Year B - Proper 20 (18 Sep - 24 Sep)

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VERSION: 8 May 2002

SUNDAY BETWEEN 18 AND 24 SEP (PROPER 20), YEAR B

In 2003: 15th Sunday after Pentecost, 21 Sep

In 2006: 16th Sunday after Pentecost, 24 Sep

In 2009: 16th Sunday after Pentecost, 20 Sep

In 2012: 17th Sunday after Pentecost, 23 Sep

In 2015: 17th Sunday after Pentecost, 20 Sep

- - -

Note: For explanations and suggestions on the various resources provided, see the documents 'General notes and resources' and 'Time after Pentecost' in the 'General and seasonal' folder.

LITURGY

SENTENCE

See the document 'General notes and resources', under 'Sentence', in the 'General and seasonal' folder for suggestions on using a Sentence.

Whoever wants to be first

must be last of all and servant of all. (Mark 9:35b NRSV)

OR, use one of the general Sentences in the document 'General notes and resources', under 'Sentence', in the 'General and seasonal' folder.

PRAYER OF THE DAY (COLLECT)

Traditional

Lord, grant your people grace

to avoid the contamination of the devil,

and to follow you, the only Lord,

with pure hearts and minds;

through your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

OR, modernised traditional

Lord, help your people

to avoid all contamination of the devil,

and to follow you, the only Lord,

with pure hearts and minds.

We ask this through your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

OR, alternative

(Let us pray for a willingness to serve others. [silence])

Almighty and merciful Father,

your Son Jesus Christ has taught us

that what we do for those in need

we also do for him.

As he became the servant of all,

help us to be a servant to others.

For he lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

OR, new

(Let us pray that we become more like Jesus. [silence])

Loving and self-giving God,

teach us to follow the example of your Son, Jesus,

who was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.

Lead us to be submissive to you,

and kind and considerate to others.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

FIRST READING AND PSALM

Note: There are two sets of first readings (with accompanying Psalms) given for the Sundays after Pentecost: (a) a new semi-continuous set, and (b) a set related thematically to the gospels (as in the earlier form of the lectionary). It is intended that either one of these two sets be used throughout and that they not be mixed.

1a

Proverbs 31:10-31 A capable wife

Psalm 1

Antiphon:

Their (/our) delight is in the law of the Lord. (Ps 1:2a NRSV)

OR, 1b

Jeremiah 11:18-20 A plot against Jeremiah's life

Psalm 54

Antiphon:

(God is my helper; it is) the Lord (who) sustains my life. (Ps. 54:4)

SECOND READING

James 3:13 - 4:3,7,8a The wisdom from heaven

ALLELUIA VERSE (Mark 9:37b NRSV)

Alleluia, alleluia.

(Jesus said:) 'Whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me

but the one who sent me.'

Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Mark 9:30-37 The servant of all is the greatest

(Begin: 'Jesus and his disciples . . . ')

PRAYER AFTER THE GOSPEL

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving up everything,

and dying and rising to life again.

Help us also to serve others.

Amen.

OFFERING PRAYER

Thank you, God, for giving us so much,

especially your Son, Jesus Christ.

As you have loved and accepted us,

teach us to love and accept others.

Make us peace-loving

and ready to serve.

Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

Call to prayer

The Lord has called us to live not for ourselves but for God and for others. Therefore let us pray to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in the confidence that if we draw near to God he will draw near to us and hear us.

The regular response, OR:

O God of peace,

hear our prayer.

Suggested intercessions

Concluding prayer

Heavenly Father, help us not to seek greatness in ourselves but spur us on to serve you and others. Hear our prayer this day through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

PREFACE

It is indeed right and good,

Lord God, holy Father,

that we should at all times and in all places

give thanks to you,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(On this day)*

he overcame death by his resurrection

and opened up for us

the way to eternal life with you.

And so, with angels and archangels,

and with all the company of heaven,

we adore and praise your glorious name:

* The words 'on this day' are used only on Sundays.

COMMUNION INVITATION

For a choice of communion invitations, see the document 'General notes and resources', under 'Communion invitation', in the 'General and seasonal' folder.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

See the service order for a standard post-communion prayer. Alternatively, use the third prayer of the day (as listed above) at this point. It may be modified as follows.

Almighty and merciful Father,

thank you that your Son Jesus Christ

has served us at his own table.

As he became the servant of all,

help us to be a servant to others.

For he lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.

Amen.

DISMISSAL

Go in peace, and serve the Lord.

Thanks be to God. OR In the name of Christ. Amen.

HYMNS AND SONGS

FOR THE READINGS

Please note:        * =        Modernised version available

      G3, G4 . . . =        Guitar chords available in the Music Package 3, 4 . . .

      GS =        Guitar chords in the Supplement to LH

First reading (a) : Proverbs 31:10-31

-

First reading (b): Jeremiah 11:18-20

LHS

AT

TIS

Second reading: James 3:13 - 4:3,7,8a

LHS

AT

TIS

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

LHS

AT

TIS

PSALM 1

For musical settings of Psalm 1, see Music Packages 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9. For a hymn version, see TIS 1 Happy are they who walk in God's wise way.

The Iona collection Psalms of Patience, Protest and Praise contains a metrical version of Psalm 1 (p 4).

Note that the Iona Community is willing to allow a church or worship assembly to reproduce the words only of a song from these publications on a service sheet or overhead transparency that is to be used once only on a non-commercial basis, provided that the title of the song and the name of the copyright holder is clearly shown.

The following metrical paraphrase of Psalm 1 by David Sch¸tz may be sung to the tune Ellers (LH 514). If reproducing this version, please put 'Words (c) David Sch¸tz' at the beginning or the end of the psalm.

Happy are they whose love is in God's law,

those who do not walk in ungodly ways,

those who don't stand among the the sinful crowd,

those who refuse to sit with those who scoff.

They meditate on God's law day and night.

They are like trees that grow beside a stream;

they will bear fruit at every harvest time,

they will not die, but thrive in all they do.

But the ungodly - they are not like this!

They are like chaff that scatters in the wind.

They cannot stand before the Lord their judge

in the assembly of God's righteous ones.

All those will perish who walk in the path

of the ungodly, following their way.

But the Lord knows the way of all his saints,

who love his law and live in righteousness.

PSALM 54

For musical settings of Psalm 54, see Music Package 6.

NOTES ON THE READINGS

See the document 'General notes and resources', under 'Notes on the readings', in the 'General and seasonal' folder.

JEREMIAH 11:18-20: Jeremiah's loyal obedience to the Lord resulted in a plot against his life from kinsmen and neighbours. His lament pre-figures the experiences of Jesus when his ministry and teaching fell foul of his own countrymen. Jeremiah's innocence 'like a gentle lamb' in no way contradicts his plea for God's retribution. His desire is not vengeance, but rather that God's message might be shown thereby to be true.

JAMES 3:13 - 4:3,7,8a: Teachers in the church promote a wisdom which runs counter to that of the world. The Spirit of Christ is one of meekness, with openness to reason, backed up by the supreme teaching method - an exemplary expression of a life of genuine love (3:13,17). Teaching in arrogance for one's own personal elevation serves only disruption and destruction among Christians (3:16). Ambitious teachers' great failure is compounded by the absence of prayer. They are too selfish to pray (4:3). The struggle in reality is then between the devil and God. Therefore approach God in true repentance. He will provide the needed strength (4:7,8).

MARK 9:30-37: The ministry in Galilee now concluded, Jesus sets out with his disciples on the final journey to Jerusalem. They were unable to understand his clear teaching about his coming suffering and death. This was because they could not cope with any contradiction of their own fixed idea of his coming earthly political glory. Small wonder that they were subsequently pre-occupied with arguments as to their hierarchical order in the kingdom. Jesus quickly used the occasion to underline the proper priority of service in God's ordering of his kingdom. It was most certainly not linked with pride. The object lesson of a little child should teach us all.

VISUAL

VISUALS FOR THE READINGS

Pictures or visual symbols could be displayed on banners or the overhead screen during the readings. For instance, reading 1a from Proverbs could be accompanied by a picture like the illustration in the TEV Bible for verse 28, and the gospel by a picture like the illustration in TEV for Matthew 18:3.

DRAMA

'MEGA DRAMA'

See a drama for the day in Mega Drama resources (Openbook Publishers), originally included in these worship resources when they were released on disks.

DRAMATISING THE READINGS

The readings can be read by more than one person to make the dramatic meaning of the text clearer. For instance, reading 1b from Jeremiah could be read by two readers: Jeremiah and one of his enemies (second half of v 19), and the gospel by two readers: narrator (the pastor) and Jesus. The gospel could also be mimed (include a little child).

CHILDREN

CHILDREN AND THE GOSPEL

See under 'Dramatising the readings' above for a suggestion involving a little child in the miming of the gospel.

'COME AND SEE JESUS'

The Come and See Jesus curriculum published by Openbook Publishers has a wealth of material and ideas that may be adapted for use in worship. Please note that a new edition of this material is currently available for the Revised Common Lectionary.

This week's story is:

EITHER

'Jeremiah', Original Edition, Series B, Semester 2 (18 Pentecost)

OR

'Who is the greatest?', Revised RCL Edition, Series B, Semester 2 (Proper 20)