All the Small Things

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship! Worship is often the first place that new people come into contact with this growing community of faith. And so, if you are joining us for the first time, I say to you what is said every Sunday: You are welcome here. Here is a place where all are welcome. For such is the love of God for God’s Very Good Creation.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below; praise God above, ye Heav'nly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

All-loving God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in our labor and leisure that it may be for the common good of all Creation; and, as we seek the proper share for all, make us supportive of the rightful needs of all creatures who live and love on this earth; through Jesus the Wisdom of Creation, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. The water that God called into being is at the heart of all that lives. Mindful of the many ways water affects our lives, let us pray for our waters and for the life of the world around us.

I ask your prayers for all people of faith, and for the transformations in their lives that are marked by the sacredness of water: at the Red Sea, in the Jordan River, in ritual baths, in the washing of feet, and in Holy Baptism.

I ask your prayers for the leaders of nations, corporations, and communities around the world, that they may exercise wise stewardship over the waters of their lands, so that all people may have clean water to drink and may live free from waterborne diseases.

I ask your prayers for the wisdom to shape creative solutions to conflicts over water in the dry places of our planet, and for justice and peace in desert lands.

I ask your prayers for all the waters of the earth: for oceans and seas, for rivers and streams, for lakes and ponds, for watersheds, marshes, and swamps, for the waters beneath the ground; and for all creatures that live in the waters of the earth.

I ask your prayers for all who travel or work at sea or on inland waterways.

I ask your prayers for all afflicted with too much water in flood or tsunami, storm or ice; and for those people and creatures who suffer as glaciers and ice floes melt and shrink.

I ask your prayers for all who have died and for all who mourn, that their tears of grief may be turned to wellsprings of joy.

All-loving and everliving God, you are always more ready to give than we are to receive: Pour upon us your abundance of insight that through the Holy Spirit. the Wisdom of Creation, we might hear through these words your insight for us this day. Amen.

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of amustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ⁷ “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸ Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me; put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”

`Small things, minor changes, can add up to make major changes. Where have you seen small changes turn into big results? Were they positive or negative results? What is a small thing you might change today?

We thank you for the wealth of blessings from land and sea; for the power of wind, and the warmth of sun. We pray for the nations of the earth, give us the will to cherish this planet and to use our resources sustainably for the welfare of all. Amen.

Loving God, we thank you for the beauty of the World: for the teeming life of the seas, the flight of birds, and the diversity of animal life. With these gifts and those still gifts still in our possession, may we treat Creation with respect and care; to protect endangered species, to preserve the variety of habitats, and to honor the delicate balance of nature. Amen.

We offer both white and red grape juice. If you are afraid of spilling red grape juice, a limited number of cups with white grape juice are provided.

We gather round this table now as fellow creatures, at God’s calling flock, huddle, shoal or swarm … Drawn together to receive identity: more than our communities, or even our churches, can be alone. Like the Earth, we do not own Christ’s table which feeds and sustains us like our common home, it is ‘ours’ only when we share. Yet here, we’re welcome: like those friends Christ first gathered. Welcome for justice, fulfillment and love. Welcome, with prophets, publicans with eco-warriors and dodgy characters with those you’d expect and those you’d rather weren’t here. Called to re-celebrate; to be a work of God repurposed as friends of Jesus refreshed by bread and wine through human hands, from Earth’s own self on whom, and whom, and as whom we feed. God be with you and in you And also with you Lift up your hearts We lift them up to God Give thanks to the Lord our God It is right to give our thanks and praise

Throughout all ages, as mountains dance and trees applaud the cries of birth are also loud for all to hear and tend. Your Sabbath and Jubilee insist: “Refreshment and rest for all Creation”. But we made exceptions. Your People sought milk and honey, yet injustice laid lands waste. Your prophets: priests and farmers call us to account. Yet your loving signs of warning fall often by the wayside. And greed and pride insist on harmful choices knowingly embraced. Yet still comes Christ Jesus, friend of wildlife, beloved

of the poor scolding the seas teaching with trees, and God’s wildness in Wind. When with Christ we shoulder the cross of healing; we shudder at the disaster of truth denied by power; and yet … risen and present through food and faith Christ calls us afresh to care for a damaged world. And so, as God’s people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

God, Sustainer, gusting and fluttering life with the good things of the Earth: food and drink we offer; flesh and blood we are. As Jesus did, so do we: We break this bread [bread is broken]. We share this cup [cup is raised]. We trust that Jesus revealed your way of living in this world — a commonwealth of shared living as the body of Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And now, in remembrance of your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and fruit of the vine. Make them be for us the symbols of your love and desire for us to be your body knit together to build the new creation, your preferred future for us.

By your Spirit help the body of Christ be one. Help the left hand and the right hand work as one in ministry to all the world. Help the eyes and the ears sense your present and coming kin-dom. Bring the blessing of the diversity of the body to bear fruit until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty God, now and forever. Amen.

ST. FRANCIS’ PRAYER FOR ALL CREATED THINGS: God created us and placed us on the earth to be stewards of all living things, therefore let us proclaim the glory of our Creator, saying: O God, how wonderful are the works of your hands.

Blessed are you, O Lord of the Universe; you create the animals and give us the ability to train them to help us in our work. O God, how wonderful are the works of your hands.

Blessed are you, O Lord of the Universe; you give us food from animals to replenish our energies. O God, how wonderful are the works of your hands.

Blessed are you, O Lord of the Universe; for the sake of our comfort you give us domestic animals as companions. O God, how wonderful are the works of your hands.

Blessed are you, O Lord of the Universe; you care for us even as you care for the birds of the air. O God, how wonderful are the works of your hands.

Blessed are you, O Lord of the Universe; you offered your Son to us as the passover lamb and in him willed that we should be called your children. O God, how wonderful are the works of your hands. You are invited to come forward now to receive communion and a blessing for you and your pet if you have brought one. Dog treats and cat treats are available

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us join with the Earth and each other—to bring new life to the land, to restore the waters, to refresh the air, to protect the animals, to treasure the trees, to gaze at the stars, to cherish the human community, to heal the Earth, to remember the children. Let us go forth to put our words into action. Amen.