Sermon Podcast – September 6, 2020 – What We Do
Preached by Rev. Lou Ellen Hartley. Based on Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 18:15-20.
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Worship Podcast – September 6, 2020
Guest pianist William Owen played an extended prelude. Announcements start at 14:45; Call to Worship at 22:15.
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Psalm and Prayer of the Day September 3
In our Daily Prayer book Psalm 116 is one which comes up from time to time for the morning. The thoughts are powerful ones to remember as we begin our day. I invite you to read the psalm through as you normally would. Then I would encourage you to read it again and consider the times you too have known God’s presence in your life as the psalmist has. For example, the psalm begins – “I love the Lord because the has heard my voice and my supplications.” Write down or mentally note the ways in which the Lord has heard YOUR supplications. Offer thanks for those answered prayers. Do this throughout the psalm and offer it as your prayer today.
Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
9 I walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation,
“Everyone is a liar.”
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm and Prayer of the Day September 2
Psalm 132
O Lord, remember in David’s favor
all the hardships he endured;
2 how he swore to the Lord
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 “Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool.”
8 Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your faithful shout for joy.
10 For your servant David’s sake
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, forevermore,
shall sit on your throne.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his habitation:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will reside, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless its provisions;
I will satisfy its poor with bread.
16 Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
and its faithful will shout for joy.
17 There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
but on him, his crown will gleam.
Prayer:
In days like these, everlasting God, we find strength in remember how you have been with human beings throughout time. We remember how you have kept promises like you did with Abraham and Sarah and then with David and his legacy.
We rely on you to provide for us, to give us strength when we are feeling weak, to give us hope and when we are feeling despair, to give us direction when we feel lost. Today we pray for:
those who are ill and those who care for them…
those we are grieiving…
those who are planning to do violence that they would refrain…
those who are filled with hate that they would exchange it for love…
those who are teachers and their students…
those whom we love….
Bless us and keep us in your grace. Amen.
Psalm and Prayer of the Day September 1
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Prayer:
Because of your attention and blessing, we have so much to be thankful for. Today we thank you for your Son whom you sent to teach us your ways and bring us closer to you and one another.
We thank you for the love we receive and the love we share…
for the loving support of friends and family…
for the opportunity to live today serving your purpose….
We pray for those who are in particular need today, ourselves and others. We pray for
the church as we work for peace between individuals and groups…
those who suffer from unjust laws and systems…
those who write laws and enforce laws….
those who have power over others that they will not abuse their power…
for those who are grieving…
for those who are ill…
O gracious Lord, receive our prayers. Amen.
Psalm and Prayer of the Day August 31
Psalm 73
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to the upright,[a]
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pain;
their bodies are sound and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not plagued like other people.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues range over the earth.
10 Therefore the people turn and praise them,[b]
and find no fault in them.[c]
11 And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Such are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
and am punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”
I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I perceived their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 They are[d] like a dream when one awakes;
on awaking you despise their phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant;
I was like a brute beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me with honor.[e]
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength[f] of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Indeed, those who are far from you will perish;
you put an end to those who are false to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
to tell of all your works.
Prayer
We repeat the psalmist’s sentiment, “it is good to be near God.” We make you our refuge. You are the God of our salvation, the one who brings wholeness and healing, compassion and hope, joy and peace. We thank you for the ways you bring those to us and make them part of our lives. You bless us with these gifts even when we are at our most vulnerable and desperate. Bless us today with your strength and remain with your world even when we human beings try to push you away and exclude you from our lives. Bring your peace to your world, bring your justice, and help us to live together. Put out the fires we have set and watched burn. Purge our hearts of hatred and fear. Nurture your love within us so what we say and do will bring you glory. Give us wisdom as we move through our days. Amen.
Video of Worship on August 30, 2020
Sermon Podcast – August 30, 2020 – Practice. Practice. Practice.
Preached by Rev. Lou Ellen Hartley. Based on Romans 12:9–21, Matthew 16:21–28.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Worship Podcast – August 30, 2020
Podcast: Play in new window | Download