Opening Prayer
Lord, still in us all voices but your own. Help us to listen, hear and embrace what you want to teach us this day. Bless us with a reverent sense of your presence that we may be at peace. Encourage us to worship you with all our body, mind and spirit and then, send us forth, a people renewed and empowered for service in the world. Amen
Prayer of Confession
Holy Lord, they may not be beaten down or lying by the road, but there are people we pass by. Some are family and friends we take so much for granted, we cannot see how we have stripped them of our love and compassion. Others are neighbors: who have been left half-dead by crushing work; who have fallen into the hands of despair; who have been abandoned by all those who walked on by them. Many are strangers, people we don’t know, but quickly judge: they are weak, or poor, or the enemy or because they remind us of who we once were, or could become. Rescue us from the power of our sins. O God, pour out your justice on us, rather than your judgment, that we would be moved with pity, and spurred to action; that we would hear of the hope that is ours, and share it with our sisters and brothers; that we would shower mercy on all we meet, even as we have received forgiveness for our sins.
Readings
- Old Testament Lesson: Deuteronomy 30: 9-14 NRSV
- Gospel Lesson: Luke 10: 25-37 NRSV
Hymns
- No. 460 – Holy God, We Praise Your Name
- No. 369 – I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me
- No. 420 – God of Grace and God of Glory
Solos performed by Jenna Carmichael, soprano
Sermon
“Tell Me A Story” – Rev. Dr. Martha Jordan
Download the Worship bulletin for Sunday, July 12th
