Gathering Music

Call to Worship

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, all you who hunger and thirst.
Let the one who is thirsty come,
Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

A Sea Prayer

Craig Dunn

Mighty God – who gives bounds to the sea, who speaks peace over the water, who stirs the foam of the waves, inhabit now the nave of our hearts,

Lay a keel for us that strengthens our core in the midst of life’s storms. Continue to speak to us in that still small voice that anchors our spirit and guides our course as we traverse the limits of the deep.

We dream of tall ships, and cruise liners – but awake to find ourselves in the well of disappointment equipped with little more than a life raft set to sea from the Titanic of our own making.

Hymn

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm does bind the restless wave,
Who bids the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea

A Sea Prayer (cont.)

Instill in us the courage to leave our raft – to walk on the waters – to have the faith of Peter.

Help us to build up great Arks – that give refuge for all of your children caught in the surge of the storm. Let us be like Noah – hearing your clarion call – even in brokenness stumbling our way forward into your great mercy.

Re-create in us clean hearts that enable us to tack constantly toward your perfect course for our lives. Reveal again the celestial Star of Bethlehem that charts the course toward something more perfect – to the place where seas of glass replace the turmoil of the deep – to the place where even rulers bow to fulfillment.

Hymn

O Savior, whose almighty word
The winds and waves submissive heard,
Who walked upon the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage did sleep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

A Sea Prayer (cont.)

As we craft men-of-war and send them to sea, enable us to see that all of your creation is like family for us. Draw up the bounds of our personal seas – and gather us closer as your children.

We are a people of purpose, born in the earthly cradle, filled with all of the best – and yet we are sinking with all of the worst. Guide us as we sail forward, help us move past the shoals of Greed, seeking only to find those in great places of Need. Buoy us when the ships of our own making don’t seem to float.

Hymn

O Holy Spirit, who did brood
Upon the waters dark and rude,
And bid their angry tumult cease,
And give for wild confusion peace;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

A Sea Prayer (cont.)

Bring calm to the Seas of our own decay, that as we destroy – you continue to create. Bring back the deep blues of the deep and clear away all of the stubborn garbage that we have created. Reveal to us that we are only fools in need of a captain, a Savior.

Quieten our spirits and help us to find rest upon the sea – rouse in us the courage to speak the words that calm life’s storm – help us fish again in Galilee. Amen.

Hymn

O Trinity of love and pow’r,
Your children shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire, and foe,
Protect them wheresoe’er they go;
Thus, evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Scripture

Yoon Shin

Genesis 9:12

God said, “Here is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature for ageless generations; I set my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, my bow will appear in the clouds. Then I will remember the covenant that is between me and you and every kind of living creature, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh. Whenever my bow appears in the clouds I will see it, and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature on the earth.

Sermon

The Rev. Dr. Heather Murray Elkins

Sung Response

Silent Prayer

Absolution and Passing the Peace

Anthem

A Feast of Love, Bread, and Water

Bread

This is the bread of life, a gift of the Beloved of God.
As this bread was scattered over the hills
and then was brought together and made one,
so let your creatures be gathered and made whole again.
Accept our brokenness, gather up our crumbs of truth and love.
Bring them together to share in ministry with all creation

Water

This cup holds the essence of life, a gift to the beloved of God.
Water, living water, source and origin of all species,
Water, killing water, force of nature and human pride.
May this water create a thirst for righteousness.
Let justice rise and streams of mercy flow
in the lives of those who are water-washed and Spirit-born.

Doxology (sung)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God all creatures here below.
Praise God above the heavenly hosts,
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost.

Invitation to Receive and Give

Fed by bread and water
Freely you have received, freely give.

Blessing

The Rev. Dr. Heather Murray Elkins

Sending

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Worship Notes:

Sea Prayer by M. Quinn O’Bannon © 2019 Drew Alum, Chaplain of Marine Aircraft Group 31, Rank: Commander.

Prayer by Heather Murray Elkins © 2019

Words from the Didache, late first century