Closing Worship and Renewal of Baptismal Vows

Transcription

1 Closing Worship and Renewal of Baptismal Vows Sunday 6 July 2014 Preparation Opening Words At Assembly these will be from Walter Brueggemann s 2008 book, Prayers for a Privileged People, page 183 but these words are copyright and cannot be reproduced online. An alternative could be: The Lord is here God s Spirit is with us. As we worship God, so we pray. Prayer God, [during this Assembly] you have energised us with the wind of your Spirit, you have fed us with the wheat and wine of the Eucharist, and you have guided us with your living Word as it has been opened amongst us. Coming together Assembly and local churches [for these moments of commissioning] we pray that now water will bathe us with reminders of our baptism, until we both sing and live your love s tremendous glory, through Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn: Rejoice & Sing 33 Eternal God, your love s tremendous glory Alan Gaunt Introduction to a children s activity: The Assembly activity Rooted in love, Grounded in God is available online. During General Assembly this is the point at which members of the General Secretariat will be inducted. Please include them in your prayers: John Proctor, General Secretary, Francis Brienen, Deputy General Secretary: Mission and Jane Baird, Deputy General Secretary: Resources and Administration 1

2 Word Hymn: R&S 613 Scripture Readings Genesis 32:22-31 Mark 4:35-41 Lord, speak to me that I may speak The Ford of Jabbok The storm on the lake Readings from New Revised Standard edition of the Bible introduced with Blessed is the congregation in which the Word is proclaimed with conviction, humility and joy, surrounded by expectant prayers and profound gratitude for the Holy Spirit s work to illuminate the hearts and minds of God s people. Gracious God, open your Word to us and let it take root in our lives. concluded with the sung response God, enable us to be trees of life, trees of life WCRC1 WCC2 3 & # Danish # 8 œ œ j œ œ j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ God en - a - ble us to be trees of life, trees of life. n n Address At Assembly this will be given by the new Moderator the Revd David Grosch-Miller 1 WCRC Worship Proverb 2.1. From the World Council of Reformed Churches (WCRC) Worship Proverbs, published as the booklet Worshipping God with artwork at the URC General Assembly This sung couplet is from the 2013 Assembly of the World Council of Churches, the music for which is available on line at: 2

3 Response Assembly Hymn 3 Tune: Millers We are people on a journey, Cloud and fire mark the way, Bread from heaven, rock-sprung water, Freedom-bound for God s new day. Songs and stories, prayers and poems, Words that leap right off the page, Calling forth a new creation Come alive in every age. Word made flesh, our brother Jesus, Passion s preacher, finest friend, Life laid down to open heaven, Walks beside us til time s end. Holy Spirit, wild and restless, Breath of life, angelic dove, Seeding justice, kindling kindness, Summoning the Way of Love. All our needs have been provided: Water, wine, wheat, wind and word. Drinking deeply from God s goodness, Hope and confidence are stirred. Living Water, you reclaim us, Broken Bread, you make us whole, Winsome Wind, you lead us onward, God, our Source and Guide and Goal. 3 The Assembly Hymn is available for use by worshipping congregations and is included online. Carla A Grosch-Miller 1955 by kind permission. 3

4 4 Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession with the response Water of life, renew the world and us. Thh Lord s Prayer Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come; your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen Offering for Water Aid during which children return for the remainder of the service and, at Assembly, Susan Vieira da Silva leads the singing of: What ruler wades through murky streams and bows beneath the wave, ignoring how the world esteems the powerful and brave? Water, River, Spirit, Grace, sweep over me, sweep over me recarve the depths your fingers traced in sculpting me. Christ gleams with water brown with clay from land the prophets trod. Above him while the clouds give way descends the dove of God. Water, River, Spirit, Grace, sweep over me, sweep over me recarve the depths your fingers traced in sculpting me. Come bow with Christ beneath the wave. He stands here at your side and raises you as from the grave God raised him crucified. Water, River, Spirit, Grace, sweep over me, sweep over me recarve the depths your fingers traced in sculpting me. What King Would Wade through Murky Streams by Thomas Troeger Oxford University Press Inc., 1984, revised Assigned to Oxford University Press Children s Activity shared (optional) Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved.

5 Renewal of Baptismal Vows including material out of Worship: from the United Reformed Church, 2004 Introduction As a community of God s people, making ready to leave this place for renewed life in the world, let us remember that we have been baptized and reaffirm our commitment to follow Christ. In baptism, we have been set as a seal upon his heart. In baptism, God has brought us into union with Christ, made us one with all God s people in heaven and on earth and assured us of everlasting life. In the Fourth Gospel we hear Christ say, You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. John 15:16-17 Shaped and inspired by faith in Jesus Christ we proclaim it as we sing the Scottish Paraphrase of some closing words from Romans 8. Hymn: R&S 597 The Saviour died, but rose again Affirmations With the whole church we affirm that the congregation is blessed which announces its true identity is found in Jesus Christ [and] proclaims the waters of baptism as a sign and seal of the promises of God. WCRC4 Everyone is now invited to share in the opportunity to renew their baptismal vows. By grace, let us respond to grace. Believing and trusting in one God, Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit, I repent of my sins, turn away from evil, and turn to Christ. Christ alone is my Saviour and Lord. 4 From the World Council of Reformed Churches (WCRC) Worship Proverbs, published as the booklet Worshipping God with artwork at the URC General Assembly

6 From the beginning, believers have continued in the worship and fellowship of the Church. With God s help, let us commit ourselves anew to this life. I accept the gift and cost of following Christ in my daily life and work; and with the whole Church, I will proclaim by word and action the good news of God in Christ. Remembering Baptism [Members of Assembly] will be passing up the aisles, sprinkling water over our heads with hyssop, an echo of Moses suggestion for the ritual cleansing of God s people in Canaan. As they do so, receive the sign of God s redeeming love and remember your baptism. Numbers But first a prayer. God, who is a fountain of sending love, your life wells up in us like an ever-flowing stream. We do not claim to be everything for which you made and redeemed us, but cleansed by your grace and forgetting what is behind we strain towards what lies ahead. As we were baptised with water and the Spirit so we pray that this symbolic sprinkling will remind us of our baptism that we might experience again its power and meaning. Enable us to engage it more fully for the maturing of our faith and following, for our more effective serving of your mission and for the glory of your name, through Jesus Christ, Amen. The sprinkling occurs as we sing 6 Mission Praise 1008 and Mission Praise 37 The Lord s my Shepherd, I ll not want As the deer pants for the water Stuart Townend Martyn Nystrom

7 Prayer As we share in the baptism of his death and resurrection you set us free from bondage to sin and open the way to eternal life. For many waters cannot quench love. The waters closed in over me, the deep surrounded me. Out of the darkness I called to you and you answered me. You brought up my life from the depths. You are the Lord my God. We praise you for your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of joy, who teaches us and leads us into all truth. You gather us in the Church through Christ, a people of your choosing, called to live justly and in peace. And so to you be all praise, honour and glory, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever. Amen. The Peace The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And also with you. The people are invited to offer one another a sign of Christ s peace. Dismissal Hymn: R&S 345 Blessing Guide me, O thou great Jehovah William William Illustrations by Neil Thorogood Designed by Sara Foyle and produced by the graphics office, Church House, The United Reformed Church, 86 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9RT, on behalf of the assembly arrangements commitee. 7