Jonah – katyandtheword

Jonah Bulletin by Rev. Dr. Barb Hedges-Goettl

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.

⁸When 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.⁹But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰Then 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. ¹¹And 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

More Narrative Lectionary Resources

Crises of Faith

God, I’m in the midst of some kind of crises of faith.

As a person who always believe in happy endings, I’m not convinced it will all turn out alright in the end.

Because God, we are still being called into your story.

Like Jonah, who first refused the call. He didn’t want to go. He wasn’t going.

Ninevah wasn’t worth it.

Or maybe Jonah wasn’t worth it.

Either way, he didn’t wanna and God couldn’t make it.

So he hopped a boat to sail away–like the runaway bunny.

And then, the storms came, the dice were rolled and the fingers were pointed to Jonah.

God, Someone said whoever needs to go to Ninevah better get going…

but I know the truth, I know why it’s a crises, because the answer is us!

We are Jonah. And my crises of faith, is I don’t know if we can right ourelves.

God, I know you are speaking, whispering, yelling in our ears. God I don’t have faith that we have the ears to hear.

You say, help those who are in trouble: the lgbtquia people who are threatened, the black people who suffer state violence every single day, the women who are losing their jobs and their rights, the children and families who are still in f—ing cages!

And see, I know I’m like Jonah, because if/when people repent, can I practice grace?

I don’t have faith that I can.

So I’ll have to rely on yours Lord.

Holy Spirit, help me to breathe into this crises of faith, I pray.

Amen

Feel free to use/adapt with permission. Did you know that I have about 100 views a day? If everyone contributed $5-$20 my fundraising would be over!

About Me: My Story & My Writing

Donations Accepted at PayPal https://paypal.me/KatyStenta?locale.x=en_US Venmo www.venmo.com/Katy-Stenta or Google Pay to Katyandtheword at gmail

Jonah and God’s Mercy

Jonah 1:1-7; 3:1-10 [4:1-11]
Luke 18:13 Opt Psalm 88:3-7, 13

10am Drive in Worship Nov 1st

Announcements

Call to Worship

Lord God, when I am in the Pit, You are there

I will come with the voice of Thanksgivingi

When I cry out to you, you hear.

In the morning, my prayer comes before your.

The steadfast love of the Lord never changes, God’s mercies never come to an end

Deliverance is the Lord’s, Let us praise God together!

Praise Ye the the Lord, The Almighty 482

Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!

O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation

All ye who hear, Now to his temple draw near.
Join me in great adoration

Praise ye the Lord, Who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,

Shelters thee under His wings, yeah so gently sustaineth!

Hast thou not seen How thy desires e’er have been

Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise ye the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!

All that hath life and breath, come not with praises before Him!

Let the Amen, Sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Jonah 1:1-3, 7, 17, 2:1, 10, 17, 4:6-8, 10-11

(1 Finger) Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’

(2 Fingers) But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish;

(3 Fingers) so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

(4 Fingers) The sailors^* said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah

(5 FingersO But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights

(6 Fingers) Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.

(Pastor Katy) Jonah went to Ninevah, and all the people repented with fasting and rending of clothes, and God saw and changed God’s mind about punishing them, and Jonah was angry at God’s mercy and said let me die!

(7 Fingers) And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ ⁵Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there.

(8 Fingers) 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.

(9 Fingers) But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. ⁸When 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.’

(10 Fingers) Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labour and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’

Children’s Sermon

Sermon “God Among the Sinners” Pastor Katy Stenta sermon video

Communion: Invitation

The Lord be with you

And also with you

Lift up your hearts

We lift our hearts to the Lord

Let us give thanks to the Lord

It is right to give our thanks and praise ..

Dear God, you are our creator. You keep track of us when we are hot or tired or complaining. You are among us, and give us the shade from the sun, and the whale in the floods. You come to us when we are sad and bitter, you cleanse us and give us rest. You welcome each of us into the communion of saints. Send your Holy Spirit here today, so that we may celebrate this meal with you, Jesus! Help us we pray…

(prayer continues…) as your son taught us to pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom and Power and the Glory Forever. Amen.

For All the Saints 526

For all the saints who from their labors rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy name, O Jesus,

be forever blest. Alleluia, Alleluia

Thou was their rock, their fortress and their might,

Thous, Lord their captain, in the well fought fight

Thou, in the darkness drear,

their one true light Alleluia, Alleluia

O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

all are one in Thee,

for all are Thine, Alleluia, Alleluia