The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
REFLECTIONS
The battlefield for the war for Jacob’s attention and affection were the bodies of Bilhah and Zilpah. Through the sexual and reproductive occupation of their bodies, people who would be known as Israel came into being. Through the wombs of Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah, Israel’s people were birthed by choice and by force. The text says nothing to suggest that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of Bilhah and Zilpah. They are casualties of nation-building. But their children, their grandchildren, and their descendants will claim and be claimed by the God of their patriarchs, and some of us who claim the God of Israel, including through the life and teachings of Yeshua ben Miryam, Mary’s child, Jesus, also claim Zilpah, Bilhah, Hagar, and all of the unnamed womb-slaves in what has become our spiritual ancestry.
— Wil Gafney, in Womanist Midrash
COLLECT
God, who draws near, who comes to our level, whose nature is revealed in lordship laid aside: give us grace to welcome you in the one who tests the bounds of our community: in the child, the outcast, the one who comes with no power save that of remaking our heart; through Jesus Christ, the one who will be betrayed. Amen.
PRELUDE
GREETING
Rev. Jay Wilson (he/him/his), Worship Leader
Minister: The Lord be with you.
ALL: And also with you.
PREPARATION
CALL TO WORSHIP
from Psalm 63
Your steadfast love, O God, is better than life, therefore our lips will praise you.
We will bless you as long as we live.
We will lift up our hands and call on your name.
For you have been our help and in your presence we sing for joy.
PRAYER OF ADORATION
PRAISE
SONGS
None But Thee
John Fellows, ca. 1770 | Eric Marshall, 2011
God With Us
Jason Ingram, Leslie Jordan, 2012
RENEWAL
CALL TO CONFESSION
Psalm 34:18, NRSV
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of hope, we confess our disregard of your care, our doubt of your providence, our blindness to signs of your love. We are afraid to risk our comforts to find new life; we separate ourselves from you and from others and foster divisions between those you love. Help us to amend our lives and make us your faithful people who bear the good fruit of your Word in the world. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
SILENT CONFESSION
WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
from Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty one who saves. The Lord will take great delight in you, and will renew you in steadfast love; the Lord will exult over you with loud singing.
This is the good news.
Thanks be to God!
PASSING THE PEACE
The peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
SONG
Peace Be With You
John 14:27, Karl Digerness, 2019
BLESSING OUR CHILDREN & YOUTH
Leader: People of God, what is our prayer for our children and youth?
People: May the Lord be with you.
Children: And also with you.
Leader: May the Lord bless you and keep you;
may the Lord grow you strong in Divine grace,
may the Lord fill you with the love of Christ.
All: Thanks be to God!
SONG OF ASSURANCE
Reckless Love
Caleb Culver, Cory Asbury, Ran Jackson, 2017
COMMITMENT
WORDS OF WELCOME
Rev. Fred Harrell (he/him/his)
SCRIPTURE
Genesis 30:1-13, NRSV
When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.” So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she named him Dan. Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed”; so she named him Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. And Leah said, “Good fortune!” so she named him Gad. Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy”; so she named him Asher.
Reader: The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
SERMON
Rev. Jen Fisher* (she/her/hers)
Remembering Bilhah and Zilpah
*With a background in the arts and non-profit leadership, Jen was one of the founders of the first fully inclusive and progressive evangelical churches in the country – Forefront Church Brooklyn. Jen’s passion is mentoring women, LGBTQ+ people and anyone else who’s been told they don’t fit, into becoming the leaders they were created to be. After earning her M.Div in 2020, she’s currently launching a church in Cincinnati.
OFFERING OURSELVES & OUR GIFTS
The offering is a way for Christians to support the mission and ministry of the church. Christians offer a sacrificial portion of their resources–time, talents, possessions–as an act of faith and gratitude in response to God’s grace. While many at City Church make their regular contributions through online giving and automated bill pay, offerings are a part of our worship service as an opportunity for the regular, proportionate and generous giving of the resources God has given us.
OFFERING PRAYER
Holy One, bless our offerings and transform them into healing for the wounded, hope for the disheartened, courage for the frightened, and faith for the embittered. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
MUSICAL OFFERING
God our Mother
by Lisa Gungor, 2014
COMMUNION
INVITATION TO THE LORDS TABLE
Rev. Jay Wilson (he/him/his)
CONFESSION OF FAITH: APOSTLES CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts!
We lift them up to the Lord!
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
SONG
Sanctus
by Karl Digerness, 2017
Together we proclaim the mystery of the faith:
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
WORDS OF INSTITUTION
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;
Therefore let us keep the feast.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE BREAD & CUP
The Gifts of God for the People of God
COMMUNION PRAYER
Lord of this feast beyond measure and price; we thank you for meeting us in our brokenness so that none might be lost: liberate us now to share bread with our neighbor, each receiving from the other what we need to be ourselves. Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
THE 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 forever. Amen.
SONG
Give Us Your Heart
Jake Richards, Jorden Merritt, Melanie Tierce, The Emerging Sound, 2016
BENEDICTION
May the cross be the sign in which we begin again to undo the cords of violence, the misery of exclusion, and proclaim God’s love without conditions. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always.
Amen.
DISMISSAL
Let us go forth to serve the world as those who love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God!
POSTLUDE
MUSICIANS
Jeff Marrs, drums
Gary Brown, bass
Adam Shulman, piano
Wil Blades, organ
Lorra Libby, vocals
Karl Digerness, vocals/guitar