Seeds NL: Parables of Mark

Parables of Mark

Mark 4:1-34

Psalm 126

File:The Sower - My Dream.jpg

Image found here

Call to Worship

Lord give us the ears to hear and the eyes to see

 

Let our light shine!

Teach us the truth of your parables

Come let us learn about the Lord

Call to Worship

Plant the seed in our hearts

Let us tend it and let it grow

May our church be like the tree of heaven, with room for all

Come let spend some time at home with God

Call to Worship

The Lord has done great things for us

Let us rejoice

May those who sow in tears, reap with shouts of joy

Come, let us shout to the Lord, for he does great things. 

Prayer of Confession: God, we know we have trouble letting everyone into the nest. We claim there is not enough room, or resources, or we discriminate against the odd ducks who look or act different than us. Remind us that the kingdom of heaven is like a tree of bounty with enough food and room for all, and teach us to be more open, accepting and to share more we pray.
Prayer of Confession: I confess that my tears do not feel like they are watering anything today. I have forgotten what seeds I have planted, and have lost hope that they will grow. You know what work has been done, you know that the tending counts, help the good things grow into harvest I pray.

Assurance of Pardon: God promises that we will come home with shouts of joy, carrying a harvest of grace, Know the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.

Eucharist Prayer: God, you planted the very first seeds with Adam and Eve and continue to tend the gardens of the earth. On the day of Jesus’ resurrection, the first thing he did was to kneel in the dirt, and be mistaken for a gardener, because he is the gardener. May this meal together plan the seeds of grace in our souls to be tended and grown. Send your Holy Spirit on these elements to nourish us and our community we pray. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Prayer of the Day: Lord let us tend what needs to be tending. Help us to root out the weeds, and water and nourish all that is good in the world, help us to grow we pray. Amen.

Hymns: To God Be the Glory; Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God; Somebody’s Knocking At Your Door; Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise;

With Children: Treasure Hunt: explain that finding the meaning of parables is like a treasure hunt; plant seeds/mustard seeds; cut out and glue lots of kinds of birds on a big tree/nest;

Image may contain: one or more people, possible text that says 'Be a lamp, a lifeboat, a ladder. Help someone's soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd. RUMI ILAIDA TUMBLA COM'

Other Weeks of Seeds of Prayer Narrative Lectionary Resources available here

Author: katyandtheword

Pastor Katy has enjoyed ministry at New Covenant since 2010, where the church has solidified its community focus. Prior to that she studied both Theology and Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She also served as an Assistant Chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and as the Christian Educational Coordinator at Bethany Presbyterian at Bloomfield, NJ. She is an writer and is published in Enfleshed, Sermonsuite, Presbyterian's today and Outlook. She writes prayers, liturgy, poems and public theology and is pursuing her doctorate in ministry in Creative Write and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She enjoys working within and connecting to the community, is known to laugh a lot during service, and tells as many stories as possible. Pastor Katy loves reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, theater, arts and crafts, music, playing with children and sunshine, and continues to try to be as (w)holistically Christian as possible. "Publisher after publisher turned down A Wrinkle in Time," L'Engle wrote, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adult's book, anyhow?" The next year it won the prestigious John Newbery Medal. Tolkien states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one.[66] Instead he preferred what he termed "applicability", the freedom of the reader to interpret the work in the light of his or her own life and times.

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