a reconciling in christ (open and affirming) congregation
TRANSCRIPT
A Reconciling in Christ (Open and Affirming) congregation
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
2nd Sunday after
Pentecost
June 14, 2020
9:30 AM
The Reverend Marjo Anderson, Pastor
203-982-3441 (cell)
Karl Kraft, Office Manager
Jennifer Reyes and Pablo Cruz, Sextons
203-455-7583
3160 Park Avenue,
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Telephone: 203-336-3300;
Fax: 203-336-8813
www.salembridgeport.org
www.facebook.com/salembridgeport
YouTube –
Salem Lutheran Church, Bridgeport CT
Gathering
GATHERING SONG Let Your Living Water
https://youtu.be/OrYmIXiB2dQ
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Let Your living water flow over my soul
Let Your Holy Spirit come and take control
Of every situation that has troubled my mind
All my cares and burdens onto You I roll
Jesus Jesus Jesus (Sing to the Father!)
Father Father Father (Holy Spirit!)
Spirit Spirit Spirit
Let Your living water flow over my soul
Let Your Holy Spirit come and take control
Of every situation that has troubled my mind
All my cares and burdens onto You I roll
Jesus Jesus Jesus (Sing to the Father!)
Father Father Father (Oh, Precious Spirit!)
Spirit Spirit Spirit
Come now Holy Spirit and take control
Hold me in Your loving arms and make me whole
Wipe away all doubt and fear and take my pride
Draw me to Your love and keep me by Your side
Jesus Jesus Jesus
Father Father Father
Spirit Spirit Spirit
Give your life to Jesus let Him fill your soul (fill your soul)
Let Him take you in His arms and make you whole (make you whole)
As you give your life to Him He'll set you free (you free)
You will live and reign with Him eternally
Jesus Jesus Jesus (Let it flow to the Father!)
Father Father Father (Precious Spirit!)
Spirit Spirit Spirit
Let Your living water flow over my soul
Let Your Holy Spirit come and take control
Of every situation that has troubled my mind
All my cares and burdens onto You I roll
CCLI Song # 70572
John Watson © 1983 Ampelos Music
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
Streamed with permission under CCLI License # 11092038
WELCOME
In the name of the risen Christ, welcome to virtual church!
We are glad to have you worship with us!
I’m Pastor Marjo Anderson of Salem Lutheran Church in Bridgeport, CT in the United States. While our
building at 3160 Park Avenue is closed at present,
you can find us at our website: www.SalemBridgeport.org ,
on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SalemBridgeport ,
and on our YouTube Channel: Salem Lutheran Church, Bridgeport, CT.
Over these months of the pandemic we have been worshipping on Facebook and YouTube,
except for Pentecost when we had a Drive-In Worship, which we streamed on Facebook Live.
Today we are worshipping online via Zoom,
which allows us not only to continue to worship safely,
but also gives us the opportunity to have more interaction and participation.
Our Zoom worship is being streamed on FacebookLive
and will later be posted to our YouTube channel.
Whether it will be or can be closed captioned is at this point a mystery to me!
But if it is, you can enable closed captioning in Facebook
by going to Settings / Accessibility / Subtitles & Captioning on your device.
and you can enable closed captioning in YouTube
by clicking on the 3 dots in the upper right corner and going to Captions.
Links to this worship bulletin, to the sermon, to our donate page,
and to other resources are included on our website at SalemBridgeport.org/Live
and on our Facebook page.
As we worship, please note that unless otherwise indicated,
parts in normal font are read by the pastor, leader or lector
while responses in bold font are read by the congregation.
As I mentioned before, this is our very first time worshipping on Zoom,
so I ask ahead of time for your patience, your forgiveness, and your generosity of spirit!
Will you pray with me?
Awesome God, we give you praise and glory!
We thank you that we can come together in this magical way called Zoom
to worship you and give you thanks.
We ask your blessing on our worship this day.
Open us – body, soul, heart, and mind –
so that we see and hear and imagine and feel
all that you are just waiting to pour into us!
Empower us with your Spirit
so that we might be shining lights leading all to life in Jesus’ name.
Amen
OPENING HYMN Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service ELW # 712
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1YYnC12fDw 2 vss only
1 Lord, whose love in humble service bore the weight of human need,
who upon the cross, forsaken, worked your mercy's perfect deed:
we, your servants, bring the worship not of voice alone, but heart;
consecrating to your purpose ev'ry gift which you impart.
2 Still your children wander homeless; still the hungry cry for bread;
still the captives long for freedom; still in grief we mourn our dead.
As you, Lord, in deep compassion healed the sick and freed the soul,
by your Spirit send your power to our world to make it whole.
3 As we worship, grant us vision, till your love's revealing light
in its height and depth and greatness dawns upon our quickened sight,
making known the needs and burdens your compassion bids us bear,
stirring us to ardent service, your abundant life to share.
4 Called by worship to your service, forth in your dear name we go,
to the child, the youth, the aged, love in living deeds to show;
hope and health, good will and comfort, counsel, aid and peace we give,
that your servants, Lord, in freedom may your mercy know and live.
CCLI Song # 5103368
Albert Frederick Bayly | John Wyeth
© Words: 1988 Oxford University Press; Music: Public Domain
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
Streamed with permission under CCLI License # 11092038
GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all!
And also with you!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray.
(a brief silence)
Almighty God, you love every one of your children as much as you love each of us.
Take us out of our comfort zones
and bring us into relationships with those who are different from us,
Teach us to lay down our power as Christ lay down his,
and to understand our role as servant to our neighbor
to be as subservient as a slave to a master, as a child to a parent.
We pray in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Spirit. Amen
Word
INTRODUCTION
In Isaiah we are given a vision of the great feast to come,
when God will wipe away death forever.
As Jesus shares the last Passover meal he is to have with his disciples,
he uses it as a metaphor to talk about self-giving love.
When a dispute arises among them as to who is the greatest,
Jesus talks to them about how his followers are to live in the world.
It’s about being servants, but maybe in a different way than we’ve understood….
FIRST READING: Isaiah 25:6-9
6 On this mountain YHWH the All-Powerful will prepare for all peoples
a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, food rich & succulent, & fine, aged wines. 7 On this mountain God will remove
the mourning veil that is cast over all peoples, the shroud that shadows all nations; 8 swallowing up death forever.
Then God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and will take away the shame of God’s people everywhere on earth.
YHWH has spoken. 9 On that day it will be said,
Lo, this is our God!
This is the One for whose liberation we waited, the one in whom we had hoped!
Let us rejoice and be glad in our deliverance, 10 for the hand of YHWH rests on this mountain.
Word of God, Word of life! Thanks be to God!
GOSPEL: Luke 22:14-26, selected verses
The Holy Gospel, according to Saint Matthew! Glory to you, O Lord!
14When the hour had come, Jesus took a place at the table with the apostles. 15Jesus said to them, “I’ve longed
to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16I tell you, I will not eat it again until everything is fulfilled in the
reign of God.” ... 18I tell you, I will not drink wine… until the reign of God comes.” 19Then Jesus took bread
and gave thanks for it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you. Do
this in remembrance of me.” 20Jesus did the same with the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the New
Covenant in my blood, which will be poured out for you. 21 “Look! The hand of my betrayer is at this table with me.… 24 A… dispute arose among them about who would be regarded as the greatest. 25But Jesus said to them,
“Earthly rulers domineer over their people. Those who exercise authority over them are called their
‘benefactors’. 26This must not happen with you. Let the greatest among you be like the youngest. Let the
leader among you become the follower.”
The Gospel of Our Lord! Praise to you, O Christ!
SERMON The Reverend Marjo Anderson
SONG OF THE DAY In Christ There Is No East or West ELW # 650
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNRyGGSOQLQ (2:31)
1 In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north,
but one community of love throughout the whole wide earth.
2 In Christ shall true hearts ev'rywhere their high communion find;
his service is the golden cord close binding humankind.
3 Join hands, disciples of the faith, whate'er your race may be.
All children of the living God are surely kin to me.
4 In Christ now meet both east and west, in him meet south and north;
all Christly souls are one in him throughout the whole wide earth.
Text: John Oxenham, 1852-1941, alt.
Music: McKee, African American spiritual; adapt. Harry T. Burleigh, 1866-1949
This hymn is in the public domain.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Let us affirm our faith together.
I believe it is a matter of faith to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.
I believe it is a matter of faith to recognize the equality of all members of God’s human family,
to offer thanks and praise for God’s beautiful gift of diversity,
and to love people
of every race, culture, creed, class, age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, and marital status.
I believe Jesus Christ came to us to free all people from sin and to make disciples –
people willing to live Christ’s discipline of love and justice for all.
I believe the Holy Spirit is that power within us
that gives us courage and stamina to face the truth and to live it, even to die for it, as Jesus died.
I believe in the resurrection, the victory over death, the truth that is life for all in Jesus’ name.
Glory be to God, the One-in-Three: Life Giver, Pain Bearer and Sustaining Power of Love. Amen
PURPOSE STATEMENT
As members and friends of Salem Church, let us remind ourselves who we are:
We are a community of Christian disciples called by the Holy Spirit.
In response to God’s transforming love, we share our joy through praise and service.
May it be so!
Amen
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Called into unity with one another and the whole creation, let us pray for our shared world.
A brief silence.
Individual worshipers are invited to read aloud petitions as moved by the Spirit.
Holy One, you bring us together and call us your own.
Bless theologians, teachers, and preachers who help us grow in faith.
Guide your church, that we might be a holy people.
We pray for our mission partners,
especially today for CROP & World Vision and Boy Scouts & Girl Scouts.
Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Holy One, the whole earth is yours.
Where there is fire, bring cool air and new growth.
Where there is flooding, bring abatement.
Where there is drought, bring rain.
Inspire us to care for what you have provided.
Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Holy One, we have created divisions you will not own.
In places of conflict, raise up leaders
who work to develop lasting peace and reconciliation.
Encourage organizations and individuals
who care for all forced to leave their homes.
Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Holy One, you care for those who are harassed and helpless.
Protect and defend those who are abused.
Heal those who are sick,
especially Barbara, Jerry, Andrea, Audry, Diane, Dolores, Dawn,
Grace, Hazel, Jacob, Jana, Katherine, Liz, Maria, Martha, Ron, Sarah, Steve,
and all we name in our hearts.
Feed all who hunger.
Empower all whose voices go unheard,
and help us respond to the pressing needs of our neighbors.
Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Holy One, you provide a plentiful harvest of gifts and resources.
Prepare us to labor and gather the fruits of this congregation,
that we might discover new ways of living.
Minister to us in our work, that we do not lose heart.
Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
Holy One, you bring all people to yourself.
We give thanks for the holy people who have gone before us.
Sustain us in your mission
until the day you bear us up to join the saints in light.
Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.
You are invited to offer your own prayer petition at this time, either silently or aloud.
The pastor concludes:
Receive these prayers, O God, and those too deep for words; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Thanksgiving
OFFERING PRAYER
Jesus, you said, “Give & it will be given to you… for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Give us the confidence to cheerfully give our tithes & offerings of time, talent & treasure
to your work in this place, trusting that you will provide abundantly for all our needs.
We pray this in the power of your Spirit. Amen
OFFERING
In response to God’s grace, it is our joy to return to God our tithes and offerings.
Although our building at 3160 Park Avenue in Bridgeport, CT is closed at present,
our financial obligations continue and we are dependent upon your generosity.
If you are watching and are part of another faith community,
we encourage you to give your tithes to your own church first,
and, if in addition to that, you would like to support our work here at Salem, we would be
most grateful.
Simply go to the menu on our website at SalemBridgeport.org and click “donate”
or scan the QR code here in our Sunday worship program with a QR reader on your smart phone
which will take you to that page.
OFFERTORY SONG Beauty for Brokenness / God of the Poor Worship & Praise # 17
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kVHKuldZyw
Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair: Lord, in the suffering this is our prayer.
Bread for the children, justice, joy, peace; sunrise to sunset your kingdom increase.
God of the poor, friend of the weak, give us compassion, we pray;
melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain. Come, change our love from a spark to a flame.
Shelter for fragile lives, cures for their ills, work for the craftsmen, trade for their skills;
land for the dispossessed, rights for the weak, voices to plead the cause of those who can’t speak.
God of the poor, friend of the weak, give us compassion, we pray;
melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain. Come, change our love from a spark to a flame.
Refuge from cruel wars, havens from fear, cities for sanctuary, freedoms to share;
peace to the killing fields, scorched earth to green, Christ for the bitterness, his cross for the pain.
God of the poor, friend of the weak, give us compassion, we pray;
melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain. Come, change our love from a spark to a flame.
Rest for the ravaged earth, oceans and streams, plundered and poisoned, our future, our dreams.
Lord, end our madness, carelessness, greed; make us content with the things that we need.
God of the poor, friend of the weak, give us compassion, we pray;
melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain. Come, change our love from a spark to a flame.
Lighten our darkness, breathe on this flame, until your justice burns brightly again,
until the nations learn of your ways, seek your salvation, and bring you their praise.
God of the poor, friend of the weak, give us compassion, we pray;
melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain. Come, change our love from a spark to a flame.
Graham Kendrick; © 1993 Make Way Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI Song # 1236690 Streamed with permission under CCLI License # 11092038
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Let us pray. (a brief silence)
God of all love and all power,
we offer with joy and thanksgiving what you have first given us —
ourselves, our time, and our possessions, signs of your gracious love.
Receive them for the sake of the One who offered himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
LORD’S PRAYER
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be 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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen
Sending BLESSING
May God guide you in the way of justice and peace as you complete the work begun in you.
Amen
SENDING HYMN The Church's One Foundation ELW # 654
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1YBYrJ8Hzg (3:40)
1 The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is his new creation by water and the word.
From heav'n he came and sought her to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.
2 Elect from ev'ry nation, yet one o'er all the earth,
her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth:
one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses, with ev'ry grace endued.
3 Though with a scornful wonder this world sees her oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up: "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.
4 Through toil and tribulation and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation of peace forevermore;
till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.
5 Yet she on earth has union with God, the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
Oh, blessed heav'nly chorus! Lord, save us by your grace,
that we, like saints before us, may see you face to face.
Text: Samuel J. Stone, 1839-1900; Music: AURELIA, Samuel S. Wesley, 1810-1876
This hymn is in the public domain.
DISMISSAL
Go in peace, dare to dream, and hold fast to faith!
Thanks be to God!
Announcements
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
our building at 3160 Park Avenue has been closed until further notice
and in-person worship and meetings cancelled.
Even though the church building is closed, if we can help in any way,
please know that you can still call the church office at 203-330-3300 and leave a message
and your message will be picked up remotely and your call returned.
Please also do not hesitate to call or text Pastor Marjo at 203-982-3441.
Pastor Marjo and our Office Manager, Karl, will be working primarily from their homes.
Pastor Marjo plans to come in on Sundays to stream worship
and Karl plans to come in once a week
to take care of tasks that cannot be accomplished remotely.
TENTATIVE WORSHIP SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS:
6/21 – Worship with the New England Synod with sermon by Bishop Hazelwood.
6/28 – Drive-In Worship & Semi-Annual Meeting
When we are not having a drive-in service,
worship is streamed from the sanctuary via FacebookLive and YouTube
at 9:30 on Sunday mornings.
Please join us!
If you can’t watch at 9:30 Sundays,
video worship services will be saved to Facebook and YouTube
so you can watch them later.
You can enable closed captioning in Facebook
by going to Settings / Accessibility / Subtitles & Captioning on your device.
You can enable closed captioning in YouTube
by clicking on the 3 dots in the upper right corner and going to Captions.
Links to this worship bulletin, to the sermon, to our donate page,
and to other resources are included on our website and FB page. Coffee Hour, Bible Study, meetings and other events
are being held online via Zoom.
Just go to our website at SalemBridgeport.org,
click on the Resources tab,
then on Calendar.
On the calendar just find the day and click on the event
and a zoom invitation will appear.
Sometimes you may have to click on “(+2 more)”
in order to see additional events that don’t fit in the calendar square.
If your Salem committee or group would like to meet via Zoom, please contact Karl
by emailing him at [email protected]
or by leaving a message on the church phone, 203-336-3300.
Please email announcements, prayer requests, thanksgivings and God-sightings
to the Church Office at [email protected]
so they can be distributed to the congregation.
Even though the building is closed,
our ministry continues with online worship, Bible study, and outreach programs.
We encourage you to continue to support Salem as generously as you can.
Also, in order to protect our staff and volunteers
from having to spend time in the building, handling cash and checks,
we strongly urge you to make your donations online.
Just click on the donate tab at SalemBridgeport.org, and follow the instructions.
It takes less than 5 minutes the first time
and you can set it up for automatic payments if you want.
If you need help accessing Facebook or our website or donating online,
please call Karl so we can get you the help you need.
And if you need pastoral care – even just to talk –
please don’t hesitate to call or text Pastor Marjo at 203-982-3441.
COMMEMORATIONS FOR THE WEEK
Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, died 379;
Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, died around 385;
Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, died around 389;
Macrina, theologian, died around 379
Sunday, June 14, 2020
The Cappadocian fathers, as the three men in this group are known,
explored the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
Basil's monastic rule forms the basis for Eastern monastic life.
Gregory of Nazianzus defended orthodox Christianity in Constantinople.
Gregory of Nyssa, Basil's younger brother, wrote on the spiritual life.
Macrina, older sister of Basil and Gregory of Nyssa,
was the leader of a community dedicated to asceticism, meditation, and prayer.
Emanuel Nine, martyrs, died 2015
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
On June 17, 2015,
Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance,
DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Lee Simmons,
Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson were murdered
by a self-professed white supremacist while they were gathered for Bible study and prayer
at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (often referred to as Mother Emanuel)
in Charleston, South Carolina.
Pastors Pinckney and Simmons were both graduates
of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.
A resolution to commemorate June 17 as a day of repentance
for the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine was adopted by the
Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on August 8, 2019.
Congregations of the ELCA are encouraged reaffirm their commitment
to repenting of the sins of racism and white supremacy which continue to plague this church,
to venerate the martyrdom of the Emanuel Nine,
and to mark this day of penitence with study and prayer.
CREDITS Parts of this liturgy are reproduced from: From Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2020 Augsburg Fortress.
All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #25794.
Scripture passages may be from the New Revised Standard Version, The Message, or The Inclusive Bible