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Tenth Sunday after Pentecost • Year B
July 28, 2024 • Proper 12
Click on black & white clipart (above left) or color photo-graphic (above) to view and download full resolution graphics for use on bulletin covers. Tutorials available. The original photo is of a crescent moon and earthshine over ESO's Paranal Observatory.
Historical Collect
O God, your almighty power is most clearly shown in your mercy and pity. Multiply your grace that we may run to your promises and be made to share in your heavenly joy; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Gelasian Sacramentary, 7th Century)
Thematic Collect
Almighty God, pour out upon us your Holy Spirit that we might will, think, and do that which is pleasing to you and live in holy obedience to your gracious will; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
The Common Thread
Does it seem like the end of the world? Look to the rainbow. “Be not afraid.” Are you weak and heavy-laden? Because Christ dwells in your heart through faith, you will be strengthened with power through his Holy Spirit. “Be not afraid.” Are the storms of life against you? Even so, Christ is nearer than you imagine. “Be not afraid.” Give thanks; God’s steadfast love endures forever.
First Reading • Genesis 9:8-17
When one makes a contract, it is carefully considered, for one breaks a legal commitment under penalty of law. Here, God makes a covenant with Noah and all of his offspring to follow. In other words, he makes this covenant with everyone who will ever live. More than this, God makes his promise to all of his earthly creation. The promise is that he will never destroy the earth with a flood. He had just brought Noah and his family safely through the flood (1 Pet 3:20) and commits to Noah that this will never happen again. As contracts are not entered into lightly, God did not make an empty promise.
Psalm • Psalm 136:1-9
The psalmist tries to list the deeds of our Lord's faithfulness. His account will fall short of a full accounting of God's steadfast love toward his creation. How could the poet hope to list all of God's glorious deeds? Yet his accounting is faithful, giving credit to God of gods for the scope of his great wonders. Each verse repeats the refrain, “for his steadfast love endures forever.” This is the covenant that was made with Noah and the whole earth. God's steadfast love for his creation will endure as he promised.
Second Reading • Ephesians 3:14-21
God's great love extends far beyond keeping the sun and moon and stars in the sky. His mercy is greater than withholding floods and destruction. His will is to create “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet 3:13) To accomplish this, he goes beyond his covenant with Noah. He now commits to make a way that keeps us from eternal and spiritual destruction too. He has made this happen when Christ dwells in the hearts of people through faith. God has expanded his former covenant, and done more than we could have thought to ask of him. His new covenant is that he might fill us with the very fulness of himself, and in so doing equip us for the glories of eternal life.
Gospel • Mark 6:45-56
We cannot begin to comprehend the great faithfulness, steadfast love, and glory of God. The disciples illustrate our inadequacy. Though Jesus has done the impossible, feeding thousands with a few loaves and fish, they were utterly astounded that he came walking to them on the sea. Nothing is impossible for God. (Luke 1:37) Since God has complete control over the elements, is he not able to calm our fears and grant us peace? Is he incapable of delivering us from this earthly life? No! He is able and committed to do “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.”
Resources
Links to Worship Resources for this Service
