Sabbath Keeping
SEEKERS CHURCH
A Christian Community
In the Tradition of the Church of the Saviour
Summer 2002
Sabbath Keeping
REFLECTION
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy! For six days you will labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath for Your God. Do no work on that day, neither you nor your daughter nor your son, nor your workers ─ women or men ─ nor your animals, nor the foreigner who lives among you. For in six days Your God made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that they hold, but rested on the seventh day; this is why Your God has blessed the Sabbath day and made it sacred.
Exodus 20:8-11
(from the Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures, Priests for Equality)
SILENCE
CALL TO WORSHIP
All: Give thanks, acclaim God’s name,
tell all that the Lord has done.
Make music and sing
the Lord’s mighty wonders.
Revel in God’s holy name,
delight in seeking the Lord.
Look always for the power,
for the presence of God.
INVOCATION
HYMN
SILENCE
READING
SILENCE
PRAYERS
CONFESSION
Leader: You search us, God, and know us.
Whether we sit or we stand,
whether we walk or rest,
you know what we intend,
what we have already done.
People: You know the words on our lips
before we say them.
Your presence overwhelms us,
how can we ever understand your intentions?
Leader: There is no place to hide,
no way to escape your call to us.
In the heights, in the depths,
your call on our lives is with us.
All: No matter how deep our longing
to hide from you,
your light shines on our hearts,
illuminates the shadow within.
INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE
Leader: We call out to God,
and God answers in steadfast love.
God’s loving eye is upon us,
we are shielded beneath her outstretched wings.
All: Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE COMMUNITY
HYMN
THE WORD
SCRIPTURE
SERMON
SILENT REFLECTION
OFFERING
SHARED REFLECTIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN
BENEDICTION
Leader: Go into the world in peace;
have courage;
hold onto what is good;
return to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak;
help the suffering;
honor all people;
love and serve God,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
Worship Resources
Reflection Note: The “Your God” in the reflection is a convention adopted by the Priests for Equality to represent the unpronounceable name of the Creator.
Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-4 (The Psalter, Liturgy Training Publications)
Confession: Based on Psalm 139.
Assurance: Based on Psalm 17.
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Additional Prayers during Pentecost (Summer)
July 7, 2002
Prayers by: Peter Bankson, Liturgist
Lessons: Genesis 24:34‑49, 58‑67
Psalm 45:10‑17
Psalm 72
Song of Solomon 2:8‑13
Zechariah 9:9‑12
Psalm 145:8‑14
Romans 7:15‑25a
Matthew 11:16‑19, 25‑30
Invocation
O holy, loving creator of the universe,
We come together in the presence of your holy mystery;
we come, drawn by the promise of your healing presence;
we come, knowing that your gifts are given in community.
Fill us with the deep assurance that we are your people,
part of your body,
called to witness to the mystery of your presence in this time,
for we gather in the name of our savior, who is Jesus, the Christ. Amen
Thanksgiving
O guide and ruler of all creation,
we marvel at the fullness of life:
the way our gardens grow,
so rich with life
that we must search to find the harvest hiding in the weeds.
We marvel at the rich complexity of life:
the dusty silk road trails that linked so many different peoples
across the deserts of Asia
and the life that flowed from hand to heart to head to hand.
We marvel at the gift of life itself:
the forest of relationships,
with soaring ecstasies and tangled feelings binding us together.
We come to praise and thank you for the rich feast of your gifts,
for children’s play and patriots’ dreams,
for celebrations filed with energy
and quiet evenings stroked by gentle breezes,
for time to stop and rest and realize
that all we know is part of you.
Hear now our prayers of praise and thanks
for being in your world.
Intercession
O God who cares for every bit of this creation,
we know of many places where your presence is so hard to see.
We hunger for the assurance
that your justice and your righteousness will triumph.
We long to see the poor defended,
the needy delivered from their want,
and those who would oppress others stayed from evil
and brought, themselves, to justice.
O God, you came among us as Jesus of Nazareth,
the redeemer of creation,
to show us just how love can heal,
even when it does not own the power to overthrow.
Fill us with that love, we pray,
for we would be your healing people.
Hear now, o God of love,
our prayers for the oppressed,
for those in need, and for the poor.
Closing
O God who cares for every bit of this creation,
God of bright sun and brighter hope,
we sing our prayers to you
in the name of Jesus,
who is the mirror of your presence in the world. Amen.
July 14, 2002
Prayers by: Sherri Alms, Liturgist
Lessons: Genesis 25:19‑34
Psalm 119:105‑112
Psalm 25
Isaiah 55:10‑13
Psalm 65:(1‑8), 9‑13
Romans 8:1‑11
Matthew 13:1‑9, 18‑23
Invocation
Astonishing and mysterious Creator,
enter this, our house of prayer and renewal.
Engrave the words of your heart
on ours.
Lift the burdens that we carry,
that the world carries.
Ease our hurrying and scurrying,
our worrying and complaining.
As we rest here,
come among us with your healing breath.
Whisper in our ears.
Touch our minds with your truth
and our souls with your joy.
Thanksgiving
To you, life-giving, joyful Spirit,
we lift our voices in praise.
In you we place our trust and hope
for your dreams to take shape in our world.
Teach us your paths;
give us light as we walk through our lives;
lead us in your truth and teach us.
We wait, we wait for you all the day long.
We long for your visions to come to pass.
In you, we can know Sabbath,
rest for our weariness,
balm for our souls,
laughter that lights the path before us,
hope for the renewal of your creation.
Steadfast love and faithfulness are your gifts to us.
Presence and joy are your blessings for our days.
We give you our humble thanks for what you have given us this week.
Intercession
O Joy of our desire,
Saviour of the oppressed,
Creator of all that is whole and good,
we come here often distracted,
anxious, despairing.
We look for ways to mend our lives
and the world around us.
We busy ourselves and bury ourselves
in work, in relationships, in the narcotic of activity.
Slow us down, ease the frantic beating of our hearts,
Fill our bodies with the serenity of deep breaths.
Show us the refuge that is your presence.
Illuminate for us the places where we may take rest.
Give us the wisdom to understand the need for renewal.
Where we have seen your absence in our lives,
where the world is cracked and broken,
send your healing presence¼
Closing
God who is, who was and who always will be,
create in us your Sabbath sense.
Renew in us a right spirit.
Take away our burdens
so that we may take away the burdens of others.
Let us take from here your life-giving seeds
to fling on a world that needs them so badly.
Amen.
July 21, 2002
Prayers by: Deborah Sokolove, Liturgist
Lessons: Genesis 28:10‑19a
Psalm 139:1‑12, 23‑24
Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16‑19
Isaiah 44:6‑8
Psalm 86:11‑17
Romans 8:12‑25
Matthew 13:24‑30, 36‑43
Invocation
All-knowing, all-loving Breath of Creation,
the ancient story tells us
of Jacob dreaming in the wilderness,
of your messengers moving
between heaven and earth,
of your promises of blessing.
You have promised to be with us always,
to show us the way that we should go.
You have promised to be our rock,
to hold us firmly, and shield us from danger.
You have promised to hold us in your heart,
and to bless all the families of earth
in us and in our children.
As we gather in praise and prayer,
in this Sabbath-keeping season,
let us feel your holy presence
among us and within us,
so that we, like Jacob, might say
“Surely God is in this place!
This is nothing less than the gate of heaven.”
Amen.
Community Prayers
For bringing heaven and earth out of chaos and emptiness,
we give thanks.
For daylight and starlight and moonlight,
we give thanks.
For water in lakes and rivers and seas and rain,
we give thanks.
For fruit trees and pine trees and plants that bear seeds,
we give thanks.
For creatures that fly and creatures that swim
and creatures that walk on the earth
we give thanks.
For days of work and days of rest,
we give thanks.
Holy Maker of all that is and all that ever shall be,
hear our prayers of praise and thanksgiving,
aloud and in the silence of our hearts.
From the beginning,
all of creation has been groaning
in one great act of giving birth
to justice, to mercy,
to abundant life for all.
We pray for that abundant life—
We who have homes,
and we who are homeless;
we who have much,
and we who have little;
we who are loved,
and we who are alone;
we who are whole,
and we who are broken—
we bring our prayers of petition and intercession
to the Triune One who hears all prayers.
Holy Maker, Holy Lover, Holy Breath,
receive these, the prayers of our hearts,
in the name of Jesus, who is the Christ.
Amen.
July 28, 2002
Prayers by: Peter Bankson, Liturgist
Lessons: Genesis 29:15‑28
Psalm 105:1‑11, 45b
Psalm 128
1 Kings 3:5‑12
Psalm 119:129‑136
Romans 8:26‑39
Matthew 13:31‑33, 44‑52
Invocation
Holy spring of living water,
we come together on this Sabbath morning
to celebrate your presence in our time and place.
We come together to remind ourselves
that we really are your people,
one small part of the body of the risen Christ.
We come together to celebrate the mystery of community,
the healing power of love,
the covenant that you have made to never leave us.
Come, fountain of every blessing
fill us with your holy spirit,
call us to your service,
and let us know that you are here among us,
for we gather in the name of Jesus,
who is the Christ. Amen
Thanksgiving
Holy, loving gardener of hope
maker of the wisdom hidden in the mustard seed,
you whose life-giving energy flows from the smallest sources,
we come to you in joyful celebration.
We see those little signs that mark your holy presence:
the leaping basil, feet firmly planted in rich, wet soil,
laughing at the drought;
the smiles of gratitude from those whose lives we touch;
the eager brightness of a child’s curiosity.
We know the joy of slower summer schedules;
the kiss of twilight breezes;
the welcome wink of fireflies that hold the night at bay
until the stars arrive,
then stay to celebrate their kinship
with these distant mysteries.
We bring our joys, our prayers of praise and thanks,
for all the good news that rises up like steamy dawn
to fuel our hope and lift our spirits.
Hear now our prayers of praise and thanks,
O maker of this steamy summer reality.
Intercession
God of all creation,
holy maker of that pearl of such great value
hidden in a bucket of muddy shells,
God of mystery and hidden treasure waiting to be found,
we come to you with burdens on our hearts.
We see the pain of those
who can not find the work they need to do;
we hear the cries of those whose pain
is narrowing their vision ‘til nothing else seems real;
we feel the tug of fear as unknowns cloud our future.
Holy God of faithful service,
you who gave Jacob that extra measure of commitment
to labor for his love
even when he’d paid the price and been deceived,
we bring to you the images we carry of the rocky road ahead.
Help us, we pray, to carry what we can and leave the rest to you.
Help us to do the work you call us to
even when we’re tired and discouraged,
and leave the bigger pieces for the mystery of your healing love.
O holy maker of the long-awaited rain
hear now our prayers for those in pain and need,
and for ourselves, as we are bold to share with you
the burdens we’ve been keeping to ourselves.
Closing
Holy spring of living water,
we offer all our prayers this Sabbath morning
in the spirit of the risen Christ,
who shows us what it means to be a servant in the face of power.
Amen.
August 4, 2002
Prayers by: Peter Bankson, Liturgist
Lessons: Genesis 32:22‑31
Psalm 17:1‑7, 15
Isaiah 55:1‑5
Psalm 145:8‑9, 14‑21
Romans 9:1‑5
Matthew 14:13‑21
Invocation
O holy creator of the universe,
God of the thirsty forest and the saturated shore,
God of city street and mountain path,
of stalking cats and leaping squirrels and mocking birds,
we gather together in this holy moment as your people.
We gather here before this table of confession and forgiveness
eager to know your presence;
We gather together as your body,
called by your grace to feed the multitudes.
O God of all salvation,
in this hour of celebration fill us with your spirit,
for we gather in the name of our savior,
who is Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
Praise and Thanksgiving
God of new hope, holy lover of creation:
we come together as your people,
moved by your call to care for every part of your creation.
We praise you for the flavor of this rich reality,
for the variety of the creatures you have placed here,
an particularly for the variety of our sisters and brothers,
the human ones whom you have made so like your holy self.
We celebrate the mysteries of truth we do not yet understand,
and give thanks for the power of questions
which can call us to new levels of understanding.
We pause to claim the gentle, healing power of Sabbath,
the manna of empty silence that keeps us going
even in the face of work and worry.
Hear now, o holy giver of the wine of hope,
our prayers of praise and thanksgiving
for all the richness of your beautiful creation.
Intercession
Holy maker of miracles,
we know that there are so many people
who hunger and thirst for more than food can satisfy;
for love and acceptance,
for hope and healing,
for peace and justice.
We see that hunger in the eyes that dim from loss of hope;
we hear it in the cries of the forgotten and oppressed;
feel it in the push of prophets,
calling us to give ourselves away,
to spread the hope that feeds a longing bread can never satisfy.
O you who set a table in our midst
and spread a banquet from the from the scraps
that we’ve forgotten in our pockets,
we sift in silence through the painful places in our hearts
and raise to you our prayers for those in need
for those who hunger and thirst for bread — and so much more.
Closing
O lover of the universe, open our eyes and ears
so that we may know some work of peace
that we may do for you.
Fill us with the bread of hope,
the heady wine of sheer delight,
the deep determination
to be about that call you’ve planted in our hearts.
Fill us full, we pray,
for we gather in the name of our savior
who is Jesus, the Christ.
Amen.
August 11, 2002
Prayers by: Sandra Miller, Liturgist
Lessons: Genesis 37:1‑4, 12‑28
Psalm 105: 1‑6, 16‑22, 45b
1 Kings 19:9‑18
Psalm 85:8‑13
Romans 10:5‑15
Matthew 14:22‑33
Invocation
Oh Holy Creator of all possibilities,
just as Jesus came down from the mountain
towards the disciples early in the morning
we have come from our time of solitude in sleep
towards you, to be with you.
As the heat begins to rise from the pavement
on this bright summer day
we gather as community.
hearing the cicadas outside
we are mindful of
how beautiful are the feet
of those who bring the good news.
Thanksgiving
The sounds of the air conditioner
remind us that the temperature each day
is rising by degrees again
after a blessed respite of
three days of warm comfort and
clear blue skies with dancing white clouds
that invited us to relish our time outside.
how great is your capacity oh God
to provide us with season after season
of variety like Joseph’s coat of many colors.
We remember that we are the offspring of Abraham,
the children of Jacob,
the followers of Jesus Christ
with blessings bestowed by you
in awesome abundance
and we humbly bring you our prayers
of praise and thanksgiving.
Intercession
Locally people are still trying to recover
from the travails of last winter’s floods.
In the West fires sweep over ancient redwoods and residences.
The stock market is unstable
affecting the ability of investors
including museums and universities
to plan for the future.
Illegal migrants coming through Mexico
are at the mercy of ruthless smugglers,
and legal migrants in Israel
are losing their jobs as the result of
a lessening of positions available
because of war.
As we reflect on our need for help
with concerns both near and far,
we remember Joseph sold into slavery
by his own brothers
and bring you our prayers of intercession.
Closing
Holy Creator of all possibilities,
even in our fright like Peter’s on the water
we trust that you will reach out your hand
just as you did when your son
Jesus Christ saved Peter.
Amen.
