July 28, 2024 – Tenth Sunday after Pentecost / Proper 12

Lectionary Readings

Semicontinuous

2 Samuel 11:1–15
David assaults Bathsheba and arranges the death of her husband.

Psalm 14
Fools do corrupt and abominable things, believing there is no God.

Complementary

2 Kings 4:42–44
Elisha feeds a hundred people with a few loaves and ears of grain.

Psalm 145:10–18
You open your hand, O Lord, and give food to all in due season.

Ephesians 3:14–21
May you know the love of Christ and receive the fullness of God.

John 6:1–21
Jesus feeds five thousand people with five loaves and two fish.

— Gathering —

Opening Sentences

All your works shall give thanks to you, O God,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
For you uphold all who are falling
and raise up all who are bowed down.
All look to you;
you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand,
satisfying the desire of every living thing.
We lift our hearts and hands in thanks to you.

Prayer of the Day

God who provides,
we proclaim that your power,
at work within us,
is able to accomplish abundantly far more
than all we can ask or imagine.
Where we see scraps, you envision a feast;
when we fret about scarcity, you set a table of abundance.
In a society based on consuming and owning,
teach us the way of receiving instead of taking
and the path of gratitude instead of grumbling.
Guide us in generosity
towards those in our neighborhoods
and around the globe who lack basic necessities
or struggle in poverty and famine.
This we pray through Christ, who fills us with love
that surpasses all knowledge. Amen.

Hymn, Psalm, or Spiritual Song

Thanksgiving For Baptism

At the baptismal font:
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

O Lord our God, we give you thanks
for the grace that is at work in us
through the gift of our baptism—
the sign of your threefold name,
the communion of your faithful people,
the promise of your glorious realm.
By the power of your Holy Spirit,
poured out upon us in baptism,
let your grace and peace grow in us,
until we gather at your heavenly throne
to give you thanks and praise forever;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession and Pardon

At the baptismal font:
It is only by the power of God
that we are able to stand against evil.

Trusting in God’s grace, let us confess our sin.

O Christ, when the crowds surrounded you,
hungry for bread and for your word,
you took an offering—five loaves, two fish—
and made for them a feast.
Still, O Lord, we doubt the abundance of your grace.
Still, O Lord, we are hesitant to share the gifts we have.
Still, O Lord, we wonder whether there is enough for all.
Forgive us, O God, and make of us a more generous people.
Empower us to share the gift of our lives,
and enlighten us to see the miracles around us.
For you are the giver of grace upon grace,
the one who turns want into plenty.

Lifting water from the font:
Now stand firm in your faith,
covered by the saving grace of God
and ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
Thanks be to God.

— Word —

Prayer for Illumination

At the lectern or pulpit:
Faithful God, how blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Sanctify us by your Word and Spirit
so that we may glorify you
in the company of the faithful;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture

Before the readings:
The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
Listen to the word of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 6:4

After the readings:
Keep these words in your heart.
The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
Thanks be to God.
Deuteronomy 6:6

Sermon

Ascription of Praise

After the sermon:
To the Lord our God, Alpha and Omega,
be all glory and honor forever. Amen.
Revelation 21:6

Hymn, Psalm, or Spiritual Song

Affirmation of Faith

Time after Pentecost
The life, death, resurrection,
and promised coming of Jesus Christ
has set the pattern for the church’s mission.
His human life involves the church
in the common life of all people.
His service to men and women
commits the church
to work for every form of human well-being.
His suffering makes the church sensitive
to all human suffering
so that it sees the face of Christ
in the faces of persons in every kind of need.
His crucifixion discloses to the church
God’s judgment on the inhumanity
that marks human relations,
and the awful consequences
of the church’s own complicity in injustice.
In the power of the risen Christ
and the hope of his coming,
the church sees the promise
of God’s renewal of human life in society
and of God’s victory over all wrong.
The church follows this pattern
in the form of its life
and in the method of its action.
So to live and serve
is to confess Christ as Lord.
Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.32–33