15th Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 17 (Year B)

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Call to Worship

    Come, children of God, and be welcomed here as you are.
    We gather in this place to worship God and God alone.
    Come, children of God, and be fed at the Lord’s Table.
    We come to receive what we need for the journey ahead.
    Come, children of God, and let us find the fuel for our faith.
    We come to the Table to receive God’s blessing and share it with others.
    Come, let us worship God.

Prayer of the Day

    Gracious God,
    every generous act we embody                                                                                        James 1:17
    comes from the grace you bestow upon us.
    Bless our worship of you this day
    that we may learn and live in your ways.  Amen.

Call to Confession

    In all honesty and humility,
    let us confess our sins before God
    and be freed of the burdens that weigh us down for the journey ahead.

Confession

    Merciful God,
    you call us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.                               James 1:19
    But often we ignore that wisdom.
    Instead of listening, we talk past one another.
    Instead of exercising patience, we become hotheaded and irritable.
    Instead of practicing kindness, we hand out judgment and malice.
    Help us rid ourselves of wickedness and embrace steadfast love in its place.
    Forgive us of our sins so that, when we look in the mirror,                                            James 1:23
    we see the disciples you are calling us to be.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

    Friends, our hearts overflow with a goodly theme:                                                               Ps. 45:1
    a theme of God’s forgiveness.
    In the name of Jesus Christ,
    I announce to you that our sins are forgiven.
    Alleluia!  Amen.

Prayer for Illumination

    Holy Spirit,
    bless this our reading of your word
    that we might neither add to it or take anything away from it.                                         Deut. 4:2
    Help us to keep your commandments and plant them within our hearts.  Amen.

Prayers of the People

    Let us pray to God, saying:                                                                                               James 1:22
    Gospel God, help us be hearers and doers of your Word.

    We are reminded that the great ends of the Church are:                           Book of Order F-1.0304
    the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind,
    the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God,
    the maintenance of divine worship,
    the preservation of the truth,
    the promotion of social righteousness,
    and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.
    We acknowledge that these things don’t happen by themselves
    but only by the faithful work that you call us to do.
    Help us embrace that work and do it joyfully and faithfully.
    Gospel God, help us be hearers and doers of your Word.

    God of All Nations,
    we lament the times when people have suffered
    because of the Church’s silence, complicity, and apathy.
    We pray for those who have sought protection but not found it.
    We pray for those who have begged for food and water and have left empty handed.
    We pray for those who have asked for love and received instead judgment.
    Help us remember that how we treat the least of these is how we treat you.
    Gospel God, help us be hearers and doers of your Word.

    God of All Wisdom,
    we pray that we might be a people that live the Christian life
    more than one hour a week.
    We are reminded that the work of the Gospel is not a part-time job
    that we can pick up and put down at our convenience.
    Help us heed James’ imperative to be a people of action and truth,
    bound by our duty to serve you in all that we are and in all that we do.
    Gospel God, help us be hearers and doers of your Word.

    Gracious God,
    hear us now as we pray silently for those upon our hearts this day…
    Gospel God, help us be hearers and doers of your Word.

    Heavenly Parent,
    hear us now as we pray the prayer you taught us to pray, saying:  Our Father…

Communion Liturgy (Prayer of Great Thanksgiving)

    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.

    With our whole heart and our very being
    we praise you for you are a wise and wonderful God.
    With nothing more than a word,
    you created the whirling planets
    and breathed life into all of creation.
    You made us in your image,
    that we might be stewards of this good earth.
    
    Together, with all of creation, we sing your majesty:

    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.

    You blessed us with the promise of abundance and grace
    if only we lived within the bounds of your mercy.
    But we pushed those boundaries and neglected your earth,
    mistreating one another and failing to care for creation.
    So you sent your Son, Jesus Christ,
    to redeem us for we were unable to redeem ourselves.
    In the flesh he came among us and preached the Gospel
    not only in word but in deed.
    
    We give you thanks that the Lord Jesus,
    on the night before he died, took bread,
    and after giving thanks to you, he broke it,
    and gave it to his disciples, saying:
    Take, eat.  This is my body, broken for you.

    In the same way Jesus took the cup, saying:
    This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,
    shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
    Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.

    We gather this day, God of all majesty and power,
    to lift up your holy name and proclaim the mystery of faith:

    Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

    Giver of Every Mercy,
    send us the presence of your Spirit
    that she might bless us in this holy meal,
    sending us forth into the world
    to be both hearers and doers of your Word.
    Unite us this day with our sisters and brothers around the world
    as we preach the Gospel and grow in our understanding of discipleship.
    
    Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
    all glory and honor are yours, Holy God,
    both now and forever more.  Amen.

 

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Stephen Fearing

Stephen was born in 1988 in Cookeville, TN, where his parents met whilst attending Tennessee Tech. Shortly after, they moved to Dalton, Georgia where they put down roots and joined First Presbyterian Church, the faith family that taught Stephen that he was first and foremost a beloved child of God. It was this community that taught Stephen that it was OK to have questions and doubts and that nothing he could do could every possibly separate him from the love of God. In 1995, his sister, Sarah Kate, joined the family and Stephen began his journey as a life-long musician. Since then, he has found a love of music and has found this gift particularly fitting for his call to ministry. Among the instruments that he enjoys are piano, trumpet, guitar, and handbells. Stephen has always had a love of singing and congregation song. An avid member of the marching band, Stephen was the drum major of his high school's marching band. In 2006, Stephen began his tenure at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC where he majored in Religion and minored in History. While attending PC, Stephen continued to explore his love of music by participating in the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Jazz Trio, as well as playing in the PC Handbell ensemble and playing mandolin and banjo PC's very own bluegrass/rock group, Hosegrass, of which Stephen was a founding member (Hosegrass even released their own CD!). In 2010, Stephen moved from Clinton to Atlanta to attend Columbia Theological Seminary to pursue God's call on his life to be a pastor in the PC(USA). During this time, Stephen worked at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Silver Creek Presbyterian Church, Central Presbyterian Church, and Westminster Presbyterian Church. For three years, Stephen served as the Choir Director of Columbia Theological Seminary's choir and also served as the Interim Music Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church. In 2014, Stephen graduated from Columbia with a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Arts in Practical Theology with an emphasis in liturgy, music, and worship. In July of 2014, Stephen was installed an ordained as Teaching Elder at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church in Shelter Island, NY. Later that year, Stephen married the love of his life, Tricia, and they share their home on Shelter Island with their Golden Doodle, Elsie, and their calico cat, Audrey. In addition to his work with the people who are Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, Stephen currently serves as a commission from Long Island Presbytery to the Synod of the Northeast and, beginning in January of 2016, will moderate the Synod's missions team.