Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Date
July 18, 2021
Author
Don Bennett
Category
Bulletins

Created, saved and gifted by God, we seek, serve and share Jesus Christ.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
July 18, 2021 – 10:30 am

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
901 East Stroop Road
Kettering, OH 45429-4688
(937) 298-0136

Introduction

Mark’s gospel makes clear how great is the press of the crowd, with its countless needs to be met, on Jesus and his disciples. Yet in today’s gospel Jesus advises his disciples to get away and rest, to take care of them-selves. Sometimes we think that when others are in great need we shouldn’t think of ourselves at all; but Je-sus also honors the caregivers’ need. We are sent from Christ’s table to care for others and for ourselves.

Upside-Down Expectations
The people were expecting a powerful king. In Jesus, they were given a shepherd. They were looking for the one who would conquer the empire with military might. In Jesus, they were shown the way of self-sacrifice. They were used to a kingdom that celebrated the wealthy and influential. In Jesus, they became witnesses to a kingdom that places the marginalized at the center.
Jesus arrives on the scene in today’s gospel as a stark contrast to Herod, who is the focus of the verses imme-diately prior to today’s text. Herod threw a private banquet for the big names of the day; Jesus offers healing for all on the grassy hillside. Herod perpetuated the division between the haves and the have-nots; Jesus gathers all people for the sake of God’s merciful love. Herod seeks to appease the economic elite, while Jesus turns the marketplace into a place of healing for common people.
Jesus takes what we think we know about status, belonging, and leadership and turns it on its head, shep-herding us into a new way of living. With Jesus as our shepherd, we gather in worship and prayer. We con-fess how we have been complacent about the old kingdom’s ways and are freed by grace to begin again in God’s kingdom. We remember our identities in the waters of baptism, reminded about whose we are and which king we serve. We hear God’s promises and lift our voices in praise and take part in the banquet that is given for all. We practice generosity and raise our voices in prayer to remember the ones whom Jesus places at the center. We go forth to be citizens of God’s kingdom—healed, fed, forgiven—following the one true Shepherd whose compassion knows no bounds.

GATHERING

The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God.

PRELUDE

WELCOME

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

All may make the sign of the cross, the sign that is marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.

Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, whose steadfast love is everlasting, whose faithfulness endures from generation to generation.
Amen.

Trusting in the mercy of God, let us confess our sin.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Reconciling God,
we confess that we do not trust your abundance, and we deny your presence in our lives. We place our hope in ourselves and rely on our own efforts. We fail to believe that you provide enough for all. We abuse your good creation for our own benefit. We fear difference and do not welcome others as you have welcomed us. We sin in thought, word, and deed. By your grace, forgive us; through your love, renew us; and in your Spirit, lead us; so that we may live and serve you in newness of life. Amen.

Beloved of God, by the radical abundance of divine mercy we have peace with God through Christ Jesus, through whom we have obtained grace upon grace. Our sins are forgiven. Let us live now in hope. For hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

GATHERING HYMN – “Savior, like a Shepherd Lead Us”

Savior, like a shepherd lead us;
much we need your tender care.
In your pleasant pastures feed us,
for our use your fold prepare.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
you have bought us; we are yours.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
you have bought us; we are yours.

We are yours; in love befriend us,
be the guardian of our way;
keep your flock, from sin defend us,
seek us when we go astray.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
hear us children when we pray.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
hear us children when we pray.

You have promised to receive us,
poor and sinful though we be;
you have mercy to relieve us,
grace to cleanse, and pow’r to free.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
early let us turn to you.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
early let us turn to you.

Early let us seek your favor,
early let us do your will;
blessed Lord and only Savior,
with your love our spirits fill.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
you have loved us, love us still.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
you have loved us, love us still.

GREETING

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.

KYRIE

Gathered in peace, gathered in peace, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

For peace from above, and for the saving power of God, let us pray. Christ have mercy.
Christ have mercy.

For peace in the world, for the Church, for the unity of all, let us pray. Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

For this holy place, and for all who gather here for praise, let us pray. Christ have mercy.
Christ have mercy.

SONG OF PRAISE

This is the feast! Come and celebrate the victory of our God!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! This is the feast!

Worthy is Christ, the Lamb once slain,
whose blood was shed to give freedom for all.
Power and riches, wisdom and strength,
honor and blessing; come give glory to Christ!

Yes, This is the feast! Come and celebrate the victory of our God!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! This is the feast!

Sing out with joy, all the people of God!
Join in the song of creation!
Blessing and honor, glory and might
to God and the Lamb for evermore!

Yes, This is the feast! Come and celebrate the victory of our God!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! This is the feast!

This is the feast of praise and rejoicing,
for the Lamb, the one who was slain,
will come forth now and begin God’s reign!
Sing all you people, sing Alleluia!

Yes, This is the feast! Come and celebrate the victory of our God!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! This is the feast!

PRAYER OF THE DAY

O God, powerful and compassionate,
you shepherd your people, faithfully feeding and protecting us. Heal each of us, and make us a whole people, that we may embody the justice and peace of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

WORD

God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song.

FIRST READING Jeremiah 23:1-6

Jeremiah prophesied before the exile in 587 BCE. In this passage, he uses the metaphor of a shepherd to de-scribe the bad kings who have scattered the “flock” of Israel. God promises to gather the flock and to raise up a new king from David’s line to save Israel and Judah.

A reading from the book of Jeremiah.
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD.
The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.”

Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.

SECOND READING Ephesians 2:11-22

The author of this letter reminds his audience that originally they were not part of God’s chosen people. Through Jesus’ death, however, they are included in God’s household of faith, whose cornerstone is Jesus Christ.

A reading from the book of Ephesians.
Remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

Word of God, word of life.
Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Alleluia.
Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!
Alleluia. Alleluia!

GOSPEL Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

When Jesus sends his disciples out to teach and heal, they minister among large numbers of people. Their work is motivated by Christ’s desire to be among those in need.

The holy gospel according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.