Worship for Sunday, June 21, 2020

The 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, June 21, 2020

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OUR WORSHIP FOR TODAY

THE OPENING SENTENCE

The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.       

OPENING HYMN: "Gather Us In" (Video Link):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yvkArhOrnE

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Let us pray: Teach us, good Lord God, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward, except that of knowing that we do your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 20:7-13

O Lord, you have enticed me,
  and I was enticed;
 you have overpowered me,
  and you have prevailed.
 I have become a laughingstock all day long;
  everyone mocks me.
 For whenever I speak, I must cry out,
  I must shout, “Violence and destruction!”
 For the word of the Lord has become for me
  a reproach and derision all day long.
 If I say, “I will not mention him,
  or speak any more in his name,”
 then within me there is something 
        like a burning fire
  shut up in my bones;
 I am weary with holding it in,
  and I cannot.
 For I hear many whispering:
  “Terror is all around!
 Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
  All my close friends
  are watching for me to stumble.
 “Perhaps he can be enticed,
  and we can prevail against him,
  and take our revenge on him.”
 But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior;
  therefore my persecutors will stumble,
  and they will not prevail.
 They will be greatly shamed,
  for they will not succeed.
 Their eternal dishonor
  will never be forgotten.
 O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous,
  you see the heart and the mind;
 let me see your retribution upon them,
  for to you I have committed my cause.
 Sing to the Lord;
  praise the Lord!
 For he has delivered the life of the needy
  from the hands of evildoers.

PSALM: Psalm 69:8-20

  Surely, for your sake have

I suffered reproach,

  and shame has covered my face.

 I have become a stranger

to my own kindred,

  an alien to my mother’s children.

 Zeal for your house has eaten me up;

  the scorn of those who scorn you

has fallen upon me.

 I humbled myself with fasting,

  but that was turned to my reproach.

 I put on sackcloth also,

  and became a byword among them.

 Those who sit at the gate

murmur against me,

  and the drunkards

make songs about me.

 But as for me, this is my prayer to you,

  at the time you have set, O LORD:

 “In your great mercy, O God,

  answer me with your unfailing help.

 Save me from the mire;

do not let me sink;

  let me be rescued

from those who hate me

and out of the deep waters.

 Let not the torrent of waters

wash over me,

neither let the deep swallow me up;

  do not let the pit

shut its mouth upon me.

  Answer me, O LORD,

for your love is kind;

  in your great compassion, turn to me.”

 Hide not your face from your servant;

  be swift and answer me,

for I am in distress.

 Draw near to me and redeem me;

  because of my enemies deliver me.

SECOND READING: Romans 6:1b-11

Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

THE HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 10:24-39

Jesus said to the twelve: “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

  “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

  “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

  “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

 For I have come to set a man against his father,

 and a daughter against her mother,

 and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

CHILDREN'S MESSAGE (Video Link):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL7-cHxPFjU

HOMILY FOR THE DAY (Video Link):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcRgdx6CmvA

THE APOSTLES' CREED

I believe in God,

the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ,

God’s only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived

by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand

of the Father,

and he will come to judge

the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Called into unity with one another and the whole creation, let us pray for our shared world.

A brief silence.

Expansive God, you bring diverse voices together to form your church. Open our hearts and unstop our ears to learn from one another, that differences might not overshadow our baptismal unity. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Providing God, your creation shows us that life comes from death. Renew the places where our land, air, and waterways have been ill for too long. Direct the work of all who care for birds and their habitats. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Eternal Father, you created us in Your own image and likeness, but sin has warped the minds of men and throughout the world there is much injustice and much carelessness of the rights of other people and personal responsibility.  Give relief to all those who suffer injustice. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Protecting God, sustain and keep safe all who work to defend others across the world. Revive and strengthen organizations dedicated to caring for refugees and migrants while their homelands struggle for peace. We pray for police officers and ask that they would know your presence is with them as they face the challenges and demands of their job. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Loving God, we pray for all who carry heavy burdens – those who are addicted, those who are unemployed, underemployed, or homeless, and those who are sick. (You may lift up the names of those for whom you would like to pray here.)  Lighten their load with your love and compassion. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Compassionate God, you are with us and we are never alone. Bless all fathers and father figures who strive to love and nurture as you do. Comfort all who long to be fathers and all for whom this day is difficult. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Here other intercessions may be offered.

Reigning God, you bless us with guides and caretakers in the faith. As we give thanks for those who have died.  (You may lift up the names of those who have died in Christ here.)  Increase our care for one another until we walk with them in newness of life. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Receive these prayers, O God, and those too deep for words; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER

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 trespasses,

as we forgive those

who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,
               forever and ever. Amen.

CONCLUDING PRAYER  

A Prayer of St. Chrysostom

      Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them:

      Fulfill now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. 

             Amen

CLOSING PETITION FOR BLESSING

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. _{Romans 15:13}   
Amen 

CLOSING HYMN: "On Our Way Rejoicing" (Video Link): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXZIoIx80pw