An Ordo for Pentecost 18 (RCL Proper 25C, 18 September 2016)

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

18 September 2016

The Gathering of the Community

Gathering Music

Announcements

The Opening Hymn

‘Morning Has Broken’  Common Praise #3

The Greeting

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

and the love of God,

and the communion of the Holy Spirit,

be with you all.

And also with you.

Collect for Purity

Almighty God,

to you all hearts are open,

all desires known,

and from you no secrets are hidden.

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts

by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,

that we may perfectly love you,

and worthily magnify your holy name;

through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

The Hymn of Praise

‘Adoremus Te Jesu Christe’ Common Praise #338 (sung in English twice)

The Collect of the Day

Let us pray.

O God,

you are rich in love for your people:

show us the treasure that endures

and, when we are tempted by greed,

call us back into your service

and entrust us with the wealth that never fails.

We ask this through your Son,

our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen. [i]

The Proclamation of the Word

The First Reading

A reading from the prophet Jeremiah (8.18-9.1).

            ^8.18 My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick.  ¹⁹ Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land:  “Is the Lord not in Zion?  Is her King not in her?”  (“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?”)  ²⁰ “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”  ²¹ For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.

            ²² Is there no balm in Gilead?  Is there no physician there?  Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?

            ^9.1 O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

Thanks be to God.

The Psalm

Psalm 79.1-9 with refrain from Songs for the Holy One

Refrain (sung twice):  Help us, O God of our salvation.

¹ O God, the heathen have come into your inheritance;

they have profaned your holy temple; *

            they have made Jerusalem a heap of rubble.

² They have given the bodies of your servants

as food for the birds of the air, *

         and the flesh of your faithful ones to the beasts of the field.

³ They have shed their blood like water on every side of Jerusalem, *

            and there was no one to bury them.

⁴ We have become a reproach to our neighbours, *

         an object of scorn and derision to those around us.

Refrain:  Help us, O God of our salvation.

⁵ How long will you be angry, O Lord? *

            Will your fury blaze like fire for ever?

⁶ Pour out your wrath upon the heathen who have not known you *

         and upon the dominions that have not called upon your name.

⁷ For they have devoured Jacob *

            and made his dwelling a ruin.

⁸ Remember not our past sins;

let your compassion be swift to meet us; *

         for we have been brought very low.

⁹ Help us, O God our Saviour, for the glory of your name; *

            deliver us and forgive us our sins, for your name’s sake.

Refrain:  Help us, O God of our salvation.

The Second Reading

A reading from the first letter of Timothy (2.1-7).

            ^2.1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.  ³ This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, ⁴ who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

            ⁵ For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind,

Christ Jesus, himself human, ⁶ who gave himself a ransom for all — this was attested at the right time.  ⁷ For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

Thanks be to God.

The Hymn before the Gospel

‘Alleluia’  Common Praise #714 (sung twice)

The Gospel

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke (16.1-13).

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

            ^16.1 [Jesus] said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property.  ² So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you?  Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’  ³ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.  ⁴ I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’  ⁵ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’  ⁶ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’  He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’  ⁷ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’  He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’  He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’  ⁸ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.  ⁹ And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

            ¹⁰ “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.  ¹¹ If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  ¹² And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?  ¹³ No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

The Gospel of Christ.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

The Hymn after the Gospel

‘Alleluia’  Common Praise #714 (sung twice)

The Sermon

An Affirmation of Faith

Let us declare our faith in God.

We believe in God the Creator,

from whom every family

in heaven and on earth has its being.

We believe in God the Word Incarnate,

who lives in our hearts through faith,

and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Spirit of counsel and wisdom,

who strengthens us

with power from on high.

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

now and until the ages of ages.  Amen. [ii]

The Prayers of the Community

Intercessions, Petitions and Thanksgivings

The Exchange of the Peace

The peace of Christ be with you all.

And also with you.

The Holy Communion

The Offertory Hymn

‘Creating God, Your Fingers Trace’  Common Praise #410 (sung to #103)

Prayer over the Gifts

Let us pray.

Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.

Through your goodness

you have blessed us with these gifts: 

our selves, our time and our possessions.

Use us, and what we have gathered,

in feeding the world with your love,

through the one who gave himself for us,

Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen. [iii]

The Thanksgiving at the Table

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right that we should praise you, gracious God,

for you created all things. 

You formed us in your own image: 

male and female you created us. 

When we turned away from you in sin,

you did not cease to care for us,

but opened a path of salvation for all people. 

You made a covenant with Israel,

and through your servants Abraham and Sarah

gave the promise of a blessing to all nations. 

Through Moses you led your people from bondage into freedom;

through the prophets you renewed your promise of salvation. 

Therefore, with them, and with all your saints

who have served you in every age,

we give thanks and raise our voices

to proclaim the glory of your name.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory. 

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. [iv]

Holy God, source of life and goodness,

all creation rightly gives you praise. 

In the fullness of time, you sent your Son Jesus Christ,

to share our human nature,

to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you,

the God and Creator of all. 

He healed the sick

and ate and drank with outcasts and sinners;

he opened the eyes of the blind

and proclaimed the good news of your kingdom

to the poor and to those in need. 

In all things he fulfilled your gracious will.

On the night he freely gave himself to death,

our Lord Jesus Christ took bread,

and when he had given thanks to you,

he broke it, and gave it to his disciples,

and said, “Take, eat:  this is my body which is given for you. 

Do this for the remembrance of me.”

After supper he took the cup of wine;

and when he had given thanks,

he gave it to them, and said, “Drink this, all of you: 

this is my blood of the new covenant,

which is shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins. 

Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Gracious God,

his perfect sacrifice destroys the power of sin and death;

by raising him to life you give us life for evermore. 

Therefore we proclaim the mystery of faith. 

Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will comes again.

Recalling his death,

proclaiming his resurrection,

and looking for his coming again in glory,

we offer you, O Holy One of Israel, this bread and this cup. 

Send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts,

so that all who eat and drink at this table

may be one body and one holy people,

a living sacrifice in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

all glory is yours, Source of all life, now and for ever.  Amen. [v]

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever.  Amen. [vi]

The Breaking of the Bread

‘I am the bread of life,’ says the Lord.

‘Whoever comes to me will never be hungry;

whoever believes in me will never thirst.’

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

happy are they who trust in him!

These are the gifts of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

The Communion of the Community

The Hymn after Communion

‘Thou, Who at Thy First Eucharist’  Common Praise #57

The Sending Forth of the Community

Prayer after Communion

Let us pray.

Gracious God,

in this meal you have drawn us to your heart,

and nourished us at your table with food and drink,

the body and blood of Christ.

Now send us forth to be your people in the world,

and to proclaim your truth this day and evermore,

through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.  Amen. [vii]

Glory to God,

whose power, working in us,

can do infinitely more

than we can ask or imagine.

Glory to God from generation to generation,

in the Church and in Christ Jesus,

for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Closing Hymn

‘Love Divine, All Loves Excelling’  Common Praise #485 (sung to #374)

The Dismissal

The Deacon sends the Community forth with an appropriate Dismissal.

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[i] Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects for Years A, B & C and Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion’ (2016), 140.

[ii] Common Worship (2000), 148 alt.

[iii] The Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects for Years A, B & C and seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion,’ 160.

[iv] Common Praise #732.

[v] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 193-195 alt.

[vi] Common Praise #744

[vii] The Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects for Years A, B & C and seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion,’ 163.