not enslaved. (The book of Daniel was probably written in the mid-second century B.C. during a period of Seleucid [Syrian] domination in Palestine.) It tells them and us how their ancestors had once faced a similar slavery under the oppression of the Babylonians centuries earlier. The implication was that if these ancestors could endure and overcome such bondage, so could they and so can we.
Gary L. Carver
Ulysses S. Grant fought many significant battles as commander of the Union forces in the War Between the States. He also served as President of the United States where he probably engaged in as many battles as he did while he was a general. Toward the end of his life he fought his toughest battle -- with cancer and death.

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