Sunday, June 14 2020
“Everything is bearable for those who stay through the dark night of barrenness with God.” Walter Brueggemann
Call To Worship

Jesus Christ summons us
to answer GOd's call of mercy.
Christ gathers us and gives us power
to be healed and to heal,
to be forgiven and to forgive,
to be freed from sin and to set others free,
to tell one another and the world:
God's presence is at hand.
Hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Call to Confession
The mystery of God brings the promise of life, but we doubt the Spirit's power to overcome death. THe resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son, reveals that nothing is impossible for

Prayer of Confession

Triune God, Holy Three, Holy One, we confess we do not know how to look for you. We do not sense your nearness, and if there are angels among us, we are unaware. We do not show hospitality to strangers. We do not trust that our hardships can be transformed by your Spirit.
O Covenant-keeper, forgive us. Let us laugh with joy because your grace has made peace among us.
Send us out with this good news so that others will receive your blessing; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Assurance Of Forgiveness
Christ gave his life, revealing the brokenness of the human condition and incomparable love of God.
By faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Trust the good news of the gospel; in Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Encountering God's Word
Prayer for Illumination
God of wonder, summon us to Sarah's joy, Abraham's wonder, and Paul's confident hope through the word of God and work of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Scripture
Genesis 18:1-15
The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he sat at the entrance of his tent in the day’s heat.    He looked up and suddenly saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from his tent entrance to greet them and bowed deeply.    He said, “Sirs, if you would be so kind, don’t just pass by your servant.  Let a little water be brought so you may wash your feet and refresh yourselves under the tree.  Let me offer you a little bread so you will feel stronger, and after that you may leave your servant and go on your way—since you have visited your servant.”
They responded, “Fine. Do just as you have said.”
So Abraham hurried to Sarah at his tent and said, “Hurry! Knead three seahs[ a ] of the finest flour and make some baked goods!”    Abraham ran to the cattle, took a healthy young calf, and gave it to a young servant, who prepared it quickly.    Then Abraham took butter, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, put the food in front of them, and stood under the tree near them as they ate.
They said to him, “Where’s your wife Sarah?”
And he said, “Right here in the tent.”
Then one of the men said, “I will definitely return to you about this time next year. Then your wife Sarah will have a son!”
Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.    Now Abraham and Sarah were both very old. Sarah was no longer menstruating.    So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, I’m no longer able to have children and my husband’s old.
The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Me give birth? At my age?’ Is anything too difficult for the Lord? When I return to you about this time next year, Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah lied and said, “I didn’t laugh,” because she was frightened.
But he said, “No, you laughed.”

Asking the question "How Can God's Promises Come True?", Rev. Carla Pratt Keyes, pastor of Ginter Park Presbyterian Church, in Richmond, Virginia, invites us to contemplate God’s faithfulness to Abraham and Sarah. "It is time to celebrate the advancement of God’s blessing around the world...The necessity of joy in the midst of suffering, and how important it is to pay attention to what is delightful and beautiful in the world, not as a way of ignoring what is terrible but because joy can draw us out of our alienation."
"The Breath of Laughter", a sermon by Rev. Pat Raube of Union Presbyterian Church of Endicott, NY, reminds us that laughter can come in many forms and that the story of Abraham and Sarah is: "a story about everybody whose life has taken an unexpected turn. It’s a story about everyone who thought they knew what their life was going to look like and then was very surprised."
Prayers of the People
Eternal, birthing God, you bring all things visible and invisible into being.
We pray for the earth you created. Your Spirit brooded over creation like a mother bird.
Heal what we have burned and broken; renew what we have ravaged; and lead your people to be good shepherds of your world's life.
We pray for all people of the earth. From the beginning you have created us to live in love with you. Bring your peace, justice, and compassion to every household, village, city, and nation. Bind up the wounds of racial hatred; break the bows of poverty, disease, hunger, and disparity. Provide safe homes and safe workplaces, safe health-care and safe nations, where life is received with joy.
We pray you bring the fullness of age you promise. Holy Trinity, giver of love, life, and future, we cannot dream what you see; we cannot imagine what you can do. Help us to be patient and faithful as we look forward to the new life you began and will complete through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer
Hymn Like a Mother Who Has Born Us
Charge and Benediction
Live with the knowledge of God's profound love.
Live in the peace of Christ.
Live in the hope of the Spirit.

The three persons of the Trinity surround you.
The hand of God keep you from all harm;
the Spirit of God guide you in all joy;
the Son of God deliver you to eternal life.
The liturgy for this service was taken or adapted from Feasting on the Word: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 2: Proper 10. Reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.