Summer, 1992

 

Church of the Saviour

SEEKERS CHURCH

 

Summer, 1992

 

REFLECTION

 

God smiles when I reach out for one more kiss

  because it feels so wonder full.

Christ is swimming in the drop of water on your cheek.

  Is that a tear of joy, or sorrow?

We make Spirit when we dance!

  Don't you see it in the air around you?

Can eating watermelon be communion with God's body?

  Who can say?

If I'm created in God's image

  and my mouth loves buttered corn,

  does God's mouth love?

Peter Bankson

 

PRELUDE

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

 

Leader:    Praise from all creatures;

 

Voice 1:   Laughers and list makers,

                       Poets and plodders and prophets,

 

Voice 2:   The wrinkled, the newborn,

                       The whale, the mosquito and the worm;

 

Unison:   From all and from me,

                       Praise be to God.

 

INVOCATION

 

HYMN

               

SILENCE

 

SUMMER LITANY

 

Leader:It's summer again.

                                Our bodies are confused by different rhythms.

 

People:    We love the longer days of summer,

                                and yearn for slower schedules,

                                rest and relaxation.

 

Leader:But there is even more to do,

                                when work and play compete

                                for time and energy.

 

People:Gardens everywhere are blooming.

                                Their fruits and vegetables cover our tables

                                and delight our senses.

 

Leader:    God's abundance is manifest.

 

People:All of creation, especially humanity,

                                is showered with refreshment

                                and vitality to bear fruit.

 

Leader:God gives us summertime.

 

People:God gives us different rhythms,

                                unexpected schedules, and amazing bounty.

 

Unison:God gives, and that is good.

 

SILENCE

 

PRAYERS

 

CONFESSION  (Unison)

 

God of work and play, God of crowds and solitude,

We confess how hard it is to let ourselves be simply quiet.

We often feel imprisoned by longer days

  demanding more than we can give.

We lose the joys that called us into commitments.

It's easy to forget that saying "no" can sometimes

  open doors to re-creation more than saying "yes."

 

Forgive us, Creator of eternity,

  giver of time not bound by calendars or clocks.

 

 

INDIVIDUAL CONFESSIONS

 

ASSURANCE  (Leader)

 

                "And on the seventh day, God rested." 

                Go, and do the same, for God is here

                  to love and re-create you for the days to come.

                AMEN.

 

CONTINUING PRAYERS

 

 

HYMN

 

THE WORD

 

Scripture

Sermon

Silent Reflection

 

OFFERING

 

Offertory Music

Prayer of Dedication

 

SHARED REFLECTIONS

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

HYMN

 

BENEDICTION  (Leader)

 

                Go forth in joy.

                Laugh, and share delight.

                Be at ease in your struggles, bold in your loving,

                  joyful in giving, and graceful in your praying:

                Become a song of God's delight.

                AMEN.