41C - Sunday 9C — 43C - Sunday 11C
See also my posts from 2013, 2016 …
Since my youth I’ve been interested in iambic pentameter, for centuries perhaps the back-bone of English poetry. Whether or not my ‘re-versing’ of the psalms in this way becomes a regular addition to The Billabong will be a matter of time, application and inspiration. No, it doesn’t preserve the ‘responsive’ tradition but hopefully offers another perspective for reflection/consideration – even worship.
Here is the first; I hope there are many more.
PSALM 146
Praise the holy mystery we name God:
With heart and mind and strength we celebrate
and bless our God with music and with song.
No gain is made in trusting those who hold
a place of influence or wealth or rule.
They breathe their last and die and turn to dust;
so too their clever plans. But those whose lives
are fired by love for One whose name is God,
in whom they put their trust and hope, find help.
A kindliness that has no pause or end,
creating and creating still today,
this God brings justice to the bent and bound
and breaks the chains of hopelessness and hate;
who feeds the one who hungers for self-worth;
who helps the widowed, orphaned and estranged.
Praise the holy mystery we name God.
© Jeff Shrowder 2016
PSALM 146 (PRAYER OF ADORATION)
Praise the LORD.
With the very core of my being and every part of my life
I want to bless you, LORD God.
I want to celebrate my God with music and song while I live.
There is nothing to be gained by putting all my trust in the powerful people
when their breath leaves them, thgz return to the dust,
and their clever plans crumble with them.
But the person who looks to the God of Jacob for help,
ah, how fortunate.
Like this person I want to put my hope in the LORD,
the God who made the heavens and the earth, the sea,
and everything in them;
who maintains a kindness that endures for ever;
who brings about justice for those trampled by society,
and gives food to those hungry for dignity, love and self-worth;
who breaks the shackles of those imprisoned by hopelessness, circumstance or habit;
who enables the blind to see again, to see life in its fullness;
who raises up those bent over by the burden of life;
who loves the upright;
who cares for those separated from their home culture;
who helps the fatherless and the Widow,
but who brings ruin to the way of the wicked.
The LORD shall reign for ever;
our God, generation after generation.
Hallelujah!!
OFFERING
Creating and life-giving God,
bless the gifts we bring:
dollars and cents, bread and wine,
signs of our daily life and of our journey together;
and, by the mystery of your breath of life among us,
let all our service bring you glory
and hope to others. Amen
For use in worship, with acknowledgement. © Jeff Shrowder 2000, 2013.
A CREATIVE MOMENT (1 Kings 17:8-16 [17-24] and Luke 7:11-17)
Materials/Preparation:
In addition to last Sunday’s length of white cloth, symbol of the empty grave cloths found in the in the empty Easter tomb and of renewed life, add a swathe of red cloth from the (communion) table to the floor, symbolising the Spirit (holy breath) of God present in these stories. A small jug of water, a glass jar (or similar container) with a small amount of multi-grain or whole-meal flour could be placed on the cloth to create a visual focus for these readings.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
(A prayer to gather the spoken and silent concerns/joys/thanks expressed by the congregation and lead into a more structured Intercession with connection to the lections for the day. Sometimes this prayer borrows lightly from other sources e.g. Uniting in Worship 2 or publications of the Iona Community.)
Holy source of all that is,
comforter of the oppressed and grieving,
strengthen those who fear the terror of the night,
or daily life;
rescue the distressed;
be present to those who call on your name,
to those we named on our lips,
and in the silence of our hearts,
those whose concerns are known only to you.
In Jesus’ name….
(The Prayers of the People continue)
Looking for contemporary music and song resources?
Try David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate
| HYMN SUGGESTIONS FOR SUNDAY 10C | |
| I know that my Redeemer lives | TIS 202 |
| Jesus lives! your terrors now | TIS 372 |
| Now thank we all our God | TIS 106 |
| O for a thousand tongues to sing | TIS 210 |
| Put all your trust in God | TIS 555 |
| 1 Kings 17:8-16 | |
| Father of mercy, God of consolation | TIS 472 |
| Holy Spirit, go before us | TIS 420 |
| Lord, your almighty word | TIS 447 |
| This is the day of new beginnings | TIS 653 |
| We limit not the truth of God | TIS 453 |
| Psalm 146 | |
| Fill my whole life, O Lord my God | TIS 596 |
| I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath | TIS 90 |
| Let all the world in every corner sing | TIS 105 |
| Sing praise to God who reigns above | TIS 110 |
| When morning gilds the skies | TIS 227 |
| Galatians 1:11-24 | |
| I’m not ashamed to own my Lord | TIS 562 |
| My heart is full of Christ and longs | TIS 214 |
| Praise to the living God | TIS 102 |
| Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord | TIS 161 |
| There’s a spirit in the air | TIS 414 |
| What shall I do my God to love | TIS 122 |
| You servants of God, your Master proclaim | TIS 215 |
| Luke 7:11-17 | |
| Comfort, comfort all my people | TIS 647 |
| God of mercy, God of grace | TIS 452 |
| God’s Son came to bless us | TIS 197 |
| Holy Spirit, go before us | TIS 420 |
| I’ll praise my maker while I’ve breath | TIS 90 |
| Jesus’ hands were kind hands | TIS 236 |
| O Christ, the healer, we have come | TIS 638 |
| This is the day of new beginnings | TIS 653 |
| Your words to me are life and health | TIS 430 |