God’s Love in Three Dimensions
Sabbath Morning Liturgical Worship • February 2014
Preparing
During the organ prelude, we are invited to reflect on
these observations by Elizabeth Johnson in her book
Quest of the Living God (2007) pp. 202-3:
“Far from being a definition or a description,
trinitarian language is an interpretation of who
God is in the light of the glad tidings of salvation.
It lifts up God’s gracious ways active in the
world through Jesus Christ and the Spirit, and
finds there the fundamental revelation about
God’s own being as a self-giving communion of
love.
“. . . The point of trinitarian language is to acclaim the God as the mystery of salvation. . . . It
is Christian code tapping out the belief that the
living God made known through Jesus and the
Spirit is dynamic Love encompassing the universe who acts to save. At its most basic it is saying, very simply, ‘God is love.’”
Inviting
The pastor says:
God our transcendent Creator,
you have made us in your image
to make your love a reality in this world.
We want to live faithfully and creatively
as your sons and daughters.
God our liberating Savior,
in Jesus of Nazareth you showed us
your unconditional, universal, unending love.
We want to live and serve in spirit and in truth.
God our guiding Presence,
within our inner selves you speak to us in a voice
that calls us, challenges us, and changes us.
We want to live and serve with generosity,
compassion, and enthusiasm.
Let us each silently identify a blessing
we want and need to receive today.
After several moments of silence, the cantor says,
I invite you to stand.
We join the cantor in singing these words
to the familiar tune of hymn 12 (Hymn to Joy):
We join in reading the bold-face type:
Womb of life and source of being,
home of every restless heart,
In your arms the worlds awakened;
you have loved us from the start.
We your children gather ‘round you
at the table you prepare,
Sharing stories, tears, and laughter,
we are nurtured by your care.
And also with you.
We remain standing as the cantor sings:
As we worship this Sabbath morning,
the love of God our Creator,
the grace of God our Savior,
and the fellowship of God
our ever-present Guide
are with each of you.
The pastor may express shared concerns
of our community of faith, and then leads in prayer:
Word in flesh, our brother Jesus,
born to bring us second birth,
You have come to stand beside us,
knowing weakness, knowing earth.
Priest who shares our human struggles,
Life of Life and Death of Death,
Risen Christ, come stand among us,
send the Spirit by your breath.
We have been hesitant to live your love
and to value others as much as ourselves.
We have been reluctant to spread the good news
of liberation in Jesus the Christ.
Forgive our fearfulness, our short-sightedness,
and our self-centeredness.
Now inspire us, Creator God,
to make your love real and attractive
We join in singing a third stanza:
Guiding Presence, move among us;
be our partner, be our friend.
When our memory fails, remind us
whose we are, what we intend.
Labor with us, aid the birthing
of the new life yet to be,
Free of servant, lord, and master,
free for love and unity.
in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior,
and by the joyful presence of your Spirit.
Although our love has been feeble
and our service defective,
we know we are accepted and forgiven,
with a love that will never let us go.
Alleluia!
We remain standing as the pastor leads us in prayer:
Amen.
Eternal God, you are the source
of all reality, life, and truth.
The liturgist may remind the congregation
of special blessings and special needs.
Especially in Jesus, your human Self,
you have revealed the salvation
that is our glorious hope.
The liturgist then says:
I invite you to kneel and join in
“The Lord’s Prayer.”
By your Spirit you give us a share
in your generous life and transforming grace,
so that we may love you with all our hearts
and serve you with gratitude and joy.
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory
are yours now and forever.
Amen.
Amen.
We sit.
Confessing and Interceding
After several moments of silence,
the liturgist begins our shared confession:
God our Creator, Savior, and Guide,
you have offered to fill us with willing faith.
Transcendent Creator,
open our eyes to the possibilities of grace
that can lift us up when we have stumbled
and make us communicators of your strength.
But we have resisted your power
within us and among us.
We have not truly believed
that you are unconditional and unending love.
May your love be with us all.
Let us each pray for spiritual strength.
We have not remembered
that nothing we do
will keep you from loving us,
and nothing we do
will make you love us more.
We pray silently.
Liberating Savior, enable us to hear and experience
the extent and persistence of your love.
May your love be with us all.
Forgive, we pray, our failure to comprehend
and our slowness to believe.
Let us each pray for the assurance that we are loved.
We pray silently.
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Sustaining Presence,
lead us into opportunities to serve
in our homes and our communities.
Thanks be to God for this word.
After several moments of silence, the cantor sings
a third stanza to the tune of hymn 103:
May your love be with us all.
Empow’ring God, enlight’ning still
to guide us every day,
Inspire us now to do your will;
correct us when we stray.
Let us each pray for the empowering of the Spirit.
We pray silently.
O God, eternally before us, always with us,
and yet ever ahead of us,
we want to feel and live as wholly yours,
now and forever.
We join in singing a fourth stanza:
Eternal God, throughout our lives
we need your presence still;
Create, redeem, empow’r us now
to do your work and will.
Amen
We sit.
The liturgist says:
Listening
I invite you to stand to hear the Gospel.
Listen to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Matthew,
chapter ____, verses ____ to ____.
The first reader says:
Listen for the word of God in the words of
_____________, chapter ___, verses ___ to ___.
We are listening.
We are listening.
After the reading:
After the reading:
The gospel of Jesus Christ!
This ends the reading.
Thanks be to God for the gospel.
Thanks be to God for this word.
We sit.
After several moments of silence, the cantor sings
these words to the tune of hymn 103 (St. Anne):
Celebrating
Creator God, creating still
by will and word and deed,
Create a new humanity
to meet our present need.
The liturgist says:
In countless ways our lives are graced
with the goodness of God.
After several moments of silence the pastor says:
We give our tithes and offerings
as symbols of our gratitude, our responsibility,
and our desire to share God’s love.
Please join in reading responsively from
Psalm ____, on the sheet you received
with your printed liturgy.
The ushers receive the offering.
After the Psalm and several moments of silence,
we join the cantor in singing another stanza:
After the offering, the cantor says:
I invite you to stand and join in singing
the _____ stanza(s) of hymn number _____.
O Savior God, who saves us now
with overflowing grace,
Pour out your love on us, through us,
make this a holy place.
After the hymn, we remain standing.
Considering
The second reader says:
The homilist says:
Listen for the word of God in the words of
the First Letter to Corinthilans,
chapter ___, verses ___ to ___.
In the name of God
our transcendent Creator, liberating Savior,
and guiding Presence,
We are listening.
Amen.
After the reading:
We sit.
This ends the reading.
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The homilist briefly expounds the meaning and
relevance of one or more of the scripture readings.
Mother, Brother, holy Partner;
Father, Spirit, Only Son;
We would praise your name forever,
one as three, and three in one.
We would share your life, your passion,
share your word of world made new,
Ever singing, ever praising,
one with all, and one with you.
Affirming
The liturgist begins our affirmation of faith:
I invite you to stand
as we affirm our faith together.
We remain standing
We believe in God our transcendent Creator—
Blessing
Maker of heaven and earth
and everything in them,
whose power expresses unconditional,
universal, unending love.
The pastor prays:
The everlasting God, embodied in Jesus of Nazareth,
has shown the world the power of love,
and has called us to live that love.
May God’s Spirit enable each of us
to live with wisdom, integrity, and compassion,
to love the unloved and minister to all in need.
We believe in God our liberating Redeemer—
Jesus Christ, born of Mary, baptized by John,
crucified and buried,
raised from death and welcomed into heaven,
now ministering grace to us
and soon to come again.
Amen.
After the organ chimes, we sit and remain in prayer
and meditation during the brief organ postlude.
We believe in God our Guiding Presence—
the empowering Spirit in and among us,
transforming us in faith, worship, and service,
inspiring our witness to the forgiveness of sins
and the hope of everlasting life.
Reflecting
At the conclusion of the postlude the pastor says:
Amen.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.”
We remain standing and join the cantor in singing
a final stanza to the tune of hymn 12:
Alleluia! Amen.
Lectionary for Coming Sabbaths
February 1
February 8
February 15
February 22
Micah 6:1-8
Isaiah 58:1-9a
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Psalm 15
Psalm 112:1-9
Psalm 119:1-8
Psalm 119:33-40
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
1 Corinthians 2:1-12
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23
Scheduled Homilists
February 1
February 8
February 15
February 22
Gary Chartier
Stuart Tyner
Beverly Maravilla
Maury Jackson
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Matthew 5:1-12
Matthew 5:13-20
Matthew 5:21-37
Matthew 5:38-48