Grounded and Growing—Bearing Fruit Week 3 Peace

This is part of the worship series, 
"Grounded and Growing—Bearing Fruit”

Series Introduction | Ascension Sunday | Pentecost
Love | Joy | Peace | Patience | Generosity & Kindness | 
Faithfulness | Gentleness | Self-Control | Communion Liturgy

Also in this year-long Grounded and Growing series: 
Advent and Christmas | Epiphany | Lent and Easter

Key Theme: Peace is the full flourishing God intended in the beginning, in which everyone’s goal is helping everyone else to lead a life of abundance and joy.

Throughout scripture, the word we often translate as “peace” is the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom refers not only to the absence of hostility, but also to the flourishing of all creation. Shalom was God’s intent for the world in the very beginning and is what we long for in the new creation. It’s the image depicted by Isaiah as he writes of the one who will rule the world with righteousness and justice, free from greed and corruption. Isaiah’s hymn about the wolf lying down with the lamb and the cow feeding with the bear invites us to imagine a world free of oppression and fear and a creation living in harmony. In such a world, all people desire is to live in right relationship with God, with each other, and with creation, seeking abundance and joy for all.

This peace is not just something we wait for, but a reality we can work to inhabit now, as we live in unity with Christ, the good King, through the power of the Spirit. James urges the church to turn away from behaviour motivated by selfishness and ambition and to sow in peace—to act towards each person we encounter from a rootedness in the vision of God’s peaceable kingdom. When we live such lives, the harvest of such sowing, says the psalmist, will be rich indeed—a harvest of faithfulness, love, righteousness, and everlasting peace.

Service Outline

Call to Worship

Opening Song

“All Creatures of Our God and King” (st. 1–2, 5) ^{Draper, St. Francis of Assisi}

Greeting

Song of Praise

“Rejoice in All Your Works” ^Kimbrough

Call to Confession

In Psalm 85, the psalmist declares:

You, Lord, showed favor to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sins.
You set aside all your wrath
and turned from your fierce anger.
—Psalm 85:1–3 ^NIV

It sounds almost like a reminder, as if the psalmist is saying, “Hey God, remember who you are! Remember that you are the God who forgives.” Remember this…because we need your forgiveness once more. 

So too do we need God’s forgiveness again and again. This morning, as we think about what it means to seek God’s shalom, we are particularly mindful of the ways our actions have harmed God’s creation. Let us go to our God in confession, using the next three verses of Psalm 85 to ground our prayers.

Prayer of Confession

Restore us again, God our Savior,
and put away your displeasure toward us.
—Psalm 85:4 ^NIV

We know that we have sinned against you and our neighbor.
We have lived for ourselves, seeking our own profit and security. 
We fight for resources, 
willing to mistreat people made in your image to get what we want. 
We have misused the earth, treating creation like a product to be consumed,
instead of a gift you have called us to treasure and steward. 
Forgive us for our actions
driven by greed. 

Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
—Psalm 85:5 ^NIV

The earth bears the marks of our callousness. 
We fear the lasting damage we have done, 
even as we carry on in our thoughtless consumption.
The effects of our greed are like waves, 
rippling out, growing ever larger 
until they wash over those who are already
struggling just to get by.
Forgive us for our actions 
with unintended consequences. 

Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your unfailing love, Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
—Psalm 85:6–7 ^NIV

Forgive us, God, for the harm we have done 
to one another and to the earth.
Plant within us the desire to seek shalom,
to work for the flourishing of others
in everything we do. 
Amen.

Song of Confession

“Lord Have Mercy” ^{Zach et al.}

Assurance of Pardon & Response of Dedication

The psalmist continues:

I will listen to what God the Lord says;
    he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
    but let them not turn to folly.

Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
    that his glory may dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness meet together;
    righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
    and righteousness looks down from heaven.

The Lord will indeed give what is good,
    and our land will yield its harvest.
Righteousness goes before him
    and prepares the way for his steps.
—Psalm 85:8–13 ^NIV

People of God, receive God’s forgiveness and his peace,
and turn towards him,
that our lives might bear the fruit of God’s shalom.

In gratitude for the grace that gives peace to our hearts,
we will seek to be people of shalom,
living with each other and the creation
in the harmony of God’s kingdom.

Passing of the Peace

Having received peace from God, let us turn to one another and pass the peace of Christ to each other.

Prayer for Illumination

Scripture Reading

First Reading: Isaiah 11:1–9
Second Reading: James 3:13–18

Sermon

“Those Who Sow in Peace”

Song of Response

“Instruments of You Peace” ^Moen

Breath Prayer

[The leader invites the Spirit's presence to fill our lives (as we breathe in) so that our lives might bear good fruit (as we breathe out). This prayer can be repeated a few times.] 

Breathe In: “Holy Spirit, fill us with your presence”

Breathe Out: “that we might seek your shalom.”

Prayers of the People

Offering, Offertory Prayer

Song of Dedication

“Hear the Call of the Kingdom” ^{Getty and Townend}

Benediction

The God of peace,
who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great shepherd of the sheep,
by the blood of the eternal covenant,
make you complete in everything good
so that you may do God’s will,
working among us that which is pleasing in God’s sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever!
—Hebrews 13:20–21 ^NRSVUE

Doxology

“All Creatures of Our God and King” (st. 6) ^{Draper, St. Francis of Assisi}