Welcome to ICYMI Worship! ICYMI stands for In Case You Missed It; our ICYMI series gives a brief snapshot of worship each week so that you can worship in your home, on the road, or wherever life takes you.
At Cross of Christ, our basic worship order is based on worship patterns from Hebrew traditions and biblical accounts of the earliest Christians: We GATHER with songs and prayer, We HEAR God’s word, We SHARE a meal of bread and wine, We are SENT into the world to love and serve. Let us know how this format works for you.
TODAY IS THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
GATHERING LITANY
Our litany this week is adapted from the Disrupt Worship project. To see more of their work, find them at https://www.disruptworshipproject.com/.
The ancestors of our faith were sojourners
Wandering the desert, looking for their home
Do not wrong or oppress an immigrant
For you too were immigrants in the land of Egypt
We are called to welcome the immigrant
The founders of this congregation descended from immigrants
Seeking safety and opportunity far away from their homeland
Do not wrong or oppress an immigrant
For we too were immigrants in this land
We are called to welcome the immigrant
Do not neglect hospitality and welcome to strangers
For you may be unwittingly entertaining angels
Do not wrong or oppress an immigrant
For you too were immigrants in this land
We are called to welcome the stranger
The Lord said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to the land of Egypt”
Where now can a family flee for safety if not here?
Do not wrong or oppress an immigrant
For you too were immigrants in the land of Egypt
We are called to welcome the refugee
The king of Egypt told the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to kill all male babies
But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded
The midwives disobeyed the king and let the children live
God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong
We are called to protect children
Children are being taken from their parents
Removed while nursing from their mothers
Jesus said, “whoever welcomes a child welcomes me,
and whoever harms a child, it would be better a millstone hung around their neck and drowned in the sea.”
We are called to welcome children
The Lord said, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.
That which you did to the least of these, who are members of my family, you did to me.”
That which we do to the least of these: the immigrant, the hungry, the imprisoned, we do to Christ.
Beloved siblings in Christ, scripture calls us again and again to welcome the immigrant, for we were once immigrants. God commands this. Jesus told us that which we do to those thought of as the least in our world, we do to him. How we treat the imprisoned, the homeless, and immigrants is how we treat Christ. How we treat asylum seekers, refugees, and all seeking a better life is how we treat Christ. Let us remember to treat all our siblings as we would treat Christ.
Amen.
GATHERING SONG
“Gather Us In”
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of wide welcome, help us learn the lessons of humility and hospitality your Son taught and lived out. In all aspects of our lives, including vocation and avocation, open our hearts that we may continue to hear you calling us to labor for your kingdom of mercy and peace. This we pray in the name of Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
THIS WEEK’S READINGS
Let mutual love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. 4 Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” 6 So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. 2 Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?” 4 But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. 5 Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” 6 And they could not reply to this.
7 When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
PASTOR JUDY’S SERMON SNAPSHOT
The problem with a quid pro quo mentality is quantification. How do you measure or calculate repayment of love, of mercy, of grace? We can’t. If we think we can repay God for everything that we’ve received so that we’re even-steven, we’ve kind of got a big theological problem. There’s no way we can and if we think we can try to earn our salvation, we’ll just end up in a bigger mess.
Jesus is pushing those in our text, and us today, to remember, to relearn – that those about whom we make assumptions, those we think are at the seating section marked “least” or “less,” are people claimed and loved by God. Jesus challenges us to quit drawing lines and to quit making categories and to understand that people are much more than the boxes we put them in.
SONG OF THE DAY
“When the Poor Ones”
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Coming soon!
COMMUNION SONG
“Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)”
On the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me. Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.
All are welcome to receive Christ’s Body and Blood in the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Coming soon!
BENEDICTION
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.
In the name of the Father, and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit.
SENDING SONG
“Holy, Holy, Holy”
By God’s grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to
Worship God
Grow in Faith
Share the Gospel
Serve others, and
Welcome all.
Thanks be to God!
