Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

COLOR: Green
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 Samuel 11:1-15; Psalm 14; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21

THEME IDEAS

How do we bring people to God? Scripture records God’s abiding love for King David—the king who loved God dearly and who was faithful. Yet we find David sending out his soldiers to fight and die for king and country, and while they die, he commits adultery with Bathsheba. Then, when she becomes pregnant, this pious man of God makes sure her husband is killed in battle. When God’s faithful act in such a way, is there any wonder “fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God’ ” (Psalm 14:1)? Is there any wonder people say, “I’d be a Christian if it weren’t for the Christians”? We can celebrate with Paul that all the families of the earth take their name in God; and that, through Christ, we discover God’s love. But until we have an experience of Jesus, until we have an encounter with the One who feeds us and gathers up the fragments of our lives, that nothing may be lost, we will be turned off by well-speaking, and well-spoken-of, hypocrites of the faith.

INVITATION AND GATHERING

Call to Worship (John 6)

Why have you come to this place?
We have come to find Jesus.
Why have you come today?
We are tired in body and spirit.
Jesus bids you sit and be at ease.
We are hungry with nothing to eat.
Come and eat your fill.
But there are only five barley loaves and two fish.
There is plenty for all.
Will we find wholeness here?
Jesus gathers the fragments of our lives,
that nothing may be lost.

Opening Prayer (John 6)

God of our hopes and dreams,
we are empty, and long to be filled;
we are hungry, and long to be fed;
we are lost, and long to be found.
Gather us into your love,
and pick up the pieces of our lives,
just as Jesus gathered up the fragments
of the five loaves and two fish
that remained after feeding the five thousand.
Call us anew to eat our fill
and to find our true nourishment in Jesus,
the bread of heaven. Amen.

PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE

Prayer of Confession (2 Samuel 11, Psalm 14)

God of steadfast love,
fools say in their hearts:
“There is no God.”
How often, O Lord,
are we the fools
who confess you with our lips,
but deny you with our actions?
How often do we act as if you sleep, O God,
confident that you know not what we do?
How often, like King David before us,
do we seek to hide the fruit of our sin,
just as David had Bathsheba’s husband killed
rather than confess his transgression?
How often do we cause others to stumble,
when we act hypocritically in our faith?
Help us be constant as the north star, O God,
that others have no occasion
to witness our example and say:
“I’d be a Christian
if it weren’t for the Christians.”

Words of Assurance (Psalm 14)

When God restored the fortunes of Zion,
they were like people who dream—
people who rejoiced and were glad.
As God restores our fortunes,
let us join them in their glad song
and in their rejoicing.

Invitation to the Word (Ephesians 3:18-19)

With the church at Ephesus, may we hear anew the words of Paul: “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Call to Prayer (Ephesians 3)

Let us lift up our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who, by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us, is able to accomplish far more than all we can ask or imagine. All glory and honor to the one who hears and answers our prayers.

THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION

Offering Prayer (John 6)

God of abundant love,
in you, nothing is lost.
Gather our offerings,
as Jesus gathered up the baskets
of leftover food.
Gather our efforts,
as Jesus gathered the hopes
of the people who looked for a true king.
Gather our service,
as Jesus gathered people
to God’s heavenly banquet.
Bless the offerings we have gathered,
that nothing may be lost. Amen.

SENDING FORTH

Benediction (Psalm 14, John 6)

Fools say in their hearts: “There is no God.”
We have found Jesus, who gives us the bread of life.
Fools say in their hearts: “All believers are hypocrites.”
We have found Jesus, who strengthens us in our
inner being, through the power of God’s Spirit.
Fools say in their hearts: “There is no hope in heaven.”
We have found Jesus, who gathers the fragments
of our lives, that nothing may be lost.

CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS

Contemporary Gathering Words (Psalm 14, John 6)

Rejoice, folks, Jesus is in our midst.
Feed us, Jesus, and fill us with hope.
Be glad, friends, Jesus has bread and fish to spare.
Free us, Jesus, from the pursuit of food
that does not satisfy.
Sing for joy, people of God; God gathers up the pieces
of our lives, that nothing may be lost.
Thanks be to God!

Praise Sentences (Ephesians 3, John 6)

Jesus feeds the multitudes.
We are rooted in God’s love.
Jesus brings us hope.
We are strengthened by God’s Spirit.
Jesus gathers the lost and the scattered.
We are rooted in God's love
In Jesus, we are made whole.

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Adapted from The Abingdon Worship Annual 2009, © 2008 Abingdon Press
The Abingdon Worship Annual 2013 is available now.