THE FIRST LESSON Jeremiah 1:4-10
THE SECOND LESSON Luke 13:10-17
SERMON "Grace and Sanity: Being Bent"
Worship Notes
Welcome to worship at Westminster on this the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. During these summer weeks, and throughout the Pentecost season, we sustain a purposeful focus on God's gift of the Holy Spirit and on its presence at work within and through us.
In worship today, we focus on God's call on our lives and God's healing presence among us. In the gospel lesson, we read of Jesus' actions to heal the woman on the Sabbath and the reaction of church leaders to this "rule-breaking" decision.
The music through which we worship this morning is chosen to reflect these themes of healing and call. We join in prayers of thanksgiving for the leadership of our Summer Sing participants in the worship service this morning.
In the spiritual life, freedom is for nothing other than love.
Human beings exist because of love,
and the meaning and goal of our lives is love.
In Christian understanding, every-thing that is authentic in the spiritual life points toward the increasing fulfillment of the two great commandments:
To love God and
other people
in a completely unfettered way.
Liberation from attachment is only a means to this end.
Gerald May
