Opening Prayer

Come and worship, all you who love and serve the Lord—outsiders and insiders, old-timers and new-comers, the young, the old and the in-between.

Come as you are, for this is God’s time—a time of prayer for all people, and God welcomes each one who comes.

Come and celebrate with song and prayer, out loud or in silence. Everyone can find a place.

Children’s Time

Even Jesus made mistakes

Confession & Words of Assurance

 

Merciful God,

we confess that, just like Jesus’ disciples, we too sometimes lose patience with people who need our help and support. Like the disciples, we find ourselves wishing that they would just go away and leave us in peace.

In Your mercy, forgive us. Remind us again of the deep love You showed toward us when we were still in need—a love so deep that it sent You willingly to the cross on our behalf.

Show us how to love others as You have loved us. Teach us Your compassion, so that we may be Your hands and feet to those in need. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Siblings in Christ, nothing we say or do can ever separate us from God’s mercy and love, for God’s gifts and God’s call can never be withdrawn. God’s ultimate purpose is to forgive. So be at peace. God has heard your confession. Your sins are forgiven. Thanks be to God!

Scripture

 

What really makes people unclean

Matthew 15¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd together and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. ¹¹ The food that you put into your mouth doesn’t make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.”

¹² Then his disciples came over to him and asked, “Do you know that you insulted the Pharisees by what you said?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Stay away from those Pharisees! They are like blind people leading other blind people, and all of them will fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵ Peter replied, “What did you mean when you talked about the things that make people unclean?”

¹⁶ Jesus then said:

Don’t any of you know what I am talking about by now? ¹⁷ Don’t you know that the food you put into your mouth goes into your stomach and then out of your body? ¹⁸ But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God. ¹⁹ Out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, vulgar deeds, stealing, telling lies, and insulting others. ²⁰ These are what make you unclean. Eating without washing your hands will not make you unfit to worship God.

A Woman’s Faith

²¹ Jesus left and went to the territory near the cities of Tyre and Sidon. ²² Suddenly a Canaanite woman from there came out shouting, “Lord and Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is full of demons.” ²³ Jesus did not say a word. But the woman kept following along and shouting, so his disciples came up and asked him to send her away.

²⁴ Jesus said, “I was sent only to the people of Israel! They are like a flock of lost sheep.”

²⁵ The woman came closer. Then she knelt down and begged, “Please help me, Lord!”

²⁶ Jesus replied, “It isn’t right to take food away from children and feed it to dogs.”

²⁷ “Lord, that’s true,” the woman said, “but even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.”

²⁸ Jesus answered, “Dear woman, you really do have a lot of faith, and you will be given what you want.” At that moment her daughter was healed.

 

Sermon

 

Prayers of the People

(Please add your prayers aloud and in the comment in section below)

Gracious God, we are all too aware of the needs on our world and our community. We are so overwhelmed. Sometimes it’s just easier to shut down and think of our family first and only. We know you call us to be better but some times that effort is too much. However, we keep trying to be all you have asked us to be.

We pray for those who are struggling more than we are with sickness, death and destruction. We are mindful of those around the world who have weather events adding to the endless stress of economic uncertainty and a worldwide virus that is ongoing. We pray that they find the support they need to meet their basic needs. Help us find ways to provide beyond our prayers.

We pray for parents, students and teachers as they face an endless stream of questions about returning to school in a few weeks. Help those in authority make wise and meaningful decisions, and give those who find they don’t have the choice that some families are grappling with, new opportunities to support their children to the best of their abilities.

Lord, we spend so much time talking and praying about the bad things that we often forget to thank you for the good that we are also experiencing. We pray for those celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones. We lift up those living with illness and improving every day. We celebrate the exploring of our beautiful world and the commitment we have to work together to solve crises, both big and small.

Gathering all these prayers together, along with those in our hearts and minds, we say the prayer tradition has taught us:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Your kingdom come, Your 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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Benediction & Commission

 

As you leave this time of worship

May the Christ who walks on wounded feet walk with you on the road.

May the Christ who serves with wounded hands stretch out your hands to serve.

May the Christ who loves with a wounded heart open your hearts to love.

May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet, and may everyone you meet see the face of Christ in you.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord, Amen.