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Woship Resources 2009-2010 — Year C: Live Generously, Love Courageously
Return to Year C: 2009-2010
Resource Index
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Rejoice in God’s New Creation
Ordinary Time (Proper 28)
Scriptures: Isaiah 65:17–25; Psalm 98; II
Thessalonians 3:6–13; Luke 21:5–19/21:5–18 IV; II Nephi 1:20; Doctrine
and Covenants 153:9c
Create a worship center using a low, draped table. Place on it bowls of
different sizes at various levels. Perhaps even place some larger bowls on the
floor at the base of the table. Create small, printed signs with lettering that
is visible from the pews. They might say, “Melt me,” “Mold me,” “Fill me,” and
“Use me.” Display these signs between the bowls.
Prelude
Call to Worship: Excerpts from St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer
Consider using two readers for this prayer.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven: Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise.
Focus Moment
Story “Tikkun
Olam: Repair of the World”
(Identify a strong, animated reader for this story.
Consider asking the children to come forward while it is read. The reader should
bring their attention to the bowls that are part of the worship center, perhaps
even inviting each child to hold a bowl while the story is shared. The reader
might also have the pieces of a shattered bowl and a broken bowl that has been
glued back together to add to the worship center at the appropriate points in
the story.)
*Hymn of Arising: “Sound over All Waters” HS 261
OR “Gather Us In” SP 4
OR “I Will Sing, I Will Sing” NS 19
*Prayer of Invocation
*Response
Ministry of Music: “We Have the Power to Share the Light” soloist R-17
OR “Light Dawns on a Weary World” R-3
OR “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace” NS 34
Replace the word “channel” with “vessel” in all verses.
OR “For the Healing of the Nations” HS 452
Spoken Word
Based on Isaiah 65:17–25
Hymn: “Spirit of the Living God” verse 1 only Worship & Rejoice
492
Sing three times: The first time the women sing, the second time the men
sing, and the third time everyone sings.
OR Ministry of Music
Scripture for Confessional Reflection: II Nephi 1:20
Lord, sometimes we fail to keep your commandments, especially in the care
of your creation. May we be more mindful. Amen.
Prayer for Peace
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. Offertory 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.
Blessing and Receiving of Mission Tithes
Use as offering receptacles some of the bowls from the worship
center—including the repaired bowl.
*Hymn: “Send Forth Thy Light, O Zion” HS 317
OR “God, the Source of Light and Beauty” HS 406
OR “All Are Called” R-9
OR “Now Sing to Our God” NS 40
*Sending Forth: Responsive Reading
Leader: Be steadfast and trust in the instructions which have been given
for your guidance.
People: Be with us, Lord. Strengthen us for the tasks that lie ahead.
Leader: Continue to be faithful and commit yourselves without reservation
to the building of my kingdom.
People: We commit ourselves to your kingdom and your creation.
All: Amen.
—Doctrine and Covenants 153:9c adapted
*Response
Sermon Helps
Scriptures: Isaiah 65:17–25; Psalm 98;
II Thessalonians 3:6–13; Luke 21:5–19/21:5–18 IV
Exploring the Scriptures
Isaiah 65 celebrates hope in a difficult and troubled time. Isaiah 65:17–25
is a prophetic address, an announcement of a new creation. God is up to making
“new heavens and a new earth.” Its contents concern the present and the future.
First, the prophet hears God announce the new era (vv. 17–19a) and then present
a description of the circumstances of life in that time (vv. 19b–25). This new
age is presented in a pattern that alternates negative and positive—what will
not be and what will be. This creation of a New Jerusalem will not be a place
where people die prematurely or aren’t able to reap what they sow. It will be a
place where premature death will be ended, and work will be productive and
fruitful where efforts and results coincide. The Lord will bless the people and
will hear them even before they call.
This announcement of new heavens and a new earth has in view a transformation
of circumstances on this earth, and within history, not beyond them. This vision
of a new creation will be a place where all creation lives in peace. This
foundational situation where peace prevails is a blessing of the Lord. There is
no talk of the new age as a reward for righteousness or the like. Rather, it is
a gift from a generous God who promises to answer prayers even before they are
expressed out loud. The concluding verse promises an even more dramatic
transformation of the natural order. Natural enemies will live in peace with one
another where the lion will eat straw, the snake will eat dust, and the wolf and
the lamb will lie down with each other.
Death is present in Isaiah 65:17–25, but it does not ruin life. People will
still work, but in a situation where justice is present. It would be good news,
for sure, if women everywhere could bring children into a world that did not
present them with the sudden terrors of war or famine.
Central Ideas
1. We live in difficult times, and God still is ever present promising a
new creation among us just as in the days of Isaiah. God has done marvelous
things and will continue to do so. God’s love and peace is eternal in
breadth and depth, for it encompasses all creation. We are to let go of
former things and remember them no more if we are to live in and into God’s
hope-filled present and future.
2. We rejoice in God’s new creation of peace. Even when death is present,
it does not ruin life. There is evidence of justice around us. As we all
strive toward justice, we see God among us and feel we must rejoice and
praise God.
3. The joy we feel when surrounded by God’s love and peace transcends
worldly happiness, which is fleeting. As God delights in us and creates us
as a joy, we too find joy in God. When the joy that comes from God permeates
our minds and hearts, we cannot help but express that joy through praise and
singing.
Questions for the Speaker
1. When have you had a difficult time, but have seen God at work and have
rejoiced?
2. When and where have you seen a new creation where God has been
involved?
3. Where in the life of your congregation is God calling you to not
remember the things of the past, but live into what God is doing among you
in the hope-filled present and future?
4. When you envision all creation praising the Creator, what do you see
and hear?
5. How can praise and rejoicing become part of your life rather than be
limited to Sunday worship?
6. Where do you feel most comfortable offering praise? At home? At
church? Where? Why?
7. How can the members of your congregation gain a greater appreciation
for letting praise arise out of the depths of their souls?
8. How do you express and live out the joy you find in God?
9. Where do you see evidences of God’s peace around you and rejoice
because of it?
Tikkun Olam: Repair of the World
by Naomi Newman
In the beginning, before there were any beginnings or endings, there was
no place that was not already God. We call this unimaginable openness Ein
Sof, Being without end, World without end, Ein Sof.
Then came the urge to give life to our world and us. But there was no
place that was not already God. So Ein Sof breathed in to make room
like a father steps back so his child will walk to him. We call this
withdrawing Tzim Tzum.
Into the emptiness Ein Sof set vessels and began to fill them with
divine light, like a mother places bowls in which to pour her delicious
soup. We call these bowls Kaleem.
As the light poured forth, a perfect world was being created. Think of
it, a world without greed and cruelty and violence. But then something
happened. The kaleem shattered. No one knows why. Perhaps the bowls
were too frail, perhaps the light too intense, perhaps Ein Sof was
learning. After all, no one makes perfect the first time.
With the shattering of the bowls the divine sparks flew everywhere. Some
rushing back to Ein Sof, some falling, falling, trapped in the broken
shards, to become our world and us.
Though this is hard to believe, the perfect world is all around us, but
broken into jagged pieces, like a puzzle thrown to the floor, the picture
lost, each piece without meaning until someone puts them back together
again.
We are that someone. There is no one else. We are the ones who can find
the broken pieces, remember how they fit together and rejoin them. And we
call this repair of the world Tikkun Olam.
In every moment with every act we can heal our world and us. We are all
holy sparks dulled by separation. But when we meet and talk and eat and make
love, when we work and play and disagree with holiness in our eyes, seeing
Ein Sof everywhere, our brokenness will end.
Then our bowls will be strong enough to hold the light, and our light
gentle enough to fill the bowls. As we repair the world together, we will
learn that there is no place that is not God.
©) Naomi Newman April 1994
Used with Permission
Pronunciation Guide:
Ein Sof – ain soph
Tzim Tzum – zem zoom
Kaleem - kah-leem
Tikkun Olam - tee-koon oh-luhm
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