Worship Notes: July 2008 Archives

THE FIRST LESSON Mathew 13:31-33,44-52

THE SECOND LESSON Romans 8:26-39

MEDITATION "The Eccentric Love of God"

Worship Notes

We continue our Summer of Spirit by integrating the practice of lectio divina into our worship. Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or "holy reading," and represents a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to read (Lectio), study (Meditatio), pray (Oratio) and listen (Contemplatio) to a bible text. The systematization of spiritual reading into four steps dates back to the 12th century. Around 1150, Guigo II, a Carthusian monk, wrote a book titled "The Monk's Ladder" wherein he set out the theory of the four rungs: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation.

The central text for worship today is taken from Romans:26-39 and is considered one of the most famous passages Paul ever wrote.

Our Call to Worship reminds us of the extent in which God is for us and gives us everything we need. The Psalm of the day celebrates the wonders and marvels God has done in the world and within our lives. The sermon focuses on the eccentric nature of God's love and we celebrate this love in our Affirmation of Faith. We end singing the words from the hymn "Guide Me, O thou Great Jehovah" which include the lines "Be Thou still my strength and shield, Be Thou still my strength and shield."

THE GOSPEL LESSON Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

THE SECOND LESSON Romans 8:12-25

Worship Notes

Today is the sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time and we continue to integrate the practice of Lectio Divina into our worship. Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or "holy reading," and represents a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to read (Lectio), study (Meditatio), pray (Oratio) and listen (Contemplatio) to a bible text. The systematization of spiritual reading into four steps dates back to the 12th century. Around 1150, Guigo II, a Carthusian monk, wrote a book titled, "The Monk's Ladder" wherein he set out the theory of the four rungs: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

We continue our study of the spiritual practices illumined in Paul's letter to the Romans. Yet, in our worship today, we also reflect on Jesus' parable of the weeds as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. This particular parable only appears in Matthew and it is one of two parables that Jesus explained specifically to his followers. The imagery of the wheat and the weeds growing simultaneously together in the same field is particularly vibrant in the parable. Jesus says that we should not ourselves attempt to separate the weeds from the wheat for in so doing we are likely to pluck up good grain as well as bad. When the kingdom of heaven is at hand, God will reap the harvest and separate the wheat (good) from weeds (bad).

The music through which we worship today is reflective of these images of harvest and, consequently, thanksgiving for the God who shares his bounteous goodness with us so that we may ourselves grow into good grain. The opening hymn, "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come," is a hymn of thanksgiving that reflects the text of the parable of the weeds. The hymn of response, "God, Bless Your Church with Strength," includes a prayer that we might grow in our faith so that we might bear good fruit. Finally, the sending hymn, "We Plow the Fields," expresses our thanksgiving for God who of sows good seed and nurtures us to grow in his love.

THE SECOND LESSON Romans 8:1 - 11

Worship Notes

Today is the fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time and we continue to integrate the practice of Lectio Divina into our worship. Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading, spiritual reading, or "holy reading," and represents a traditional Christian practice of prayer and scriptural reading. It is a way of praying with Scripture that calls one to read (Lectio), study (Meditatio), pray (Oratio) and listen (Contemplatio) to a bible text. The systematization of spiritual reading into four steps dates back to the 12th century. Around 1150, Guigo II, a Carthusian monk, wrote a book titled, "The Monk's Ladder" wherein he set out the theory of the four rungs: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

The central text for worship this morning is from Paul's letter to the Romans. As we worship today, we consider the spiritual practice of Sabbath-keeping by considering where, when, and how we take time to nurture and listen for the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. The hymns chosen for worship this morning offer avenues of praise, prayer, and proclamation through which we acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. The prelude is a setting of a dialog between two flutes: one in the Chancel organ and one in the antiphonal organ at the rear of the sanctuary. This piece, a work by French organist Jean-Francois Dandrieu (1682-1738), is illustrative of the interplay of our hearts and minds with that of the Holy Spirit as we listen to and respond to the music in plays in our souls.

Similarly, the postlude by G.F. Handel (1685-1759) is a passacaglia, or a piece in which the melodic line is established over a limited number of notes, most often in the bass line or lower voice, and is continually repeated with variations in the pattern of higher pitches above. In this manner, the passacaglia form is also reminiscent of the firm foundation established by the work of God and the Holy Spirit in our lives (the repeated bass line) above which we respond with our lives (the treble variations). Yet, no matter how complicated our lives become (the treble variations), we can always hear God's voice (the repeated bass line) if we just learn to listen for it.

We extend a warm Westminster welcome to Kathleen Cook Owens who shares God's word with us today as our guest preacher. Kathleen graduated from McCormick Seminary in Chicago in May 2007 and is working now to complete her remaining requirements before seeking ordination as Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Kathleen is a Candidate for Ordination under care of the Presbytery of the Cascades and a member of First Presbyterian Church of Corvallis, Oregon. Kathleen and her husband Bill have been part of the Westminster community since 2005. Kathleen is currently serving as Westminster's Youth Coordinator and serves as a contract chaplain at Mendota Mental Health Institute.

PSALM OF THE DAY Psalm 103:1-12

THE GOSPEL LESSON Matthew 18:21-35

SERMON "The Mathematics of Forgiveness"
GUEST PREACHER REV. NEWT ROBERTS

Worship Notes

We love one another because God first loved us. So, too, then should we forgive one another because God has first forgiven our sins. In worship today, we lift our prayers of thanksgiving for the wonderful gift of God's grace, which empowers and requires us to forgive one another not 7 times, but 70x7 times as told in the Gospel of Matthew.

Each hymn through which we worship today was chosen to illumine God's Word and his call for us to be forgiving. In the text of the opening hymn, we sing of Jesus who was a "friend of sinners" as we pray with one voice for Christ to "plead for me." We sing the text of Psalm 103 as we proclaim that "God forgives all our transgressions." Then, as we respond to God's Word proclaimed, we join our voices and pray for God to "forgive our sins as we forgive." As we depart to serve the Lord, we sing the National Hymn, which conveys praise and prayers for God's providence, grace, and protection for us as individuals and as a nation.

As we gather around the Lord's table to share in the sacrament, we do so as a community that strives to live in forgiveness with each other. We believe that the Lord's table is open to all children of God. We do not distinguish between denominations or church affiliations. It is Westminster's practice to hold the communion bread until all are served and then partake of it together as a symbol of the communal nature of the Lord's Supper. We partake of the cup individually to observe the personal aspect of our relationship with God. To prepare us to receive these gifts of God, and in response to them, we join in singing "Here, O Our Lord, We See You Face to Face," which speaks of the act of communing with God and of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.