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Where God’s rule has penetrated man’s heart and life, so that the divine love and righteousness become the main factor, we speak of a saint….Here I give my only definition: a saint is he who reveals God’s might. Saints are such as show clearly and plainly in their lives and deeds and in their very being that God lives.
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INTRODUCTION
1 Contemplation with the Saints – August 24, 2022 The Order of Worship at 7:00 pm
As always, we pray that worship at Redeemer is a blessing for you, even as your participation blesses us, whether we are gathering in the name of Christ in person or online. As you are comfortable, we encourage you to sing the hymns and to sing or speak the congregational portions of the liturgy in bold type.
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God’s word, proclaimed and reflected upon, and the prayer it calls forth from us are the heart of this contemplative service. Every Wednesday we will turn aside from our busy routine day to worship our triune God together, alongside faithful women and men of the past: apostles, martyrs, renewers of the church and society those whom we call saints.
Through the service, there will be periods of silence. Silence makes room to breathe deeply, time to still the heart and quiet restless thoughts. Some times of silence will last no longer than a deep breath; some will be more spacious. A bell will be rung to mark the completion of the silent period. Before worship begins, keeping silence invites the community into the unhurried pace of prayer. May this be a place for you to listen and rest in the presence of God, “like a child upon its mother’s breast” (Psalm 131:2).
Nathan Sӧderblom, The Living God
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WELCOME
HYMN
The divine love of God, the enduring peace of Jesus Christ, and the abounding joy of the Holy Spirit be with you all. | And also with you.
In God Alone
2 GATHERING
The Holy Spirit gathers us into a community of prayer. AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
GREETING
PROPERS Let us pray, Almighty and everlasting God, you gave to your apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and courageously to preach your word. Grant that your church may proclaim the good news to the ends of
Please us this prayer request link to submit your prayers or use the prayer card in your pew.
SCRIPTURE READING 1 Corinthians 4:9-15
Today the church honors a saint wrapped in mystery: St. Bartholomew, Apostle, perpetual Somebody/Anybody.
ThereMaybe.are several traditions that map the two names together, and separately, though as early as the 9th Century the two names were often considered one and the same.
For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day. I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
The Coptic church has a different tradition about this saint, though, one that has him preaching in Upper Egypt and North Africa, where he met his martyrdom by being cast into the sea.
COMMENTARYSILENCE
ON SAINT BARTHOLOMEW
3 the earth, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. | Amen.
Bartholomew makes an appearance as one of Jesus' 12 disciples in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and reprises the role in the book of Acts. His name is not even really a name as much as a description: he is the "son of Ptolemy" (except in Matthew where he's called Simon Bar-jonah).
Bartholomew may, therefore, have another personal, intimate name that we have no knowledge of. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke he is associated with the disciple Philip, but in the Gospel of John the disciple Philip is yoked with a disciple named Nathanael. Could Bart actually be named Nate?
Most accounts have him ending his ministry (or, rather, having it ended for him) off the Caspian coast where he was grotesquely martyred ("flayed" according to the stories, which is why he's often depicted with a knife, or even holding his own skin). He secured his place in the pantheon of saints by being included in the Sistine Chapel mural near Christ at the last judgment.
Written by Pastor Tim Brown, Writer and Director of Congregational Stewardship for the ELCA*
Lore has it that Bartholomew wrote a Gospel account, which is now lost to history. Some reports have him preaching in Asia Minor, Persia, and India, where he supposedly left a copy of the Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew for the people to have and keep, a copy which was reportedly found at the end of the 2nd Century by a wandering missionary.
WORD God speaks to us in scripture reading, silence, reflection, and song.
I've come to love about this mysterious and secretive saint is the fact that they are relatable to many in our world who labor under an identity that they don't quite jive with.
SILENT REFLECTION If you are worshiping online, you may share your reflection
In this way
I'm thinking of the people who are known less for who they are as people, and more for who they are in relation to other, more popular people. The eclipsed sibling. The child who never quite lives up to their parent. The quiet spouse. The one who was in a position directly before or after the beloved person who held that same position in a church, a public office, or even a family.
• In what
Saint Bartholomew, this Saint Nobody/Somebody, is the patron saint of so, so many in this world... here way
have you felt seen but not known? • Who is God inviting you to see and know this week? INVITATION TO RESPOND HYMN You Servants of God
Something4
History is confused about this saint, and never really waited around for clarity. Bartholomew/Nathanael is seen but not known. They are acknowledged but not really understood. They are talked about, but the details are confused and fuzzy because no one took the time to explore them, and they were never really given the chance to explain.
I'm thinking of the trans and non binary youth I've walked with who struggle with what to call themselves. Often flayed in public opinion because they can't quite put words around their own being, they struggle to find voice in a world of assumed norms.
The Holy Spirit prays with us and through us. In Christ Jesus we meet the God who knows our weakness and bears the wounds of the world. Therefore, let us be bold as we pray, trusting that God draws near to those in any kind of need. Response
Sung
5 PRAYER
For the Armenian church and global Christian church…prayers may be spoken
6
For grace and humility to recognize the Son of God…prayers may be spoken
For strength and guidance to find ways of serving him…prayers may be spoken
For compassion towards all who are suffering in body, spirit, or mind…prayers may be spoken
For the gift of innocence and purity of heart…prayers may be spoken
Amen
BLESSING May Christ Jesus dwell richly in your hearts through faith as you are being rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus, strengthened by the Spirit, and filled with the enduring peace of God.
Let us go in peace, sharing a sign of divine peace with one another and all whom we meet this week.
Pastor Tim Brown used Philip H. Pfatteicher's New Book of Festivals & Commemorations for historical references.
*
Sung Response O loving God, you know the needs of all the world. By your Spirit, grant that we, having turned to you in prayer, now might turn to one another in peace, tend and keep what you have made, and love our neighbor with the love of Jesus, in whose name we pray. |
LORD’S PRAYER Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us 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; and 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.SENDING God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world with Christ, to enter more fully into God’s love for and work in the world. This is our prayer “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
