Beacon Worship 8/22/2021

We hope you join us for worship, either live-streaming on our Youtube Channel or via Zoom. Email info@thewordatbeacon.org for zoom info.

Gathering Time (unmuted)

Feel free to say hi and check in with others before the service begins!

Welcome/Announcements

• Our virtual midweek prayer gathering will be this Wednesday at 6pm on Zoom

• We are looking for folks to help water the plants in the garden. You can sign up here: https://signup.com/go/hWWYJWR

Facing God: adapted from Psalm 84

(Remain muted and read liturgy aloud at home)

Leader: How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!

All: ​​Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.

Leader: Even the sparrow finds a home at your altars, O Lord of hosts.

All: Happy are those whose strength is in you.

Leader: For the Lord God is a sun and a shield.

All: For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

Leader: Let us worship God.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Chorus:

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Chorus

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Chorus

Laying Down Our Burdens & Assurance

(Remain muted and read liturgy aloud at home)

All: Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you by what we have done and what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart, mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, and direct what we shall be, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your name. Amen.

Leader: The Good News is that Christ has come and Christ will come again.

All: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.

Refrain: I’m Gonna Live

I’m gonna live//work/pray/sing so God can use me

Anywhere, Lord, anytime.

I’m gonna live/work/pray/sing so God can use me

Anywhere, Lord, anytime.

Children's Bible Story

Lectio Conversation (John 9:1-17, 24-41)

(Hold onto these questions while we read our scripture.)

What stands out to you about this text? What do you notice? What makes you wonder?

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir?[f] Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Discussion

Homily

Canticle of the Turning

My soul cries out with a joyful shout

that the God of my heart is great,

And my spirit sings of the wondrous things

that you bring to the ones who wait.

You fixed your sight on your servant's plight,

and my weakness you did not spurn,

So from east to west shall my name be blest.

Could the world be about to turn?

Chorus:

My heart shall sing of the day you bring.

Let the fires of your justice burn.

Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,

and the world is about to turn!

Though I am small, my God, my all,

you work great things in me,

And your mercy will last from the depths of the past

to the end of the age to be.

Your very name puts the proud to shame,

and to those who would for you yearn,

You will show your might, put the strong to flight,

for the world is about to turn.

Chorus

From the halls of power to the fortress tower,

not a stone will be left on stone.

Let the king beware for your justice tears

ev'ry tyrant from his throne.

The hungry poor shall weep no more,

for the food they can never earn;

There are tables spread, ev'ry mouth be fed,

for the world is about to turn.

Chorus

Though the nations rage from age to age,

we remember who holds us fast:

God's mercy must deliver us

from the conqueror's crushing grasp.

This saving word that our forebears heard

is the promise which holds us bound,

'Til the spear and rod can be crushed by God,

who is turning the world around.

Chorus

Prayers of the People

Now is the time when we share the prayers on our hearts and minds. If you have a private prayer, you can email them to us throughout the week and the pastoral team will pray over them.

If you have a prayer, please unmute your mic to share.

After each prayer, I will lead our response on mute:

Lord in your mercy // hear our prayers

***

Now I will offer a prayer for the greater community and world. We will end by saying the Lord’s Prayer together in whatever language you prefer. Let us pray.

(muted)

Leader: Just as God/Christ taught us to pray...

All: 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 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.

Offering

To give online, click here: https://www.thewordatbeacon.org/donate

To give your prayers, email us at info@thewordatbeacon.org

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

O Love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in thee;

I give thee back the life I owe,

That in thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

O light that foll’west all my way,

I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise not in vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.

Sending/Blessing (from Ephesians 4)

(Remain muted and read liturgy aloud at home)

As we close this time together, let us read this word from the letter to the Ephesians:

All: I therefore urge you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Leader: The steadfast love of God goes with you, the deep and abiding peace of Christ goes with you, and the comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit goes with you, now and always. Amen.

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Feel free to hang out a little longer and catch up with others! Please also leave us feedback in the chat so we know what's working well and what to tweak for the future.