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Woship Resources 2008-2009 — Year B: Be a Sanctuary of Christ's Peace
Return to Year B: 2008-2009
Resource Index
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wait for the Lord
Ordinary Time (Proper 8)
Scriptures: II Samuel 1:1, 17–27; Psalm 130;
II Corinthians 8:7–15;
Mark 5:21–43/5:18–35 IV; II Nephi 5:75–81; Doctrine and Covenants 95:1
For the worship setting, display a picture of Jesus on an
easel, draped behind and underneath with a fabric symbolizing his garment.
Prelude
Gathering Hymns:
- “I am Standing Waiting” SP 27
- “Merciful God” NS 37
- “Lord, Thou Hast Brought Us to This Place” HS 6
During the second hymn, the worship participants and presider enter and
take their places.
Call to Worship
For instrumental background music, use a percussion instrument
traditional to your local area. Once the final gathering hymn is finished,
quickly play the instrument with a fast pace as if to announce the arriving
of someone or something. Then slow down the pace and the volume while the
reading is being read. After the reading, once again play faster and louder
and then stop quickly. This type of call to worship is intended to attract
people’s attention to whatever is going to happen. The ideal would be to
have several percussionists; however, one would be sufficient.
Reading: Based on Psalm 130
Reader 1: Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Reader 2: Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
Reader 3: If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
Reader 1: But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
Reader 2: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope.
Reader 3: My soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
All: O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Welcome
*Opening Hymn: “Lord Jesus, of You I Will Sing” SP 31
Sing stanzas one and three in English.
Sing stanzas two and four in French.
OR “Now in This Moment” HS 58
*Opening Prayer
*Response
Disciples’ Generous Response
Each Sunday, as part of the Disciples’ Generous Response, we ask you to
integrate the message of “share equally” between Local and World Ministries
Mission Tithes. Generosity stories are provided to keep the church in touch
with how contributions to Mission Tithes spread the peace of Jesus Christ.
Please use the stories, testimonies, and up-to-date contribution information
as part of your offertory ministry. Visit
www.CofChrist.org/generositystories to print a copy, or contact your
pastor, congregational financial officer, or worship coordinator for a copy.
Scripture: II Corinthians 8:7–15
Blessing and Receiving of Mission Tithes
Poem
Wait for Him to Pass By
Crawling on the road
between the feet of the gathering crowd,
reaching out for his godly garment,
the holy, humble hem of his robe,
the fiber at his feet.
A mysterious and dusty place to meet:
Holy and human. Perfect and imperfect.
Waiting, waiting for the divine intersect.
If I must, I will grab his leg
and be dragged on the road until I feel
the Spirit that I try to steal.
Will he miss it?
Afraid but not deterred.
My purpose won’t be blurred.
My journey has brought me so far—
falling and getting up,
wounded, fractured, and torn apart.
The Lord awaits my cry of pain,
as I await my awareness
of the Spirit’s presence, so tender
raise my eyes, my voice
and surrender.
Healing begins.
Even as I kneel so low,
I am lifted closer to God.
—Linda
Mountenay
Reflective Questions
If you could touch the hem of Christ’s robe, what would you fear?
What would you hope for?
After a few minutes, ask three or four members of the congregation to
come up and “touch” the symbolic garment and express their thoughts and
feelings (sharing one or two minutes each).
Prayer for
Peace see page 27
Hymn: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” HS 67
OR “God of Grace and God of Laughter” SP 10
Message
Based on Mark 5:21–43
*Recite the Lord’s Prayer
OR Hymn: “Our Father, Who in Heaven Doth Dwell” HS 80
Both the prayer and the hymn could be used.
*Sending Forth: Doctrine and Covenants 95:1 OR II Nephi 5:75–81
Close with percussion instruments.
Sermon Helps
Scriptures: II Samuel 1:1, 17–27; Psalm 130;
II Corinthians 8:7–15; Mark 5:21–43/5:18–35 IV
Exploring the Scriptures
Our scripture text for this sermon has a long history of use in the formation
of Christian discipleship. Psalm 130 is one of seven penitential psalms used for
centuries during the Lenten season. These psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and
142) serve as a basis of prayer and reflection as the psalmist seeks to be open
to our sinful nature and our need for God’s redemption.
As Psalm 130 begins, we find the author crying out to God during a period of
deep lamenting. This is not a lamenting that comes from the inconveniences of
life. Rather, it is a wrestling that comes from deep within the soul and
struggles between the depth of human sin that brings death and the hope of life
that resides in God. The psalmist recognizes it is God who extends forgiveness,
and, in that realization, finds the courage and strength to wait and hope in
God’s faithfulness.
It is important to point out that the theological use of the verbs “wait” and
“hope” are synonymous in this text. To wait with assurance on the Lord requires,
at the core, a hope and faith in God’s word. To wait does not mean to stop or to
linger; rather, waiting with God’s word implies that the word continues to speak
and be heard within us. To hope is not a passive response, but one that waits
with patience and anticipation for what God will do. Out of the depth of the
psalmist’s despair emerges the awareness of God’s grace, and, there, the
psalmist finds the hope and commitment to wait “with” God.
The healing experienced by the psalmist stirs within him the need to be a
voice of challenge and hope to all who will hear. So he proclaims to the people
of Israel and invites them to share in that hope of the Lord and to experience
God’s redeeming power.
As you consider how to form this sermon, one approach may be to follow the
format of the psalm itself. There are four major segments in this text: (1)
opening our lives and crying out to God in our woundedness and despair (vv.1–2);
(2) recognizing that it is God who extends forgiveness to us (vv. 3–4); (3) our
confessing of faith and hope in God that gives us the courage to wait (vv. 5–6);
and (4) the blessings of God’s grace to our lives stirring within us a passion
to share that message beyond ourselves (vv. 7–8).
Central Ideas
- Even in the depths of our despair, God is present and extends to us
forgiveness so we can hope again and have faith as we wait for the Lord.
- To wait for the Lord requires a living hope in God’s faithfulness and
grace.
- Waiting for the Lord with hope allows us to experience the redeeming
nature of God’s love.
Questions for the Speaker
- Have you ever felt God’s forgiveness extended in your own time of
despair? How did this experience impact your life? How did waiting with God
make a difference?
- Where have you seen examples of hope and waiting lived out in people or
in your congregation? What does waiting with hope look like?
- How is this scriptural text relevant to those who will come to hear your
message?
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