August 23 – Twelfth after Pentecost
Lectionary
Lectionary readings from Vanderbilt Divinity Library online
(http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/BPentecost/bProper16.htm)
Solomon
promises to follow God’s ways.
How
lovely is your dwelling place, O God.
Put
on the whole armour of God.
To
whom do we go? You have the words of
eternal life.
Spark
Have
someone dressed in armour (costume pieces or made of bristol board) say the
following call to worship and stand at the front during the Ephesians reading:
Call to Worship
Put on the whole armour of
God.
We will put on the whole armour of God.
I have put truth around my
waist.
We will put truth around our waists.
I have put on the
breastplate of righteousness.
We have put on the breastplate of righteousness.
My feet have been prepared
with the gospel of peace.
May our feet have the gospel of peace.
I carry the shield of
faith.
I have my helmet of
salvation.
We have our helmets of salvation.
I have my sword of the
spirit.
We have our swords of the spirit.
May we all speak the gospel boldly with
our lives.
Let us pray:
O Holy One, you have called
us to put on the whole armour. May we be diligent in our promise to do this
each and every day of our lives. Amen.
With Children
Do
you know what a promise is? (Invite
definitions.) Do you ever make promises and then not keep them? (Share a personal example.) Do you know
the One who makes promises and always keeps them? God! With God’s help, we can
keep the promises we make, too. Let us pray:
Dear God, thank you for
keeping your promises to us.
Help us to keep the
promises we make, too.
Amen.
Sermon Starter
After
being instructed in Ephesians to put on the whole armour of God, we hear in the
John reading, “You have the words of eternal life.” These two readings give
much to meditate upon. What might it mean in today’s world situation to
encourage our congregations to become soldiers for Christ?
The
armour of God named in Ephesians is very different from the armour of Canadian
soldiers, but it serves a similar purpose—to protect the soldier and to allow
the soldier to go into challenging situations. Putting on the armour of God is
not an easy job, but it is one that is worthy of our attention. Maybe we can
each select one piece of the armour and work at making it our special piece.
The
psalm crowns these readings with praise and hope. May others see our happiness
as we wear the armour of God.
Hymns
VU
661 “Come to my heart, Lord
Jesus”
MV
6 “Holy Spirit, come into
our lives”
MV 99 “Stand,
O stand firm”
VU
279 “You, God, are my
firmament”
MV 92 “Like
a rock”
VU
571 “Eternal Ruler of the
ceaseless round”
VU
674 “Fight the good fight”
VU
686 “God of grace and God of
glory”
MV 24 “Breath
of God, Breath of peace”
VU
382 “Breathe on me, breath of
God”
VU
500 “Blessed Jesus, at your
word”
VU
582 “There’s a spirit in the
air”
MV 102 “Jesus,
your Spirit in us”