September 9 – Fifteenth after Pentecost

Creation Time Begins

 

Proverbs 22:1–2, 8–9, 22–23

A good name rather than riches.

 

Psalm 125 (VU p. 849)

Do good, O God, to those who are good.

 

James 2:1–10, (11–13), 14–17

Faith without works is dead.

 

Mark 7:24–37

The Syrophoenician woman’s faith challenges Jesus.

Spark

On a bulletin board or with projection, display pictures of many different people—of all ages, nationalities, and abilities/disabilities, and in varying contexts. Title each picture with the caption, “Loved by God.”

Theme Engagement Question

Why are we in church? To do good works? To show that we are holy? To explore what it means to follow Christ Jesus? What are your reasons for being here?

With Children

Talk to the children about what it means to work for God, and invite them to share how they can and do work for God. Stress that this is work we should want to do, work that makes us happy to be part of God’s big plan for a better world. And remind the children that whatever work we do for God, however small a task it may seem to us, in the eyes of God it is something to be celebrated throughout heaven!

Sermon Starter

Wow! What do we think of Jesus here? Here we meet a Jesus reflecting the prejudices of his time, a Jesus who treats a woman worse than a dog begging for scraps at a banquet, her only crime that she is a Syrophoenician woman pleading with Jesus to heal her daughter. Yet this woman uses humour to show Jesus how, through her love for her daughter, she is a living witness to God’s love for humanity. If we were to ask the question “Who reveals the grace of God in this moment?” surely the answer would be the Syrophoenician woman, not Jesus. So why does Jesus act in this manner? It is a moment, an uncomfortable moment, when we encounter the full humanity of Jesus. This is a challenge to our more familiar understandings of who Jesus is. Are we willing to explore this side of Jesus, a Jesus who shares our faults and who needs to be challenged by one of us in order to embrace the fact that in the eyes of God we are all worthy of love?

Hymns

Hebrew Scripture

VU 707            “For the faithful who have answered”

MV 173            “Put peace into each other’s hands”

 

Psalm

VU 382            “Breathe on me, breath of God”

VU 412            “This is the day”

 

Epistle

VU 701            “What does the Lord require of you”

MV 139            “True faith needs no defence”

 

Gospel

VU 356            “Seek ye first the kingdom”

VU 624            “Give to us laughter”

MV 137            “Welcome, Jesus, you are welcome”