Welcome to worship on this Sunday, October 11. Join with Zoom on Sunday at 9:30 am or watch here anytime. This month’s theme is Thriving and today’s theme is Building Faithfulness on the Way to the Promised Land.
In Exodus, we hear from a fearful, anxious and impatient community who needs a word of hope from the living God. In Jesus’ parable about a great banquet, those invited do not come, so the invitation is extended to others. Daily, God spreads a table before us. Even in times of anxiety and hardship we rejoice in the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. So we go forth to share the wonderful invitation with others hungering and thirsting for the abundant life of God.
Prelude – Natalia Peterson playing Sonatas by Marianna Martines
Welcome
Song – Come and Fill Our Hearts
Confitemini Domino
Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus.
Confitemini Domino. Alleluia!
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
You alone, O Lord, are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
Alleluia!
Text: Psalm 136:1 (Latin); Taizé Community
Text © 1982, 1991 Les Presses de Taizé. GIA Publications, Inc., agent. 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Prayer of the Day
Lord of the feast, you have prepared a table before all peoples and poured out your life with abundance. Where we disappoint you, forgive us. Strengthen our faith, build our trust along the way and transform us into a people of righteousness and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
First Reading – Exodus 32: 1-14
A reading from Exodus:
1When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” 6They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.
7The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ” 9The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”
11But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” 14And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.
Word of God, word of Life. Thanks be to God.
Children’s Time – Pastor Joy
Alleluia
Gospel: Matthew 22: 1-14
A reading from Matthew:
Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14For many are called, but few are chosen.”
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Message – Pastor Joy
Song – All Who Hunger, Gather Gladly Worship 461
1 All who hunger gather gladly;
holy manna is our bread.
Come from wilderness and wand’ring.
Here in truth we will be fed.
You that yearn for days of fullness,
all around us is our food.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.
2 All who hunger, never strangers;
seeker, be a welcome guest.
Come from restlessness and roaming.
Here in joy we keep the feast.
We that once were lost and scattered
in communion’s love have stood.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.
3 All who hunger, sing together,
Jesus Christ is living bread.
Come from loneliness and longing.
Here in peace we have been fed.
Blest are those who from this table
live their days in gratitude.
Taste and see the grace eternal.
Taste and see that God is good.
Text: Sylvia G. Dunstan, 1955-1993
Text © 1991 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Confession and Forgiveness
All may make the sign of the cross, the sign marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, who creates, redeems, and sustains us and all of creation. Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Faithful God, have mercy on us. We confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We turn from your loving embrace and go our own ways. We pass judgment on one another before examining ourselves. We place our own needs before those of our neighbors. We keep your gift of salvation to ourselves. Make us humble, cast away our transgressions, and turn us again to life in you through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
God hears the cries of all who call out in need, and through his death and resurrection, Christ has made us his own. Hear the truth that God proclaims: Your sins are forgiven in the name of ☩ Jesus Christ. Led by the Holy Spirit, live in freedom and newness to do God’s work in the world. Amen.
Prayers of the People
With confidence in God’s grace and mercy, let us pray for the church, the world, and all those in need.
A brief silence.
Gracious host, fill your church with a spirit of joyous hospitality. We pray for bishops, teachers, church leaders, and all children of God as they invite others to your table of boundless grace. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious host, as creation waits with eager longing for redemption, protect your creatures that are mistreated. Restore valleys, mountains and pastures, and still and running waters. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious host, as you set a table in the presence of enemies, so bless the efforts of diplomats, international peace workers, and world leaders who navigate conflict. May they proceed with dialogue and understanding, so that justice and peace prevails. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious host, let your gentleness be known among those who are weary or ill (especially those we think of now…………………………………………….). Strengthen doctors, medical care workers, and caretakers who see to their needs. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious host, when we are quick to judge outward appearance, remind us how you clothe all in your mercy. We pray for ministries that provide needed clothing and other personal care assistance in this community. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious host, as we remember those who have died and are gathered at the heavenly banquet, comfort us with your presence. Assure us of your peace at all times. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Listen as we call on you, O God, and enfold in your loving arms all for whom we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sharing Peace
Johm riab sua.
Selam.
The peace of Christ be with you all. And also with you.
Offering – Natalia Peterson playing Sonatas by Marianna Martines
Offering Prayer
Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. You have set before us these gifts of your good creation. Prepare us for your heavenly banquet, nourish us with this rich food and drink, and send us forth to set tables in the midst of a suffering world, through the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Communion
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to God who is the giver of all good things and who revealed this abundance again with feeding the multitudes, who loved to the point of death and who beyond death, was raised from the dead and appeared to many, breaking bread with them in their homes, so that we might believe.
Remember, beloved ones… how in the night in which he was betrayed our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it and gave it to his disciples saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.
Again, after supper, Jesus took the cup, gave thanks and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.
O God of resurrection and new life: pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on the gifts of bread and cup. Bless this feast. Grace our tables with your presence. Reveal yourself to us in the sharing of the bread. Raise us up as the body of Christ for the world. Breathe new life into us. Send us forth, burning with justice, peace, and love. With your holy ones in all times and places, we praise you, O God, blessed and holy Trinity, now and forever. Amen.
Invitation to Communion
Come to the banquet table where Christ gives himself as food and drink.
Now, if you are gathered with others, when the music begins, please share with one another first the bread and then the cup with the words,
The body of Christ, given for you.
The blood of Christ, poured out for you.
If you are by yourself, I offer this invitation…
Receive the body of Christ, given for you.
Receive the blood of Christ, poured out for you.
And if for any reason you will not receive Communion bread & cup today, a blessing for you…
May God fill you up with the Holy Spirit and give you all that you need.
Communion Song – Let Us Go Now to the Banquet – Worship 523
Vamos todos al banquete
ENGLISH
Refrain
Let us go now to the banquet,
to the feast of the universe.
The table’s set and a place is waiting;
come, ev’ryone, with your gifts to share.
1 I will rise in the early morning;
the community’s waiting for me.
With a spring in my step I’m walking
with my friends and my family. Refrain
2 God invites all the poor and hungry
to the banquet of justice and good
where the harvest will not be hoarded
so that no one will lack for food. Refrain
3 May we build such a place among us
where all people are equal in love.
God has called us to work together
and to share ev’rything we have. Refrain
SPANISH
Estribillo
Vamos todos al banquete,
a la mesa de la creación;
cada cual con su taburete
tiene un puesto y una misión.
1 Hoy me levanto muy temprano;
ya me espera la comunidad;
voy subiendo alegre la cuesta,
voy en busca de tu amistad. Estribillo
2 Dios invita a todos los pobres
a esta mesa común por la fe,
donde no hay acaparadores
y a nadie le falta el conqué. Estribillo
3 Dios nos manda a hacer de este mundo
una mesa donde haya igualdad,
trabajando y luchando juntos,
compartiendo la propiedad. Estribillo
Text: Guillermo Cuéllar, b. 1955, Misa popular salvadoreña; tr. Bret Hesla, b. 1957, and William Dexheimer Pharris, b. 1956
Text © 1988, 1996 GIA Publications, Inc., 7404 S. Mason Ave., Chicago, IL 60638. www.giamusic.com. 800.442.3358. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Prayer after Communion
We give you thanks, gracious God, that you have once again fed us with food beyond compare, the body and blood of Christ. Lead us from this place, nourished and forgiven, into your beloved vineyard to wipe away the tears of all who hunger and thirst, guided by the example of the same Jesus Christ and led by the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
Cambodian Lord’s Prayer
Blessing
Mothering God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you and lead you into the way of truth and life. Amen
Song – God Be with You Till We Meet Again Worship 536
1 God be with you till we meet again;
by good counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.
Refrain
Till we meet, (till we meet,)
till we meet, (till we meet again,)
till we meet at Jesus’ feet; (till we meet,)
till we meet, (till we meet,)
till we meet, (till we meet again.)
God be with you till we meet again.
2 God be with you till we meet again;
holy wings securely hide you,
daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we meet again. Refrain
3 God be with you till we meet again;
when life’s perils thick confound you,
put unfailing arms around you;
God be with you till we meet again. Refrain
Text: Jeremiah E. Rankin, 1828-1904, alt.
Charge
Go in peace. Remember the poor. Thanks be to God.
Postlude –Natalia Peterson playing Sonatas by Marianna Martines