Prelude Air from Water Music G.F. Handel
Picture this: it’s 1717, and King George I is floating down the River Thames on a royal barge while a second barge carries 50 musicians performing spectacular music. The King commissioned Baroque era composer George Frideric Handel (most famous for Messiah) to write the music for his lavish nautical party. Handel delivered with a piece featuring loud, festive brass and wind instruments. The King was so captivated by Handel’s Water Music that he ordered it to be played three times during the event as he sailed back and forth.
Although one of Handel’s early biographers claimed that the composer wrote this set of dance suites to help mend a rift between him and George I, Water Music was simply part of an extravagant event to keep the king in the public eye. Attention was being usurped by George I’s son, who did not join his father’s entourage on the Thames. By all accounts it was a success, with The Daily Current reporting that spectators came in “so great a Number of Boats, that the whole River in a manner was covered.” -excerpt from the Handel Society
Welcome & Announcements
*Call to Worship
Blessed be the holy Trinity, +one God, our hope, our heart, our home. Amen.
In the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God called them good.
Come Holy Spirit and cleanse the waters.
The prophet saw a river flowing from the Temple, and wherever the river flowed, everything lived.
Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the Earth.
Jesus cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me... Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.
Come, Holy Spirit and heal your people.
Let us thank God for for living waters.
Almighty and ever living God, we thank you for your love in all creation, and especially for your gift of water to sustain and cleanse all life. Christ is the living water, cleansing, refreshing, and making all things new. So now we offer our thanks for the waters that bring beauty to all that we enjoy, the wild places, the bush, the mountains, coast and the sea.
We give thanks and praise for all good lands, for the trees and pastures, for our plentiful crops, and for the living water that quenches them.
*Gathering Hymn “Shall We Gather at the River”
*Prayer of the Day
O God, in whom we live and move and have our being, in Christ you created the worlds, and your Spirit breathes life into the universe. We praise you for your wondrous creation. Bless us and all your handiwork with your infinite light, and direct our lives to the care of this good earth, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Old Testament Reading Ezekiel 47:9,12
Wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish, once these waters reach there. It will become fresh; and everything will live where the river goes… On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will row all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.
Psalm 65:5-13
5Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness, O God of | our salvation,
O hope of all the ends of the earth and of the oceans | far away.
6You make firm the mountains | by your power;
you are girded a- | bout with might.
7You still the roaring | of the seas,
the roaring of their waves, and the clamor | of the peoples.
8Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your | marvelous signs;
you make the dawn and the dusk to | sing for joy.
9You visit the earth and water it abundantly; you make it very plenteous; the river of God is | full of water.
You prepare the grain, for so you provide | for the earth.
10You drench the furrows and smooth | out the ridges;
with heavy rain you soften the ground and | bless its increase.
11You crown the year | with your goodness,
and your paths over- | flow with plenty.
12May the fields of the wilderness be | rich for grazing,
and the hills be | clothed with joy.
13May the meadows cover themselves with flocks, and the valleys cloak them- | selves with grain;
let them shout for | joy and sing.
New Testament Lesson Revelation 22:1-7
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
“See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.
*Gospel Acclamation
*Gospel John 7:37-39 Glory to you O Lord
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon PastorJim Friedrich
*Hymn of the Day “I Went Down to the River to Pray”
*Prayers of Intercession
Response to each petition: Hear us, O God….. Your mercy is great.
*An Affirmation of Faith
We believe in God, who creates all things, who embraces all things, who celebrates all things, who is present in every part of the fabric of creation. We believe in God as the source of all life, who baptizes this planet with living water.
We believe in Jesus Christ, seen in the suffering one, the poor one, the malnourished one, the climate refugee - who loves and cares for this world and suffers with it. And we believe in Jesus Christ, the seed of life, who came to reconcile and renew this world and everything in it.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, who moves with God and who moves among and with us today.
We believe in everlasting life in God. And we believe in the hope that one day God willput an end to death and all destructive forces.
*Exchange of Peace
The peace of the Lord be with you. And also with you.
Offering
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Offering Music Bourrée from Water Music G.F. Handel
*Offering Prayer
O God, maker of heaven and earth, your steadfast love embraces all creation. You send rain and sunshine to nourish the earth and bring forth its bounty. Through these gifts of bread and wine, draw us into the death and life of your Son, who calls us to bear witness to his saving work. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
*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.
O God triune, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Over the eons your merciful might evolved our home, a fragile tree of life. Here by your wisdom are both life and death, growth and decay, the nest and the hunt, sunshine and storm, darkness and light. Sustained by these wonders, we creatures of dust join in the ancient song:
The earth is full of your glory. The earth is full of your glory.
O God triune, you took on our flesh in Jesus our healer. In Christ you bring life from death; we remember his cross, we laud his resurrection. Broken like bread, he enlivens our body. Outpoured like wine, he fills the earth with goodness. Receiving this mystery, we mortals sing our song:
The earth is full of your glory. The earth is full of your glory.
We praise you for the heart of Jesus, so filled with your love for this earth. In the night in which he was betrayed, ... Do this for the remembrance of me.
Gathered around this table, we your children unite in this song:
The earth is full of your glory. The earth is full of your glory.
O God triune, you create the worlds, you uphold the living, you embrace the dead. Send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. Strengthen us for our journey with this meal,
the body and blood of Christ. Give us a future that trusts in you and cares for your earth. Empowered by your promises, we rise from our deaths to praise you again:
The earth is full of your glory. The earth is full of your glory.
Amen, and amen. Amen, and amen.
*The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, remember us in your Kingdom and teach us to 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 forever. Amen.
Invitation to Communion
The gifts of creation for God’s beloved creatures. Come and share.
Communion Distribution
Communion Hymn “O Healing River”
O healing river, send down your waters, send down your waters upon this land.
O healing river, send down your waters, and wash the blood from off the sand.
This land is parching, this land is burning, no seed is growing in the barren ground.
O healing river, send down your waters, O healing river, send your waters down.
Let the seed of freedom, awake and flourish, let the deep roots nourish, let the tall stalks rise. O healing river, send down your waters, O healing river, from out of the skies.
*Communion Blessing and Prayer
God of our salvation, we give you thanks for this meal that restores our souls, reconciles us to you, and strengthens us for the journey. Through the body and blood of your Son, may we become Christ’s body in the world, bearing witness to your love for all creation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
*Sending Hymn "Living Water”
*Blessing & Dismissal
God our Mother root you deep in grace. God our Neighbor stand with you in strength. God our Nourishment sustain you in hope and bless you unto evergreen life. Amen.
Go in peace. Flourish with creation.
Thanks be to God.
Postlude Finale and Hornpipe from Water Music G.F. Handel
