Sunday evening - the covenants of God - Christian Worship Tools

"COVENANT WITH NOAH, HIS FAMILY AND ALL LIVING CREATURES"

Genesis 9:8-17

GREETING (adapted from Psalm 118:24)

This is the day that you have made, O God.

We rejoice and are glad in it.

HYMN 508 “Faith, While Trees Are Still in Blossom”

PSALM 94

PRAYER

(Think back to the beginning of this day. Start there, and mentally walk through the day again, while you thank God for the day's blessings and God's continuous work of love. Confess and repent of those times when you forgot, ignored or rebelled against God. Continue to pray with your personal prayer list.)

SCRIPTURE LESSON

(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)

Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.

Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.

Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.

Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

(Declare your faith by repeating “The Apostles’ Creed” (882) or “The Nicene Creed,” (880) or use the following affirmation.)

We believe we are heirs of commitments God made,

and these covenants have brought us countless blessings.

Every time we spot a rainbow, we recall Noah’s story,

and God’s word to never again destroy the earth by flood.

God chose the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

promising a nation to them, that is a blessing every nation.

The patriarchs enjoyed offspring as numerous as stars,

as countless as sand on the beach or the dust of the earth.

Through Moses, God covenanted with commandments

to guide all mankind from evil and into God’s blessings.

Joshua and Ezra remind us of our human responsibility

to keep our share in the covenants that God establishes.

We believe God made David’s name great with Christ,

a descendant who brings an eternal, peaceful kingdom.

And we believe this heir of David’s to be our salvation,

who created a new covenant, in blood, open to all people.

In this covenant God reaches out to every human child,

making us spiritual heirs of Abraham and God’s promises.

We believe in this God who makes covenants with us,

and we believe God will keep faithful to every promise. Amen.

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER 70 or 71

PRAYER

Creator of the Universe and God of the ark-builder, Noah,

you loved the world so much you sent your Son

to build a new and larger ark to save all creation.

Into your church Christ gathers men and women

from every social class, culture, race and nation.

Moving over the waters, the Spirit sanctifies all on board:

the hotel maids, Nobel-Prize-winning physicists,

the CEOs, fast-food workers and concert pianists,

shepherds, astronauts, school students and farmers.

We are all sinners, but also baptized in your love.

Now, no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female,

we are all united as one in Christ’s holy church.

This ark, built with your forgiveness as the keel,

grace forming a hull and a superstructure of love,

is heading at full speed toward a heavenly future.

Everyone on board serves you, as stewards of your creation,

because you include non-human passengers too.

Every animal that walks, crawls, swims or flies:

the family dog, golden eagle, and deadly viper;

dromedary and lizard, honey bee and brown bat.

Domestic or wild, your salvation embraces all living things.

The pesky mosquito, milk cow, mourning dove,

common toad, grizzly bear, sea bass, dragonfly,

antelope, sperm whale, termite and song sparrow.

This new covenant in Christ shows mercy to all.

Like Noah, church folk are temporary builders and care-takers

As such, we cannot ignore extinctions of species.

We are guardians of their habitats across the Earth,

and protectors of the air, water, soils and climate.

We cannot pretend we are alone on this Earth-boat.

We gladly take up this service to our fellow creatures, O God.

You went to all the trouble of creating the animals;

Noah’s story reports you saved them from the flood;

and now you call us to join in saving them again,

using every person’s gifts and talents for this work.

And we do not work alone. You are still Creator and Father.

Our joy is to engage our minds at your inspiration,

and to exercise our muscles at your wise discretion.

And your creatures are so magnificent, so amazing.

All those different personalities keep it so exciting.

Then, every so often, you dazzle us with a rainbow reminder

of how your mercy has saved us in the ancient past,

and how Christ covers us with that same mercy now.

You loved the world so much, we still have hope.

There is work to do, but we do it with our Creator.

You once saw creation as good, and we pray you will again. Amen.

SILENCE AND COMMITMENT

(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)

HYMN 102 “Now Thank We All Our God”

CLOSING PRAYER

Trust is the food and drink of any relationship, God.

It is the foundation upon which you build your covenants.

That the earth is never again destroyed by a flood,

that Abraham’s children do become as numerous as stars,

that you are indeed our God, and we your children,

and that Christ’s death and resurrection is our salvation,

are covenant promises that we know you keep firm.

Your faithfulness is unwavering and without limit, God.

If only you could trust us half as much as we do you,

but we are too erratic, too false, and too untrustworthy.

We absolutely must rely on Christ’s faithfulness

to fulfill our obligations to your covenant with us, God.

Only in him, is the hard work of covenant-keeping

accomplished with such perfection of word and deed.

And only you, God, covenant with wayward sinners;

then fulfill the obligations of both you and your people.

So, thanks to your covenant and Christ’s obedience,

we rest easy knowing your covenant with us is secure. Amen.