Of all the fascinating women we find in the Hebrew scriptures, there is none quite like Woman Wisdom. And she is available to all of us— in fact, we are more likely to find her out in the street, calling out to us, than tucked away in a library somewhere. She offers essential lessons, which are backed up by the brother of Jesus in today’s fiery excerpt from his letter to God’s people.

Join us as we listen to the words of Jesus’ closest kin, as well as a voice as ancient as wisdom itself. We worship together at 10:30 AM in our sanctuary, live-streaming the service for those at home or on the road right here. You are invited!

~~~

Worship Bulletin Sunday September 12, 2021 10:30 AM

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

PRELUDE “Word of God Speak” Bart Millard and Pete Kipley Colin DeLap

“Word of God Speak,” Bart Millard, Pete Kipley

Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847

WELCOME Rev. Pat Raube

*CALL TO WORSHIP Claire Bombard

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.

God spoke everything into being.

The heavens are telling the glory of God.

Even creation speaks!

The gift of speech is wondrous and weighty:

Speak to us again, O God, the words of life!

HYMN “Jesus Calls Us,” Iona Community (Lewis folk melody)

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.  

Jesus calls us to confess him

Word of Life and Lord of All,

sharer of our flesh and frailness,

saving all who fail and fall.

Tell his holy human story,

tell his tales that all may hear,

tell the world that Christ in glory

came to earth to meet us here.

Jesus calls us here to meet him

as, through word and song and prayer,

we affirm God’s promised presence,

where his people live and care,

praise the God who keeps his promise,

praise the Son who calls us friends,

praise the Spirit who, among us,

to our hopes and fears attends.

Jesus calls us to his table,

rooted firm in time and space,

where the church in earth and heaven

finds a common meeting place.

Share the bread and wine, his body,

share the love of which we sing,

share the feast for saints and sinners,

hosted by our Lord and King.

Jesus calls us to each other:

found in him are no divides.

Race and class and sex and language,

such are barriers he derides.

Join the hands of friend and stranger,

join the hands of age and youth,

join the faithful and the doubter

in their common search for truth.

*CALL TO NEW LIFE Claire Bombard

*PRAYER FOR WHOLENESS AND PEACE (unison)

Of all your gifts to us, O God, the gift of communication is the most powerful. With a word we can bring joy or sorrow, healing or hurt. With a look we can encourage or scold, invite or repel. This gift is powerful, and it is a responsibility. We know we have used it for harm. Help us, O God, to unlearn the ways we have hurt one another, and even ourselves.

~Silent Prayer~

And we pray,

Lord, you alone have the words of everlasting life. We pray that you would let the words of our mouths, as well as the meditations of all our hearts, be pleasing to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

*ASSURANCE OF GOD’S GRACE(responsive) Claire Bombard

Listen, as the apostle Paul encourages us:

Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Listen, as God speaks peace to us:

I have called you by name, and you are mine.

The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.

Thanks be to God! Amen.

Sharing of the Peace

May the peace of God be with you.

And also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.

SCRIPTURE READING Proverbs 1:20-33 (OT pg. 584-585) Claire Bombard

Wisdom cries out in the street;
    in the squares she raises her voice.
At the busiest corner she cries out;
    at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
    and fools hate knowledge?
Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
    I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused,
    have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
and because you have ignored all my counsel
    and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
    I will mock when panic strikes you,
when panic strikes you like a storm,
    and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
    when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
    they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge

    and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
would have none of my counsel,
    and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
    and be sated with their own devices.
For waywardness kills the simple,
    and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but those who listen to me will be secure
    and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Children’s Message: Blessing of the Backpacks Rev. Pat Raube
Prayer adapted from a prayer of Adam Walker Cleaveland, Illustrated Ministry.

God of fresh starts and new beginnings,

we bring ourselves, our big feelings, and our backpacks to you.

Last year was different from what we expected.

We couldn’t see our friends or play on playgrounds.

We learned at home, in masks six feet apart, or both.

In all these changes, we may have felt sad and alone.

God, our friend who comforts us, hold us close and wipe our tears.

In our backpacks, we carry blank pages, sharpened pencils, and pointy crayons.

In our hearts, we carry big feelings, unanswered questions, and hopeful expectations.

There are endless possibilities of what the new year might bring.

God, our friend who is always with us, be with us through it all.

Be with us as we ride the bus.

Be with us as we walk.

Be with us as we buckle seat-belts, zip up jackets, and tie shoes.

However we get there, and whatever we wear,

bless this journey into something new.

Dear God,

This school year,

may we be curious and kind,

gentle and strong,

brave and loving.

We pray it all

in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Music: “I Will Sing of the Mercies” Public Domain (W&R 60)

SCRIPTURE READING James 3:1-12 (NT pg.230) Rev. Pat Raube

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature (“wheel of birth”), and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

RESPONSE: Holy Wisdom, Holy Word

Thanks be to God!

Meditation “Powerful Wisdom” Rev. Pat Raube

ANTHEM “Woke Up This Mornin’,” Evelyn Simpson-Curenton

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.   

Woke up this mornin’ with my mind, my mind was stayed on Jesus.

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!

Walkin’ and talkin’ with my mind, my mind was stayed on Jesus.

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!

No condemnation with my mind, my mind was stayed on Jesus.

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!

Can’t hate your neighbor in your mind, my mind was stayed on Jesus.

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!

Love everybody with your mind, my mind was stayed on Jesus.

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

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.

Prayer Response  “Spirit of the Living God,” Martha Lynn Thompson

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.  

Call for Offering

Doxology   “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”  (Public Domain) 

Prayer of Dedication  

Prayer of Blessing and Commissioning of Nathan Mann

Nathan was clothed with Christ in baptism,

and called by God through the voice of the church to his service as

a worship leader, a youth leader, and a friend.

We remember with joy our common calling to serve Christ

and celebrate God’s call to all who minister among us.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

God our Teacher,

we pray that you will look with lovingkindness upon this congregation,

and upon your servant Nathan,

for whose presence among us we give thanks today.

We praise you for his joys and accomplishments,

and for your grace, which has nurtured and sustained us

as we have journeyed together.

As Nathan leaves this community to seek higher education

and a wider experience of the world you have created,

we pray that you will continue to guide and protect him.

Deepen his curiosity and desire to learn.

Provide him with mentors and friends along the way,

and continue to nurture in him a love for your dear name

and a desire to discover the unique path to which you have called him.

Bind us ever closer to one another

and draw us nearer to our Lord Jesus Christ,

that though we may be apart for a time,

we may always be home to one another.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

HYMN #389 W & R “Put Peace Into Each Other’s Hands”

“Put Peace Into Each Other’s Hands,” Fred Kaan

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.  

BENEDICTION (responsive) From Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals,

by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Enuma Okoro

May the peace of Christ go with you: wherever he will send you.

May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm.

May he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you.

May he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors.

Postlude “America the Beautiful,” Mark Hayes

Used by permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847

Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.

“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.

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Powerful Wisdom