CCLI license #1913561
Sunday, June 7, 2020, Trinity Sunday
A Pastoral Letter
While we in the church do not condone the violence and destruction taking place after the death of George Floyd, we certainly understand its roots. This is just the most recent in a long line of deaths involving people of color and the police, and centuries of unequal justice, economic oppression, and racial prejudice.
We in the church are not free from blame. We have for too long offered weak criticism, lent tacit assent, and turned a blind eye to the injustice around us. Our failure to respond to non-violent protest has contributed significantly to the frustration manifest in this present violence.
Those of us in the church who are part of the dominant culture, while claiming no part in the overt oppression of the past, have continued to enjoy the privilege derived from it and we have accepted the status quo as our birthright. We have not taken up the mantle of being part of the solution and we have been part of the continuing problem.
The burdens of sickness, death, and economic hardship brought on by the present pandemic have fallen disproportionately upon those already burdened and with the fewest resources to endure it. These inequities have added to the frustrations and eroded much of what hope had endured. The rhetoric of our nation’s leaders has fanned the smoldering embers of resentment into a flaming rage.
Criminal proceedings against those involved in the death of George Floyd and other cases yet to be resolved, necessary as they are to the cause of justice, will not solve the problem. We must claim the high ideals espoused, but never actually practiced, at our inception. This document speaks of all men (women were not included; it was a product of its time), but was not intended to be applied to all men. Hear the ideals that were to make us different from other nations.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”[1]
Some would be content to return to the way we were. If we are to be part of the solution, we must
rise up and dedicate ourselves to making America, and all God’s creation, the
great land we dreamed of being, one nation under God with liberty and justice
for all. Let us pray for peace and
justice.
From the Pastors of
Lakeview Presbyterian Church
[1] From the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America
Our worship service for June 7, 2020, includes a celebration of Holy Communion. If you wish to partake of elements when appropriate in the service, we invite you to prepare your juice and your bread (or alternative) ahead of time.
Music "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty" by Reginald Herber
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty,
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Call to Confession
If we are honest with ourselves, our hearts condemn us.
But God, who knows everything, is greater than our hearts;
and God’s deep desire for us is mercy, love, and peace.
Therefore let us confess our sin.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, you have created us to live in harmony with the whole of creation. But we have failed to live according to our will for us; we disrespect your creation; we take what pleases us, ignoring the needs of others. We are blind to the injustices all around us, seeing life only from our own perspective. We repent of our failure to give as you have given to us. We beg your mercy for our fallen world. We seek your Word, that we may live with the faith of Jesus. Be our solace in this life and always. We pray in Christ’s name. AMEN
Assurance of Pardon
Do not fear, says the Lord for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. God is doing a new thing; now it springs forth! By the grace of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God.
Prayer for Illumination
Holy God, by your Spirit reveal your radical, surprising love; come to us through your holy word, and let us hear what you are saying. Amen
A Reading from Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13: 1—13
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast,1 but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love
Sermon “Faith, Hope, and Love” Rev. Russell Lehman
Music Offering Audience of One by Big Daddy Weave
I come on my knees
To lay down before You
Bringing all that I am
Longing only to know You
Seeking Your face
And not only Your hand
I find You embracing me
Just as I am
And I lift these songs
To You and You alone
As I sing to You
In my praises make Your home
To my audience of one
You are Father, and You are Son
As your spirit flows free
Let it find within me
A heart that beats to praise You
And now just to know You more
Has become my great reward
To see Your kingdom come
And Your will be done
I only desire to be Yours
Lord
So what could I bring
To honor Your majesty
What song could I sing
That would move the heart of royalty
And all that I have
Is the life that You've given me
So Lord let me live for You
My song with humility
And Lord as the love song
Of my life is played
I have one desire
To bring glory to Your name
To my audience of one
You are Father, and You are Son
As Your spirit flows free
Let it find within me
A heart that beats to praise You
And now just to know You more
Has become my great reward
To see Your kingdom come
And Your will be done
I only desire to be Yours
Lord
And Lord as this love song of my life is played.
I have one desire, to bring glory to your name.
To my audience of one
You are Father, and You are Son
As Your spirit flows free
Let it find within me
A heart that beats to praise You
And now just to know You more
Has become my great reward
To see Your kingdom come
And Your will be done
I only desire to be Yours
Lord
Offering of our gifts
Almighty God, in this time of global pandemic, when patterns of behavior which have been familiar to us are overturned and we face an uncertain future, we realize that we still have the personal gifts you gave us at conception and the skills we have developed over time. Help us to recognize those gifts and realize new ways to use them in service to you through service to others. In Christ’s name. Amen
Service of Holy Communion
The Invitation
Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” O taste and see that the Lord is good! Happy are those who find refuge in God!
The Words of Institution
On the night of his arrest, our Lord took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, and said, “This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” Every time you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you. And also with you
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Holy God, creator of the universe, with joy we praise you and give you thanks. You brought light from darkness and drew land from the sea. You made us in your image to live with one another in love. You promised yourself in covenant with us, you told us your purpose in your law, and called for justice through the prophets. Through long generations you have been faithful to your people.
Holy, holy, holy Lord, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come.
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!
We praise you for your love: bringing order out of chaos, breathing life into dust, leading captives into freedom, calling wandering children home, giving bread to the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, raising the dead to life. We thank you, Lord for Jesus: Word made flesh, light of the world, living water, shepherd and gate, way and truth, bread of heaven, cup of salvation, resurrection and life.
Spirit come – come and live in us: in this bread, in this cup, in your people, one in the body, one in the blood; one with Christ, one in ministry, in this place, in every place; in this world, in the world to come.
Partaking the Elements
When we break bread, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? When we give thanks over the cup, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
Jesus said: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Prayer after Communion
Holy God, we thank you for this feast of grace and life. Send us out to answer the summons of our Lord Jesus Christ to a new life, and to follow him with joy and gladness. Set our feet in his holy way, that our lives may be signs of his life and all we do may show forth his love. AMEN
The Lord’s Prayer (sung)
Benediction
May the grace of Jesus Christ our Risen Lord, the love of God who raised him from the dead and the power of the Holy Spirit who fills the world with new life, bless and keep you! AMEN
QUESTION FOR REFLECTION
When have I seen faith in God used as a weapon against others? How might the church be different if totally dedicated to love for all God’s people?