Jonah Bulletin by Rev. Dr. Barb Hedges-Goettl

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Prelude  Lord, I Want to be a Christian           Joslin Grove Choral Society  

Opening Prayer (adapted from Jonah 2:7-9 NRSV)

O  Lord, we remember you.
Our prayers come to you, in your holy temple.
Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty.
But we, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you;
what we have vowed we will offer. Deliverance belongs to you, O Lord. Amen.

Call to Worship (adapted from Psalm 145) 

The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger 

and abounding in steadfast love.

All God’s works shall give thanks to the Lord and all God’s faithful shall bless the Lord.

They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger 

and abounding in steadfast love.
God’s works make known to all people God’s mighty deeds

 and the glorious splendor of God’skingdom.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger 

and abounding in steadfast love.
 God’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and God’s dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger 

and abounding in steadfast love.

AND SO WE LOVE AND SERVE THE LORD.

Hymn Lord, I Want to Be a Christian https://youtu.be/iZvUDFKAsKI

Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart, 

Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart. In my heart, in my heart, Lord, 

I want to be a Christian in my heart.

Lord, I want to be more loving….
Lord, I want to like Jesus…

Call to Confession   

God calls us to love those who are against us, and to pray for them.

God calls us not to rejoice in wrong, but to rejoice in the right.

This is a very tall order, and we often fall short.

Prayer of Confession

Lord, the hardest thing you asked was that we love our enemies.
We know how we’d like to love them:

We’d love our enemies to be far away.
We’d love them not to compromise our security.

Forgive us and change us, O God.
We’d love them not to scare us or change the way we live.
We’d love them to be lovable.

Forgive us and change us, O God.
You know, God, We’d love it to be popular to love enemies.
We’d love our neighbors to respect us for this good deed.
We’d love the people on the news to provide examples of how to love.

Forgive us and change us, O God.
If loving enemies were easy,
Jesus wouldn’t have told us about the tax collectors and gentiles,
Who love only their friends. (Matthew 5:46-47)

Forgive us and change us, O God.
If loving enemies were easy, we know
We wouldn’t need your strong arms to bear us up in difficult times.
We wouldn’t need the blood of your Son to save us from human sin.
We wouldn’t need your Spirit flowing among us, wiping our tears.
We wouldn’t need the Bible to tell us what the world does not.

Forgive us and change us, O God.
Give us the strength to stop hating

And halt the cycles of violence and revenge.
Teach us forgiveness,

which we know is suffering love through piercing tears.
Forgive us and change us, O God.
When our community looks at our congregation,
Hears our words and sees our deeds,
Help them to know that you, the God of love, live among us
And that they can come to us to learn about Christian love of enemies.

Forgive us and change us, O God.

(Silent confession)

Assurance of Pardon 

God loves us when we are yet God’s sinful enemies, 

God saves us through God’s immeasurable grace,
God gives us a gift we did not deserve,

Thanks be to God for the Good News: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Gloria Patri: (Blue #579) Glory Be to the Father 

Prayers of the People/Lord’s Prayer (traditional)

Hymn of Dedication  O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee (no intro) 

O Master, let me walk with Thee In lowly paths of service free

Tell me Thy secret; help me bear The strain of toil, the fret of care            

Help me the slow of heart to move By some clear, winning word of love;

Teach me the wayward feet to stay, And guide them in the homeward way.

Teach me Thy patience; still with Thee In closer, dearer company

In work that keeps faith sweet and strong, In trust that triumphs over wrong.

In hope that send a shining ray Far down the future’s broadening way;

In peace that only Thou canst give, With Thee, O Master, let me live.

Doxology (Blue, #592)   Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow

 Prayer of Dedication 

Blessed are you, God of all creation; 

through your goodness we have these gifts to share. 

Accept and use all that we give and all that we are 

for your glory and for the service of your kingdom. Amen.

Prayer for Illumination Jesus Calls Us https://youtu.be/vgP70vB3lJQ

Jesus calls us: by Thy mercies, Savior, may we hear Thy call.

Give our hearts to Thine obedience, Serve and love Thee best of all. 

Old Testament Reading  Jonah summary with selected verses (NRSV)

1:4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up.

 3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. (NRSV 3:10) 

4:2-11 “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.” 

The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. 

⁸ When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Message Whaddyaknow? Rev. Barb Hedges-Goettl

Affirmation of Faithfrom the Confession of 1967

We believe that God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of human life. God’s redeeming work includes the social and       the cultural, the economic and the political, the scientific and the technological, the individual and the corporate. 

We believe that God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of human life. God’s redeeming work includes the natural environment as exploited and despoiled by sin. 

We believe that God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of human life. God’s redeeming work fulfills the divine purpose     for human life under the rule of Christ and all evil be banished from creation.

We believe that God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of human life. God’s redeeming work brings about the rule of Christ, the heavenly city, the household of God, a new heaven and earth,   a marriage feast, and an unending day culminate in the image of the kingdom. 

We believe that God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of human life. God’s redeeming work brings about God’s triumph over all that resists the divine will and disrupts God’s creation.

We believe that God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of human life.  God’s redeeming work is already present as a ferment in the world, stirring hope in all people and preparing the world to receive its ultimate judgment and redemption 

We believe that God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of human life. God’s redeeming work provides an urgency to present tasks and our striving for a better world. It does not identify 

We believe that God’s redeeming work in Jesus Christ embraces the whole of human life. In steadfast hope, we look beyond all partial achievement to the final triumph of God. 

THANKS BE TO GOD!

Closing Hymn  Lord, Speak to Me, That I May Speak (with intro)https://youtu.be/CDUkQBN4i_c

Lord, speak to me, that I may speak In living echoes of thy tone

As Thou hast sought, so let me seek Thy erring children lost and lone

O lead me, Lord, that I may lead The wandering and the wavering feet

O feed me, Lord, that I may feed Thy hungering ones with manna sweet

O fill me with Thy Fulness, Lord, Until my very heart o’erflow

In kindling thought and glowing word Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show

Charge and Benediction

Postlude Called as Partners in Christ’s Service

Called as partners in Christ’s service Called to ministries of grace
We respond with deep commitment Fresh new lines of faith to trace
May we learn the art of sharing Side by side and friend with friend
Equal partners in our caring To fulfil God’s chosen end

Christ’s example Christ’s inspiring Christ’s clear call to work and worth
Let us follow never faltering Reconciling folk on earth
Men and women richer poorer All God’s people young and old
Blending human skills together Gracious gifts from God unfold

Thus new patterns for Christ’s mission In a small or global sense
Help us bear each other’s burdens Breaking down each wall or fence
Words of comfort words of vision Words of challenge said with care
Bring new power and strength for action Make us colleagues free and fair

So God grant us for tomorrow Ways to order human life
That surround each person’s sorrow With a calm that conquers strife
Make us partners in our living Our compassion to increase
Messengers of faith thus giving Hope and confidence and peace

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