August 6, 2017
Worship Leader – Rev. Samantha Tuttle
For Meditation and Reflection:
“God is real for me, a mystical, undefinable presence that I can experience but never explain. I experience God as the source of life in the act of living fully. I experience God as the source of love in the act of loving wastefully. I experience God as the Ground of Being in the act of having the courage to be. Jesus is the revelation of this God for me, not because of miracle stories or excessive pre-modern claims, but because he is portrayed as one who is fully alive with the life of God, totally loving with the love of God, and as one who possesses the capacity to be all that he could be revealing the very Ground of Being that I call God. I serve the God that I meet in Jesus, not by trying to convert others to my way of believing, but by seeking to transform the world so that every person might have that God-like capacity to live fully, to love wastefully and to be all that each person can be.”
Christ and the Body of Christ – By John Shelby Spong
From The Once and Future Jesus
Welcome and Announcements – Welcome to this place of worship, which we make special by our presence. Come into this place, where the ordinary is sanctified, the human is celebrated, the compassionate is expected. Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of this time, this life in the presentness of God.
Call to Worship:
Pastor: Spirit of life and love, we have gathered in this sacred place again.
Congregation: May we create here a circle of love, ever expanding, ever growing.
Pastor: A place of wisdom.
Congregation: A place of connection. A place of hope.
All: May it be so. Welcome to worship.
Opening Hymn: #4 – Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You
Opening Prayer: (Unison)
Storytelling God, who speaks to us in myths, legends and parables, may we find our-selves in those stories and grow through them. May our hearts be touched with wonder so we can see ourselves more clearly in our fullness and complexity. We give you thanks for all things around us and within us. For health, food, drink, and shelter. For family, friends, good neighbors, and enemies who pray for us. We give you thanks for curiosity, laughter, and the ability to learn. For truth, courage and beauty. For hospitals and libraries, theaters, parklands and lakes. We give visible expression to this Source, this ultimate mystery. We are grateful for the gift of life itself, mindful that to respect life means both to celebrate what life is and to insist on what it can become. As we marvel at life, let us celebrate the times we are creators of a better world, and when we leave behind us a trail of encouragement, hope, and possibility. This is our prayer. Amen.
Today’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 22:1-14
Sermon by Rev. Samantha Tuttle: “What Kind of God is This?”
Reflective Hymn: #349 – I Come With Joy
Holy Communion (The table is open to everyone)
The Offering
Joys and Concerns
Lord’s Prayer (Traditional with “debts”)
Closing Hymn: #584 – I Am the Light of the World
(verses 2, 3 and 4)
Pastor’s Blessing and Sending:
The presentness of God reaches beyond this place.
May we go forth in the certainty of faith, in the knowledge of love, and in the vision of hope.
And in our going, may we be blessed with all good things on this day and forever more.
Go in peace, and may the peace of God go with you.
Sharing the Peace as we go…….And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.
Thought for the Day/Week
“A mystic is not a special kind of human being: rather, every human being is a special kind of mystic. I might just as well rise to this challenge, and become that unique, irreplaceable mystic that only I can become.
There never was, and never will be, anyone exactly like me. If I fail to experience God in my own unique way, that experience will forever remain in the shadowy land of possibility.
But if I do, I will know life by the divine within me.”
– Brother David Steindl-Rast
Announcements
Sunday, August 13th
There will be a Council Meeting at 9:00 am. Interested members are welcome to attend.
We will be having a speaker from Mobile Hope, an organization centered in Leesburg, and serving homeless and struggling teens and young adults in Loudoun County. In addition to the contribution from St. James, we will invite the congregation to make an additional offering toward their very worthwhile programs.
Sunday, August 20th
Our Worship Leader will be Mark Dewey, a seminary student who joined us for worship a few weeks ago.
Sunday August 27th
Jim Carpenter will be speaking about Able and Willing, an organization based in Jefferson, MD which has built a school in in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jim has visited it many times and plans to go again this fall.
Sunday, September 6th
Our Worship Leader will be the Rev. Samantha Tuttle.