Elements from this morning’s gathering

Call to Worship

A Reading from Psalm 36:

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the ocean depths.
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.

How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter
in the shadow of your wings.

You feed them from the abundance of your own house,
letting them drink from your river of delights.

For you are the fountain of life,
the light by which we see.

Call and Response:

God, Your love is meteoric, Your loyalty astronomic, Your purpose titanic, and Your verdicts oceanic.

And yet, in your largeness, nothing gets lost.
No one goes unnoticed.

You’re a fountain of cascading brilliance,
open our eyes to see you in all things and in all people.

How eager we are to run under your wings,
to eat our fill at the banquet you spread.

Scripture Reading

A Reading from John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

A Reading from 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:

wise counsel
clear understanding
simple trust
healing the sick
miraculous acts
proclamation
distinguishing between spirits
tongues
interpretation of tongues.

All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.