The Tower Weekly

The Weekly Bulletin of Lovely Lane

Sunday, August 17, 2008
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Morning Worship at 10 o’Clock in the Sanctuary

 

The Church Gathers

Organ Prelude: “We Await His Word” CORNWELL

Words of Welcome and Announcements (by the minister)

Congregational Introit: No. 145, “Morning Has Broken” BUNESSAN
Morning has broken like the first morning;
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!

Call to Worship
We come to hear the story
of God’s faithfulness to past generations.
But we are looking to the future, not the past.
Our God is also a God of the future,
the God who was with our ancestors
will be with us as well.
Then we go forward in hope.
No matter what happens, God remains faithful.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God!

Hymn: No. 66, “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven” LAUDA ANIMA
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
to the throne thy tribute bring;
ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
evermore God’s praises sing.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the everlasting King.

Praise the Lord for grace and favor
to all people in distress;
praise God, still the same as ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Glorious now God’s faithfulness.

Father like, God tends and spares us;
well our feeble frame God knows;
mother like, God gently bears us,
rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Widely yet God’s mercy flows.

Angels in the heights, adoring,
you behold God face to face;
saints triumphant, now adoring,
gathered in from every race.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace.

Morning Prayer
We take time out, gracious God, from our daily routine –
the meaningless clatter, the stale chatter,
the jockeying for power –
to seek again the ground of our being.
Silence our clamor and teach us to listen to you.
Then we will praise you and honor you
for the real blessings you give:
for days and seasons that give rhythm to life;
for this place that teaches us how to live;
for every human love that fortifies us
when we least expect it;
for new ideas that catch us by surprise;
and for this congregation of friends,
among whom we may both give and receive
the graciousness you entrust to us
as agents of your love. We worship and adore you. Amen

To Hear the Word

A Reading from Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis 45:1-15
Cathy Dryden is the reader.

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those
who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from
me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked to him.

An Act of Praise: Psalm 66:16-20 (from The Message)
All believers, come here and listen,
let me tell you what God did for me.
I called out to God with my mouth,
my tongue shaped the sounds of music.
If I had been cozy with evil,
the Lord would never have listened.
But God most surely did listen,
God came on the double upon hearing my prayer.
Blessed be God who didn’t turn a deaf ear;
God stayed with me, loyal in steadfast love.

Kwesi Enos is the acolyte and reader.

The Gloria Patri: No. 70
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen

Musical Selection: “O Lord Most Holy” FRANCK
                     Tod Myers, Bass
O Lord most holy, O Lord most mighty, O most loving Father,
Thee would we be praising always.
Help us to know Thee and love Thee, Father;
grant us Thy truth and grace. Father, guide and defend us. 
Rule Thou our wilful hearts, keep Thine our wandering thoughts;
in all our sorrows, let us find our rest in Thee.
And in temptation's hour, save through Thy mighty power.
Thine aid, O send us; hear us in mercy.
Show us Thy favor, so shall we live and sing praise to Thee.

A Reading from the Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Sermon: “Not Even a Crumb?” Rev. Nancy Nedwell, preaching

To Respond in Faith

Hymn: No. 508, “Faith, While Trees Are Still in Blossom” FOR THE BREAD
Faith, while trees are still in blossom,
plans the picking of the fruit;
faith can feel the thrill of harvest
when the buds begin to sprout.

Long before the dawn is breaking,
faith anticipates the sun.
Faith is eager for the daylight,
for the work that must be done.

Long before the rains were coming,
Noah went and built an ark.
Abraham, the lonely migrant,
saw the light beyond the dark.

Faith, uplifted, tamed the water
of the undivided sea,
and the people of the Hebrews
found the path that made them free.

Faith believes that God is faithful;
God will be what God will be!
Faith accepts the call, responding,
“I am willing, Lord, send me.”

Affirmation of Faith: No. 881, “The Apostles’ Creed”
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from then he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers of the Congregation with 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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever. Amen.

Offertory

Presentation of Tithes and Offerings with the Doxology: No. 95
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise God, all creatures here below;
praise God above ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

And Scatters to Be the Church in the World

Hymn: No. 707, “Hymn of Promise” PROMISE
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise, butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
there’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Dismissal with Blessing

Choral Response: “The Love of God” AZMON
The love of God with peace and joy,
will each of us attend,
and guide our ways through coming days,
until we meet again.

Ringing of the Bicentennial Bell

Organ Postlude: “Marcia” JACKSON

 

 

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