FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Serving Christ and Neighbor in the Heart of Winchester & Beyond
Cover: “Rizpah (Rizpah Mourns Her Sons)” Lauren Wright Pittman | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org
SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST July 19, 2020
WORSHIP ONLINE & AT HOME
f p c w i n c . o r g / s u m m e r
You are invited from your home to participate in the elements of worship preceded in BOLD.
THOUGHT UPON ENTERING What are contemporary examples of public grief in wake of appalling injustice? How do honest and public acts of grief affect others?
“I call you Rizpah, you who have the courage to be angry and the love required to pursue justice, to step into lost causes, to speak truth to power.” - Austin Channing Brown
GATHERING The Holy Spirit calls us together as people of God.
WELCOME
PRELUDE “Liebster Jesu” Pat Byers, organ J.S. Bach
CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: When we come to this space, we bring all of ourselves. All: We bring joy and hope, Leader: dreams and prayers, All: grief and doubt, Leader: memories and heartache. All: God meets us here. Leader: God hears our prayers and sees our scars. All: With open hearts and authenticity, let us worship good and gracious God.
HYMN 300 “We Are One in the Spirit” THEY'LL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS Pam Keim, soprano | Pat Byers, piano
FPC has permission re-print music and text for use in bulletins and other worship resources.
PRAYER TO CONFESSION All: God of creation, Humanity is capable of such evil. Stories in scripture alongside stories on the news remind
us of that truth all the time. For the moments when we choose violence over peace, exclusion over inclusion, and fear over hope--forgive us. When we choose pride over what is right, and comfort over justice-show us mercy. And when we numb our pain instead of leaning into empathy-unravel us, for we long to be changed. Gratefully and with hearts ready to learn and listen, we pray. Amen
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
WORD God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song.
SONG “I Will Sing with the Spirit” Pam & Catherine Keim, vocals | Pat Byers, piano arr. Rutter
CHILDREN’S MOMENT Todd Bowman
SCRIPTURE 2 Samuel 3:7, 21:1-14
Avenging the Gibeonites Now Saul had a secondary wife named Rizpah, Aiah’s daughter. Ishbosheth said to Abner, “Why have you had sex with my father’s secondary wife?”
There was a famine for three years in a row during David’s rule. David asked the Lord about this, and the Lord said, “It is caused by Saul and his household, who are guilty of bloodshed because he killed the people of Gibeon.” So the king called for the Gibeonites and spoke to them.
(Now the Gibeonites weren’t Israelites but were survivors of the Amorites. The Israelites had sworn a solemn pledge to spare them, but Saul tried to eliminate them in his enthusiasm for the people of Israel and Judah.)
David said to the Gibeonites, “What can I do for you? How can I fix matters so you can benefit from the Lord’s inheritance?”
The Gibeonites said to him, “We don’t want any silver or gold from Saul or his family, and it isn’t our right to have anyone in Israel killed.”
“What do you want?” David asked. “I’ll do it for you.”
“Okay then,” they said to the king. “That man who opposed and oppressed us, who planned to destroy us, keeping us from having a place to live anywhere in Israel—hand over seven of his sons to us, and we will hang them before the Lord at Gibeon on the Lord’s mountain.”
“I will hand them over,” the king said.
But the king spared Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson, because of the Lord’s solemn pledge that was between them—between David and Saul’s son Jonathan. So the king took the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Armoni and Mephibosheth, whom she had birthed for Saul; and the five sons of Saul’s daughter Merab, whom she birthed for Adriel, Barzillai’s son, who was from Meholah, and he handed them over to the Gibeonites. They hanged them on the mountain before the Lord. The seven of them died at the same time. They were executed in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Aiah’s daughter Rizpah took funeral clothing and spread it out by herself on a rock. She stayed there from the beginning of the harvest until the rains poured down on the bodies from the sky, and she wouldn’t let any birds of prey land on the bodies during the day or let wild animals come at nighttime. When David was told what Aiah’s daughter Rizpah, Saul’s secondary wife, had done, he went and retrieved the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the citizens of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen the bones from the public square in Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them on the day the Philistines killed Saul at Gilboa. David brought the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from there and collected the bones of the men who had been hanged by the Gibeonites. The bones of Saul and his son Jonathan were then buried in Zela, in Benjaminite territory, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. Once everything the king had commanded was done, God responded to prayers for the land.
SERMON “Public Grief that Inspires Action” The Rev. Amanda Maguire Thomas
THANKS The people of God respond to God’s word
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER Annie Pompelia
[…the petitions conclude…] Leader: And now as Christ taught us, we are bold to pray… All: 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
OFFERTORY
“We Are Called” David Haas Kelly Tierney & Jennifer Volkmann, vocals | Amy Bowman, piano
You can send your offering via USPS [116 S. Loudoun St., Winchester, VA 22601] or you can give electronically
using the “Donate” button on our website. Thank you. [https://fpcwinc.org/stewardship/donate]
SENDING God blesses us and sends us to live as God’s people in the world
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee" Pat Byers, organ J.S. Bach
Scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible, retrieved from"BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages.” www.biblegateway.com. The liturgy is reprinted from Book of Common Worship, copyright © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. Reprinted by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 John Knox Press. All Rights reserved. Art Cover, call to worship and prayer of confession credits: “Prayer by Sarah Are A Sanctified Art LLC sancifiedart.org. Hymns are reprinted by permission of CCLI under license #3086733. CCLI Annual License, Size C with Premium SongSelect. #3086733, expires March 31, 2021. CCLI Streaming License #CSPL099591, expires February 28, 2021.
While we are unable to meet together in-person and in our interior worship spaces, the church has been deployed, and we are so glad you have found us online.
If you are NEW to FPC of Winchester, Virginia, we invite you to find out more about us and our ministry on our website: http://www.fpcwinc.org
And whether you are a current member, a friend, or a new visitor, please take a moment to go to fpcwinc.org/attendance to let us know that you joined us for online worship. If you would like to reach out to a pastor, send an e-mail to Pastor Dan or Pastor Amanda: [email protected] and [email protected]
We look forward to seeing and meeting all in-person in the future [sign-up for our weekly eNotice or check back fpcwinc.org/coronavirus for critical church updates]. Please continue to join us for Sunday worship at 11 AM and we invite you to ZOOM with us after worship services at NOON [weekly ZOOM information can be found on our Facebook page and on our virtual church webpage – fpcwinc.org/virtual]
CONNECT ANYTIME AND WORSHIP [LIVE SUNDAYS AT 11 AM] WITH US ONLINE
.com/firstpresbyterianchurchwinchester
.com/firstpreswinc
fpcwinc.org/virtual
THIS SUNDAY FAITH STUDY WITH PASTOR DAN at 9:30 AM “CHRISTIANS FACING RACISM” ZOOM LINK listed in our recent edition of the eNotice, in our “Events” tab on our Facebook Page, and at fpcwinc.org/virtual
CONNECTING WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS at 12:00 PM ZOOM LINK listed in our recent edition of the eNotice, in our “Events” tab on our Facebook Page, and at fpcwinc.org/virtual
WEDNESDAY WOMEN FAITH STUDY at 9:30 AM ZOOM LINK listed in our recent edition of the eNotice, in our “Events” tab on our Facebook Page, and at fpcwinc.org/virtual
MONDAYS-FRIDAYS/SATURDAYS PASTOR DEVOTIONS
Streamed on our Facebook Page, and uploaded later at fpcwinc.org/virtual
NEXT SUNDAY FAITH STUDY WITH PASTOR DAN at 9:30 AM “CHRISTIANS FACING RACISM”
ZOOM LINK listed in our recent edition of the eNotice, in our “Events” tab on our Facebook Page, and at fpcwinc.org/virtual
CONNECTING WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS at 12:00 PM ZOOM LINK listed in our recent edition of the eNotice, in our “Events” tab on our Facebook Page, and at fpcwinc.org/virtual
MONDAY, JULY 20 @ 7:00 PM PRAYER, PRAISE, AND PSALMS
A backyard gathering to praise (distanced, masked, singing), pray, and reflect on the Psalms. Hosted by Amy & Todd Bowman and Pastor Amanda. For information and to RSVP, contact: [email protected]
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22 JUST MERCY
‘Just Mercy’ Film and Book Discussion - backyard gathering and discussion hosted by Dawn Snow. This is a gathering for people who have read the book or seen the movie and would like to participate in a discussion. Please contact Dawn Snow for details on time and place: [email protected]
NON-VIRTUAL,
OUTDOORS, GET
TOGETHERS!
