Ruth, Chapter 4 31 August 2014 Worship at 10:30am www.riverofhopehutchinson.org
Share Music to Prepare Us for Worship Gathering Songs - Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) on pages 3-5 and Better Is One Day on pages 6-8. 2
3
4
5
6
7
Welcome, Worship Orientation 101, You Are Here Clipboards No Longer Strangers Prayer God of the stranger, You are with us when we are empty and cannot see abundance or life in our future. Then you reveal yourself in a stranger who offers us life simply by being there and staying with us. Thank you for your persistence in seeking us. Amen. Meet Someone New You have an assignment! Find out what someone else is grateful for. Put it in the offering plate later as an offering to God. Greetings of grace through God, Jesus Christ, & the Holy Spirit The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the community of the Holy Spirit is with you all. And also with you. Confession and Forgiveness Let us confess that God is God and we are not. Silence is kept for reflection. Gracious God, We confess that we have sinned against you and against one another. We neglect to keep you at the center of our lives and turn our hearts to worship false idols. Too often we search for comfort in material things rather than in the promise of your love made flesh. We are quick to judge others, yet we fail to see our own faults. We ignore the cries of the poor, the children, and those on the margins. We grow weary of working for justice. Humble us. Forgive us. Save us. I have the best news to tell you. 8
Fear not sisters and brothers. God, who is full of grace and abounding in steadfast love, meets us in our sin and transforms us for God s glory and the healing of God s world. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, your sins are forgiven. Be now at peace. And we say, thanks be to God. Thanks be to God! Amen! And now, a vocabulary lesson. Kyrie Eleison (keer-ee-ey e-ley-uh-sawn) is Greek for Lord, have mercy and pre-dates the earliest Christian worship. The prayer is simultaneously a petition and a prayer of thanksgiving; an acknowledgment of what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will continue to do. 9
Psalm of Praise Psalm 117 Things in Naomi and Ruth s story begin to change we join in their hope and praise for God. Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! For great is God s steadfast love toward us, And the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! Pastor Laura: What do you know to be true about God? Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples! For great is God s steadfast love toward us, And the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! Read Pastor Laura: Our story and God s story continues today in the fourth chapter of the book of Ruth. ***Sing For All the Faithful Women verse 1 before the reading*** 10
Parts: Narrator (Pr. Laura) Ruth (Ruth Hamlow) Women ALL Naomi (Jeanette Krommenhoek) Boaz (Jim Schaefer) Relative Narrator: Boaz went straight to the public square and took his place there. Before long the "closer relative," the one mentioned earlier by Boaz, strolled by. Boaz: "Step aside, old friend. Take a seat." Narrator: The man sat down. Boaz then gathered ten of the town elders together and said, Boaz: "Sit down here with us; we've got some business to take care of." And they sat down. Boaz then said to his relative, Boaz: "The piece of property that belonged to our relative Elimelech is being sold by his widow Naomi, who has just returned from the country of Moab. I thought you ought to know about it. Buy it back if you want it - you can make it official in the presence of those sitting here and before the town elders. You have first redeemer rights. If you don't want it, tell me so I'll know where I stand. You're first in line to do this and I'm next after you." Narrator: Then Boaz added, Boaz: "You realize, don't you, that when you buy the field from Naomi, you also get Ruth the Moabite, the widow of our dead relative, along with the redeemer responsibility to have children with her to carry on the family inheritance." Narrator: Then the relative said, Relative: "Oh, I can't do that - I'd jeopardize my own family's inheritance. You go ahead and buy it - you can have my rights - I can't do it." Narrator: In the olden times in Israel, this is how they handled official business regarding matters of property and inheritance: a man would take off his shoe and give it to the other person. This was the same as an official seal or personal signature in Israel. So when Boaz's "redeemer" relative said, "Go ahead and buy it," he signed the deal by pulling off his shoe. Boaz then addressed the elders and all the people in the town square that day: Boaz: "You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi everything that belonged to Elimelech and Kilion and Mahlon, including responsibility for Ruth the foreigner, the widow of Mahlon - I'll take her as my wife and keep the name of the deceased alive along with his inheritance. The memory and reputation of the deceased is not going to disappear out of this family or from his hometown. To all this you are witnesses this very day." Narrator: All the people in the town square that day, backing up the elders, said, ALL: "Yes, we are witnesses. May God make this woman who is coming into your household like Rachel and Leah, the two women who built the family of Israel. May God make you a pillar in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem! With the children God gives you from this young woman, may your family rival the family of Perez, the son Tamar bore to Judah." Narrator: Boaz married Ruth. She became his wife. Boaz slept with her. By God's gracious gift she conceived and had a son. The town women said to Naomi, Women: "Blessed be God! He didn't leave you without family to carry on your life. May this baby grow up to be famous in Israel! He'll make you young again! He'll take care of you in old age. And this daughter- 11
in-law who has brought him into the world and loves you so much, why, she's worth more to you than seven sons!" Narrator: Naomi took the baby and held him in her arms, cuddling him, cooing over him, waiting on him hand and foot. The neighborhood women started calling him "Naomi's baby boy!" But his real name was Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David. This is the family tree of Perez: Perez had Hezron, Hezron had Ram, Ram had Amminadab, Amminadab had Nahshon, Nahshon had Salmon, Salmon had Boaz, Boaz had Obed, Obed had Jesse, and Jesse had David. Narrator: Tune in next week for the continuing saga that is our story and God s story. All: Thanks be to God. ***Sing For All the Faithful Women verse 5 after the reading*** Children s Time Sermon Full-Bodied Prayers for All People Offering All that we have and all that we are comes from God. Let us give back to God in a spirit of generosity. There will be enough. Offering Song We Give Thee But Thine Own (vs.1) on page 13. 12
Setting the Table Thanksgiving for Offering Let us give thanks to God for all that God has given. We offer to you, God, what You have first given us: all that we are is a gift from You. Especially we thank you for. We offer them back to you with gratitude and thanks. We love you. Amen As the kids help set the table, they make a circle around the table and lead the congregation in the table prayer written by Martin Luther: Let s pray: Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest. And let these gifts to us be blest. Amen. The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving The Lord is 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 God thanks and praise. 13
Words to bless the meal In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks; broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, Take and eat, this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me. Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: this cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me. O God of resurrection and new life: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts of bread and wine. Bless this feast. Grace our table with your presence. Amen. The Lord s Prayer You are invited to join hands with those around you in prayer. If you are not the hand-holding type, then simply fold your hands in front of you or hang onto this bulletin as you pray. Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Invitation to The Meal You are welcome to this meal. If you hunger and thirst for grace and mercy that comes through Jesus Christ, then Christ has set this table just for you. Bring all that you are and all that you have to the table. You will be fed. You will be forgiven. There will be enough. Communion Songs/Hymns - Let Us Break Bread Together on page 15 and Praise To The Lord, The Almighty on page 16. 14
15
16
Bless Blessing After the Meal May the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in God s peace. Amen. Why does our church exist? What is our purpose? We go out to transform lives through Jesus Christ. Spotlight on where we re going out to, then. Blessing to be Sent We go with God s blessing into a world that is often chaotic and not peaceful or welcoming of God. We go to bless others in God s name. May God bless you and keep you. May God s face shine upon you with grace and mercy. May God look upon you in favor and give you peace. Sending Song Day of Elijah on pages 18-20. Go in peace serve the Lord! Thanks be to God Music to Send You Out 17
18
19
20