Sunday, July 19, 2020

This is a photograph of a field of sunflowers in bloom.
Sunday, July 19

This is a photograph of a sunflower in bloom.

In the Garden

Welcome and Call to Worship

Our Wisdom Story 
This is an image of a sunrise from space.

Psalm 139: 1 - 12 and 23 - 24



O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

 you discern my thoughts from far away.

You search out my path and my lying down,

and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

O Lord, you know it completely.

You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning

and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light around me become night,”

even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is as bright as the day,

for darkness is as light to you.


Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my thoughts.

See if there is any wicked way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting. 

Anthem: Yahweh I know You Are Near

Our Wisdom Story 
Matthew 13: 24 - 30 and 36 - 43 

Jesus told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man sowed good seed in his field. One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.  When the plants grew and the heads of grain began to form, then the weeds showed up.  The man's servants came to him and said, "Sir, it was good seed you sowed in your field; where did the weeds come from?' "It was some enemy who did this,' he answered. "Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?' they asked him.  "No,' he answered, "because as you gather the weeds you might pull up some of the wheat along with them.  Let the wheat and the weeds both grow together until harvest. Then I will tell the harvest workers to pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them, and then to gather in the wheat and put it in my barn.' " 

When Jesus had left the crowd and gone indoors, his disciples came to him and said, "Tell us what the parable about the weeds in the field means."  Jesus answered, "The man who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man;  the field is the world; the good seed is the people who belong to the Kingdom; the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One;  and the enemy who sowed the weeds is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvest workers are angels.  Just as the weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire, so the same thing will happen at the end of the age:  the Son of Man will send out his angels to gather up out of his Kingdom all those who cause people to sin and all others who do evil things,  and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.  Then God's people will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Listen, then, if you have ears! 
This is an image of clouds.
This is an image of a barley field.

Reflection and Pastoral Prayer: Weeding out the Truth

If you would like to download the sermon or read along, click here.

My Lord What a Morning (Voices United 708)

Offering Prayers and Final Benediction

The Blessing - Today, we cross the ocean to the Middle Eastern world, to receive the blessing offered through voices …..singing in Arab languages…

Image credits for today's Church Online:

Flower images by Laurie Hazzard.
Sunrise from space by Arek Socha from Pixabay.
Barley field image by FelixMittermeier from Pixabay 
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