Welcome And Opening Prayer
Prelude Voluntary on Laudes Domini Robert Lind
Responsive Call to Worship based on Psalm 92
One: It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to speak praises to your name, O Most High
Many: to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.
One: The righteous flourish…and grow…
Many: They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the landscape
One: In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of life, showing that the Lord is faithful and steadfast;
Many: To the God who restores our souls, we worship with all God’s creation.
Hymn When Morning Gilds the Skies
When morning gilds the skies,
my heart awaking cries,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer
to Jesus I repair,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Does sadness fill my mind?
A solace here I find,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss?
My comfort still is this,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day,
when from the heart we say,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear
when this sweet chant they hear,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this, while life is mine,
my canticle divine,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th’eternal song
through all the ages long,
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Call to Confession
Confession of Sin
Gracious God, we confess that we think we are way more important than we actually are. Sometimes we abdicate responsibility over things for which we have control, but other times we think we can control things or people or outcomes for which we have no ability whatsoever. We acknowledge our foolishness while at the same time knowing we will continue in the same. Lord, cover our sins, our hubris and our feigned powerlessness, with your grace. Tell us when to speak and when to be silent. Give us wisdom to ask the question. Tell us when to act or when to sit on our hands. Give us wisdom to ask the question. And then, once again, Lord, cover everything we say and do with your grace, we pray, in Jesus’ name . (silent confession)
Assurance of Pardon
Gloria Patri
Prayer for Illumination
Guide us, O God, by your Word, and Holy Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover peace; through Christ our Lord, Amen.
First Scripture Reading (Unison) Ezekiel 17:22-24
Thus says the Lord God:
I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. All the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it.
Second Scripture Reading Mark 4:26-34
He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples
Sermon “Seeds” Rev. Robin Miller Currás
Affirmation of Faith* from A Brief Statement of Faith
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God’s image
male and female, of every race and people,
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God’s commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
exploit neighbor and nature,
and threaten death to the planet entrusted to our care.
We deserve God’s condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
In everlasting love,
the God of Abraham and Sarah chose a covenant people
to bless all families of the earth.
Hearing their cry,
God delivered the children of Israel
from the house of bondage.
Loving us still,
God makes us heirs with Christ of the covenant.
Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child,
like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home,
God is faithful still.
Offertory Trumpet Concerto in E-flat: Andante Joseph Haydn
Richard Hagen, horn
Doxology Lasst uns erfreuen
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below;
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
Pastoral Prayer/The Lord’s Prayer
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Hymn This is My Father’s World
This is my Father’s world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world:
the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world:
he shines in all that’s fair;
in the rustling grass I hear him pass,
he speaks to me everywhere.
This is our Father’s world:
Oh, let me ne’er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
and earth and heaven be one.
Benediction
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