The Second Sunday after Pentecost

JESUS, LIVING BREAD, RENEWING OUR HUNGRY WORLD

Pentecost begins with a rush–the rushing, life-giving wind of God’s Spirit. We also remember that Sunday is  a day of rest. Rest is not meant to emphasize relaxation as much as it does renewal. The Church year season of Pentecost recognizes that God’s Spirit breathes into us life-giving re-creation. The readings for these months of Summer worship focus on who we are in Christ, what is the nature of faith, what is  the living out of this faith, what the life of following Jesus is all  about.  The Bread of Life, like the manna in the wilderness, and like the bread on the Lord’s table, declares how near and involved our God actually is in our daily lives.  Through Christ’s word and Spirit we have refreshment and renewal.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

WE REMEMBER OUR BAPTISMS, CONFESS OUR FAITHLESSNESS, 

AND HEAR GOD’S FAITHFUL PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS

Pastor:  Blessed be the holy Trinity:

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

who forgives all our sin,

whose mercy endures forever.

People:  Amen. 

Pastor: God of all mercy and consolation,

come to the aid of your people,

turning us from sin

to live for you alone.

Give us the power of your Holy Spirit

that, attentive to your Word,

we may confess our sins,

receive your forgiveness,

bear with one another in love,

maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,

and grow into the fullness of your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord. 

People: Amen. 

Pastor: Let us confess our sin in the

presence of God and of one another.  Reconciling God,                                                                                    People: you seek peace and unity among us,                                                           but too often we choose walls of isolation.                                     You seek to be one with your creation,                                             but we turn away your loving Spirit.                                                  In your forgiving love,                                                                         break down the barriers we create,                                                    that we might see more clearly your love for us,                                         be reconciled with our neighbour,                                                      and trust more deeply your promise of eternal life.  Amen.

Pastor: We who once were far off

have been brought near to God

through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,

and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

May our all-loving God through the Holy Spirit

grant you grace to forgive one another

as God in Christ has forgiven you.  

People: Amen.

HOLDEN EVENING PRAYER

[click on the link below]

Listen through the Magnificat.  It ends at 10:40

PRAYER OF THE DAY        

O Lord God, we bring before you the cries of a sorrowing world.  In your mercy set us free from the chains that bind us, and defend us from everything that is evil, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen. 

First Reading

Isaiah 65:1-9

I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
   to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’,
   to a nation that did not call on my name.
I held out my hands all day long
   to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
   following their own devices;
a people who provoke me
   to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
   and offering incense on bricks;
who sit inside tombs,
   and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine’s flesh,
   with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
   do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
   a fire that burns all day long.
See, it is written before me:
   I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps
   their iniquities and their ancestors’ iniquities together, 

says the Lord;
because they offered incense on the mountains
   and reviled me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
   full payment for their actions.
Thus says the Lord:
As the wine is found in the cluster,
   and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
   for there is a blessing in it’,
so I will do for my servants’ sake,
   and not destroy them all.
I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
   and from Judah inheritors of my mountains;
my chosen shall inherit it,
   and my servants shall settle there. 

Second Reading                                                                                              Galatians 3:23-29                                                                                                         Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. 

Gospel Reading                                                                                         Luke 8:26-39                                                                                                                 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’— for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. 

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. 

SERMON

[click on the link below]

HYMN OF THE DAY

“When Pain of the World Surrounds Us”

When pain of the world surrounds us

with darkness and despair,

when searching just confounds us

with false hopes everywhere,

when lives are starved for meaning

and destiny is bare,

we are called to follow Jesus

and let God’s healing flow through us.

We see with fear and trembling

our aching world in need,

confessing to each other

our wastefulness and greed.

May we with steadfast caring

the hungry children feed.

We are called to follow Jesus

and let God’s justice flow through us.

The church is a holy vessel

the living waters fill

to nourish all the people,

God’s purpose to fulfill.

May we with humble courage

be open to God’s will.

We are called to follow Jesus

and let God’s Spirit flow through us.

We praise you for our journey

and your abundant grace,

your saving word that guided

a struggling human race.

O God, with all creation,

your future we embrace.

We are called to follow Jesus

and let God’s changes flow through us.

TODAY IN OUR PRAYERS

Bill, Carol, Curtis, and Christine Buchkowsky, Teri Peterson, Wayne Turner, Janet Gregory, Marge McMillan, Kyrie Parimi, Doris Turner, Hilda Anderson, Linda Wolfe, Naomi, Bev Gregory, Dale Robinson, Bryan Matschke, Audrey Hedlin,  Mona Neher, Carl Rausch, Oma Ywo, Joan Schock, Owen Peterson, Helga Halldorsdottir, the family of Norm Gregory,  the family of baby Mavrick Gallant (Bev Gregory’s great-grandson), the family of Katherine Meger (Joshua Bratvold’s great grandmother), the family of Lois Jenkins (Ann Salmon’s mother), the family of Helen Neher (Carol Sarich’s mother), the family of John Beaven (Bev Gregory’s brother), and the family of Tony Matschke (Doreen and Bryan Matschke’s son).

We remember the missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada, the children and people buried in unmarked graves at residential schools and First Nation lands, and all those who have suffered the trauma of residential schools, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the people of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan and Darfur, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Venezuela, Hong Kong, the Palestinians and Israelis, the civil war in Ethiopia, Myanmar, the Rohingya Muslim refugees and the ethnic Karen of Myanmar, Lebanon, all at the Mexico/United States border seeking refuge, the 100 million refugees and displaced persons, the people of Haiti suffering from earthquake, hurricane, and political disasters, those in southern MB, especially the Peguis first nation, southeastern SK, northwestern AB, and Hay River NWT, Wyoming and Montana devastated by torrential rains and flooding, New Mexico, Arizona, and the community of Stanley Mission, SK battling wildfires, the people of India, Pakistan, and much of the United States caught in an oppressive heatwave, the 50 dead and families at the Roman Catholic church in Nigeria, those in the United States, Canada, and throughout the world caught up in racism and injustice and the resulting violence, especially the victims and families of the mass shooting in Buffalo, NY,Uvalde, TX, and Tulsa, OK, and those throughout the world, in Canada, in our province, and in our community still threatened by the coronavirus and fearful of the omicron variant.

Petitioner:  God of all faithfulness, pour out your blessing on all fathers and all those who provide fatherly care.  We pray for fathers we love and fathers we struggle to love, for grandfathers, adoptive fathers, stepfathers, foster fathers, and for those who long to be fathers. Bless them with a heart like your heart: discerning and thoughtful, compassionate and loving, gracious and forgiving.  As they model for their children and others the life that is lived by faith and not by sight, grant them courage under pressure and confidence in your gracious power.   Hear us, O God of life…

HOLDEN EVENING PRAYER

[click on the link below]

Begin listening at 10:40, The Prayers

CLOSING HYMN

“Praise the One who Breaks the Darkness”

Praise the one who breaks the darkness
With a liberating light.
Praise the one who frees the prisoners,
Turning blindness into sight.
Praise the one who preached the Gospel,
Healing every dread disease,
Calming storms and feeding thousands
With the very bread of peace.

Praise the one who blessed the children
With a strong yet gentle word.
Praise the one who drove out demons
With a piercing two-edged sword.
Praise the one who brings cool water
To the desert’s burning sand.
From this well comes living water,
Quenching thirst in every land.

Praise the one true love incarnate:
Christ who suffered in our place.
Jesus died and rose for many
That we may know God by grace.
Let us sing for joy and gladness,
Seeing what our God has done.
Praise the one redeeming glory,
Praise the One who makes us one.

DISMISSAL

Pastor: Go in peace, renewed with Christ’s Spirit to love and to serve.

People: Thanks be to God.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TODAY AT KOG                                                                                   

THIS WEEK AT KOG                                                                                                       – Saturday, June 25, Men’s Breakfast Out at Auntie Maria’s (1724 Quebec Avenue), 8:30 a.m.

COMING UP AT KOG

 Monday, June 27, Church Council meeting via Zoom

After the break brought about by pandemic precautions, King of Glory, Trinity, and Resurrection will once again hold joint worship services for the months of July and August.  The schedule is as follows:  

July 3,10,17 worship at King of Glory 3318 Merritt Street (in Montgomery Place) at 6:30 p.m.  

July 24,31, and August 7 worship at Trinity 419 Avenue E North (in Caswell Hill) at 10:30 a.m.  

August 14,21,28 worship at Resurrection 310 Lenore Drive (in Lawson Heights) at 10:00 a.m.

May, June and Year-to-Date Budget and Contribution Report for KOG

2022 Budget:  $48,854       Monthly Budget:  $4,071.17     Weekly Budget:  $939.50

2021 income/expenses: $3,178.07

April income/expenses: -$2,371.86

Weekly contributions for May:  May 1: $1170  May 8: $0  May 15: $430  

May 22: $0   May 29: $100

Weekly contributions for June:  June 5: $820   June 12: $620                              

Thank you from Canadian Lutheran World Relief for your contributions to their various aid programs in Canada and throughout the world.

Thank you to all involved in sewing the quilts and Comfort Quilts that have been made by members of King of Glory and their friends.   Over 60 quilts were made:  48 for long term care at LutherCare Communities, 15 to Bishop Klein School, and 2 Comfort Quilts were given to individuals suffering from sickness, significant change in life, loss or grief.  Prodigious thimbles full of thanks to the industrious sewers Bev Gregory, Karen McKenzie, Carol Sarich, Doreen Matschke, Sharon Morgan, Sherry Andrews and an anonymous fabric donor in B.C.

Offerings.  

Even though we are not all meeting together we still have expenses and need your offerings so that we can pay them.  Church Council has decided that the best way to receive your offerings is that you mail a cheque (Please no cash for mail security reasons) to the church and we can process them from there.

Send your contributions to:  King of Glory Lutheran Church

    3318 Merritt Street

    Saskatoon, SK  S7M 3P6

Thank you for your generosity.

The website  for all seven ELCIC congregations in Saskatoon is now up and the address is https://saskatoonelcic.com/   It will be used now mainly for sharing information during the pandemic and posting services from the various churches.

Checklist and Guidelines for Re-opening Worship Services

Disinfect/sanitize worship space and entrance etc before the service

One person preps worship materials [pastor]

Six feet distancing recommended

No sharing of pencils, pens, etc.

No serving of food or beverages

Try not to use the washrooms

Open doors and windows if possible

Use/wear face masks, but you may sing quietly recommended

Hand sanitizer available

No physical contact (e.g. sharing of the peace, no passing of offering plate)

Communion procedure: distribution in a way that maintains physical distancing

Disinfect/sanitize worship space and entrance etc after the service