Worship Guide - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Worship with One Click

You can choose to watch all of this Sunday's worship service in a series of linked videos, one after the other by clicking this link. Just press the button that says "PLAY ALL" and sit back and relax. You can also just click on the graphic to the left.​ Otherwise, proceed as normal through the sections.

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Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…”.
~Matthew 21:42a
 
Do you remember the trouble the NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick got into back in 2016 when he and other players began to kneel during the National Anthem? It stirred up a hornet’s nest, led to all sorts of debate as to what is appropriate or not when it comes to protest and process of raising consciousness and spurring on social reform. If you’ve paid attention, you’ll know it has not gone well for Kaepernick, at least as far as his football career goes. Yet there has been a sea change in public opinion in just the last three or four years.
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​According to the 1966 Gallup survey, 63% of Americans disapproved not just of what Martin 

Luther King, Jr. was doing, but of him specifically as a leader, as a human being. When Gallup asked the same question again in 2011, only 4% of Americans rated King negatively.

​According to the 1966 Gallup survey, 63% of Americans disapproved not just of what Martin Luther King, Jr. was doing, but of him specifically as a leader, as a human being. When Gallup asked the same question again in 2011, only 4% of Americans rated King negatively.
 
There is an arc to history. As a people, we may be slow, but we do move and change and grow. It takes time. Perhaps this is something of what Jesus understood as he faced the Chief Priests and elders (presbyters in the Greek!!) and confronted their duplicity. Even as events would turn tragic, he saw beyond the cross to the resurrection of true religion—compassion, empathy, self-giving that would come.
 
Hold on then. Keep moving in the same direction. Keep practicing what we preach. And perhaps consider ways in which you are being opened and transformed in this extraordinary time. The rejected has become the cornerstone… “this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes!” Enter into worship.

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Prelude

If you have prayers you would like to share, please do so here. These will be shared by email to our St Andrew prayer list so that we pray for what you hold by name. This information is not shared online in a searchable form.

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Gathering Song

Holy Creator, Holy God,
the heavens radiate your glory!
You have set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a joyful bridegroom from his wedding canopy.
May we emerge from night’s waiting with such rampant joy
that we too radiate your glory throughout this day.
In the name of the Son of righteousness
who has risen with healing in his wings.
Amen.

Song of Praise

Confess, Forgive, Be Forgiven

S​end a text to a couple of people. Make a call. Who comes to mind for you? Wish them well. More than that, wish them the peace that comes with justice. Then click below.

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The Word

God who speaks,
your law is perfect, reviving the soul;
your commandment is clear, enlightening the eyes.
May your Spirit illumine this Word
that our eyes may be opened and our souls revived.
Amen.

Isaiah 5:1-7 † Psalm 80:7-15 † Philippians 3:4b-14 † Matthew 21:33-46
*In the season after Pentecost (also known as Ordinary Time, or "Proper" Sundays, the first reading can follow one of two tracks—either a semi-continuous track that stays with a story over a number of Sundays or a paired track that companions more closely the gospel reading. This season we are mostly using the paired readings. 

Sing a Psalm

Reflection

You can find a printed version of this sermon here.

Song of Response

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Thanksgiving

If you haven’t already, set the elements—some bread, some juice or wine—in the room or space where you worship in these days with our faith community. Add flowers—something beautiful, something humane, and add something that points to bigger things—justice and goodness, generosity and renewal.

​If a joy or a concern has come to mind, please share it with the assembly here so you do not carry it alone. These will be shared by email to our St Andrew prayer list so that we pray for what you hold by name. This information is emailed to a curated group, not shared or posted online in a searchable form.

As we respond to God's grace and new life, consider those ways you can express gratitude, thanksgiving and blessing. And remember that we continue to keep our financial commitments to our mission partners and staff. Thank you for remembering to send in your financial pledges and offerings.

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Sending Song

Charge and Blessing