Join us each Wednesday in Lent as we gather for a simple supper at 5:30 pm (in our Fellowship Hall) followed by Evening Prayer in our sanctuary. Throughout this season we will be exploring Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, filled with beautiful words for faithful living. This week’s theme: No worries.
A Celtic Evening Liturgy
from Iona, Scotland
Union Presbyterian Church, Endicott, NY
The Sermon on the Mount: No Worries
Matthew 6: 24-34
March 15, 2023
Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Prelude Chris Bartlette
“We Worship and Adore You,” Mark Hayes
©1995, Word Music, Inc.
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
Call to Worship Rev. Pat Raube
Come to us this night, O God,
Come to us with light.
Speak to us this night, O God,
Speak to us your truth.
Dwell with us this night, O God,
Dwell with us in love.
Hymn #214 PH “O Come and Sing Unto the Lord” (Public Domain)
O come and sing unto the Lord,
To God our voices raise;
Let us in our most joyful songs
The Lord, our Savior, praise.
Before God's presence let us come
With praise and thankful voice;
Let us sing psalms to God with grace,
With grateful hearts rejoice.
The Lord Our God is King of kings,
Above all gods enthroned;
The depths of earth and mountains high
By God alone are owned.
To God the spacious sea belongs;
God made its waves and tides.
And by God's hand the rising land
Was formed, and still abides.
O come, and bowing down to God
Our worship let us bring;
Yea, let us kneel before the Lord,
Our Maker and our King.
Scripture Matthew 6:24-34
“No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
Response We live not by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God:
Thanks be to God!
Meditation “No Worries”
Music Meditation Chris Bartlette
“Be Still and Know,” Mark Hayes
©1985, Word Music, Inc.
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
, CCLI license #CSPL0688
Prayers
Thanks be to you, O Christ,
for the many gifts you have bestowed on us,
each day and night, each sea and land,
each weather fair, each calm, each wild.
Each night may we remember your mercy,
given so gently and generously.
Each thing we have received, from you it came;
each thing for which we hope, from your love it will come;
each thing we enjoy, it is of your bounty;
each thing we ask, comes of your design.
O God, from whom each thing that is, freely flows,
Grant that no tie overly strict, no tie overly cherished,
may be between ourselves and your love.
O Christ, kindle our hearts within,
a flame of love to our neighbor, to our foes, to our friends, to all our kin.
O Christ of the poor and the yearning,
from the humblest thing that lives
to the name that is the highest of all,
kindle in our hearts a flame of love.
We commend our souls and our bodies
into your keeping this night, O Christ.
O Son of all goodness, of all kindness, of all love,
may your steadfast love this night be shielding all. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer (Unison)
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 #544 PH “Day is Done,” James Quinn, S.J.
©1969, OCP, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Day is done, but Love unfailing
Dwells ever here;
Shadows fall, but hope, prevailing,
Calms every fear.
God, our Maker, none forsaking,
Take our hearts, of Love’s own making;
Watch our sleeping, guard our waking,
Be always near.
Dark descends, but Light unending
Shines through our night;
You are with us, ever lending
New strength to sight:
One in love, your truth confessing,
One in hope of heaven’s blessing,
May we see, in love’s possessing,
Love’s endless light!
Eyes will close, but you unsleeping
Watch by our side;
Death may come, in Love’s safekeeping
Still we abide.
God of love, all evil quelling,
Sin forgiving, fear dispelling:
Stay with us, our hearts in dwelling,
This eventide.
Blessing
Bless the Lord.
God’s name be praised!
May God bless us in our sleep with rest,
May the great God be between your shoulders,
May the Son of Mary be near your heart,
And may the perfect Spirit be pouring upon you,
This night and every night. Amen!
Postlude Chris Bartlette
“We Bow Down,” Mark Hayes
©1982, Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
Portions of our liturgy were taken and adapted from the Iona Community Worship Book.