38th Annual Women’s Day Worship Service | 10-15-23
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
38th Annual Women’s Day Worship & Meal
10-15-2023 10:00AM “Hybrid” Worship
“BREAKING THE CHAINS OF SILENCE!”
+ We Rejoice in the Spirit +
WELCOME
PROCESSIONAL SONG: WOMEN’S DAY CHOIR
THE OPENING RITE:
L In Isaiah 42:14-16 we hear the prophet deliver God’s own words describing the depth of God’s love for God’s suffering and captive people, snatched and taken away to a land that was not their home. The language is tender and even shocking, especially in the comparison of God’s pain to that of childbirth. God says: “14 For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. 15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools. 16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”
This Women’s Day morning we are thinking of sisters, daughters, friends, lovers, wives, cousins, mothers, neighbors, and fellow human beings who have been or are being trafficked, who are treated as expendable objects.
For a long time we might have kept silent. For a long time we might have been quiet and held ourselves back.
But today, as people of faith and faithfulness, we want to gasp and pant and cry out in unison with a new-born spirit –
C “O God, we will NOT be silent!”
L For all the women and girls who have been kidnapped and sold, deceived and imprisoned, denied freedom and choice,
C “O God, we will NOT be silent!”
L For those girls and women forced or sold into marriage, who are unwilling brides with no way out,
C “O God, we will NOT be silent!”
L For those women and girls forced or tricked into the sex trade, used and abused, beaten and battered,
C “O God, we will NOT be silent!”
L For those girls and women trapped or tricked into labor, exploited and enslaved, manipulated and underpaid,
C “O God, we will NOT be silent!”
L For those women and girls who are raped as a weapon of war, humiliated and shamed, battered and blamed,
C “O God, we will NOT be silent!”
L For the many girls and women who are missing in our nation and our world, who are suffering or perhaps dead,
C “O God, we will NOT be silent!”
L O God, there are too many who are victims, too many who live in fear and neglect, too many who have struggled to survive.
In any situation where a woman or a girl is being trafficked, or is vulnerable, we may be her only voice.
May we help prevent and protect, may we offer recovery and restoration, may we bring healing and hope, may we be courageous voices of justice toward the captors and compassionate voices of Jesus to the victims.
C “O God, we will NOT be silent!”
PRAYER OF THE DAY (with words written by Dr. Carolyn Ann Knight, a preacher and professor):
Almighty God, give us the courage, conviction, and commitment to open our mouths and to raise our voices until our women and girls are set free from hurt, harm, and danger. Hear our prayer, Sovereign Lord. Amen.
+ We Rejoice in God’s Saving Word +
FIRST READING: PROVERBS 31:8-9
[Introduction: Who will be the voice for the voiceless? Our silence tolerates and condones injustice, violence, and evil.]
8 Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of the destitute.
9 Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
SECOND READING: GENESIS 21:8-21
[Introduction: Hagar was an Egyptian woman who was captured, enslaved, raped, and forced to bear the child of her captor Abraham, a man trying to hold on to God’s promise for his future. A child, Ishmael, was born. Then Sarah, Abraham’s wife, had her own child and decided to tell Abraham they didn’t need Hagar or her son anymore.]
8 The child (Isaac) grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.
10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.”
11 The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you.
13 As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.”
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look upon the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to Her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
18 Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.
21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
DANCE SELECTION: ST. PETER’S PRAISE DANCERS
THIRD READING: 2 SAMUEL 13:1-22
[Introduction: Long after his death, King David was and is regarded as Israel’s greatest king and a man of faith in God. But he fathered children with different women and was also an ineffective parent. Both of these help us understand what went wrong with David’s children. After the rape, there will be a revenge killing, followed by rebellion – all in the family!]
1 Some time passed. David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister whose name was Tamar; and David’s son Amnon fell in love with her.
2 Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her.
3 But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah; and Jonadab was a very crafty man.
4 He said to him, “O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
5 Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed, and pretend to be ill; and when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Let my sister Tamar come and give me something to eat, and prepare the food in my sight, so that I may see it and eat it from her hand.”
7 Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, “Go to your brother Amnon’s house, and prepare food for him.”
8 So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, where he was lying down. She took dough, kneaded it, made cakes for him in his sight, and baked the cakes.
9 Then she took the pan and set them out before him, but he refused to eat. Amnon said, “Send out everyone from me.” So everyone went out from him.
10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber, so that I may eat from your hand.” So Tamar took the cakes she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
11 But when she brought them near to him to eat, he took hold of her, and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.”
12 She answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me; for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do anything so vile!”
13 As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the scoundrels in Israel. Now therefore, I beg you, speak to the King; for he will not withhold me from you.”
14 But he would not listen to her; and being stronger than her, he forced her and lay with her.
15 Then Amnon was seized with a very great loathing for her; indeed, his loathing was even greater than the lust he had felt for her. Amnon said to her, “Get out!”
16 But she said to him, “No, my brother; for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me.” But he would not listen to her.
17 He called the young man who served him and said, “Put this woman out of my presence, and bolt the door after her.”
18 (Now she was wearing a long robe with sleeves; for this is how the virgin daughters of the king were clothed in earlier times.) So his servant put her out, and bolted the door after her.
19 But Tamar put ashes on her head, and tore the long robe she was wearing; she put her hand on her head, and went away, crying aloud as she went.
20 Her brother Absalom said to her, Has Amnon your brother been with you? Be quiet for now, my
sister; he is your brother; do not take this to heart.” So Tamar remained, a desolate woman, in her brother Absalom’s house.
21 When King David heard of all these things, he became very angry; but he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his firstborn.
22 But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had raped his sister Tamar.
GOSPEL VERSE:
“There is strength in the name of the Lord…
There is power in the name of the Lord…
There is hope in the name of the Lord…
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“GOSPEL READING”: EPHESIANS 6:10-20, 23-24
[Introduction: Paul’s letter concludes with words perhaps inspired by a Roman soldier, dressed in armor and patrolling the grounds of Paul’s prison. He wants to encourage his fellow Christian sisters and brothers to be “armored up” for the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual challenges of staying faithful to Jesus Christ.]
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness.
15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.
16 With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.
23 Peace be to the whole community and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
INTRODUCTION OF OUR GUEST PREACHER
SONG SELECTION: WOMEN’S DAY CHOIR
TODAY’S SERMON: Dr. Obioma Martin
SONG SELECTION: WOMEN’S DAY CHOIR
THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and for the MISSION of the Church to the world!
+ We Rejoice in God’s Nourishing Meal +
THE OFFERING… May the Spirit of God within us guide us to grateful, generous, and fruitful discipleship!
[This morning those gathered “in person” in the sanctuary will come forward with their offerings. There will be one basket for regular weekly support plus any other envelopes such as “Building Fund”, “Mission”, “World Hunger”, etc. There will be another basket for WOMEN’S DAY offering, which is a special gift received each Women’s Day in celebration and support of God’s grace active in our lives and our world.]
SONG SELECTION: WOMEN’S DAY CHOIR
THE OFFERTORY SONG:
“More about Jesus would I know, more of his grace to others show,
More of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me.
MORE, MORE ABOUT JESUS… MORE, MORE ABOUT JESUS…
MORE OF HIS SAVING FULLNESS SEE, MORE OF HIS LOVE WHO DIED FOR ME.
More about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern;
Spirit of God, my Teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me.”
OFFERING PRAYER (see PHILIPPIANS 3:10-11) led by the Communion Assistant.
Dear God, I want to know Christ inside and out. I want to experience the power of his resurrection and join him in his suffering. I want to be like him in his death and be raised like him from death. As I grow in the grace of Christ, make me strong in my faith, bold in my witness, and fervent in my servant-love. There is no better life than life in Christ! Amen.
THE PREFACE:
L The Lord be with you. C And also with you.
L Lift up your hearts! C We lift them up in love for God!
L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C It is right to give God our thanks and praise.
L We are the Body of Christ! C His Spirit is in us! Alleluia!
L [continues the Preface]… we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
C [singing…] “Holy, holy, holy, holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!
and we lift our hearts before you as a token of our love,
holy, holy, holy, holy.
Precious Jesus, precious Jesus,
We’re so glad that you redeemed us, precious Jesus…
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
come and fill our hearts anew, O Holy Spirit…”
THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS by the Celebrant, who recalls and re-enacts Jesus’ Holy Meal.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (spoken)
COMMUNION AND BLESSINGS… All believers in Jesus Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table! The wine may be received fromthe pouring chalice; we also have grape juice on the tray. You can receive God’s peace, power, and promises for true life!
COMMUNION SONG: “SOMEBODY PRAYED FOR ME” Tan #505
COMMUNION SONG: “PASS ME NOT, O GENTLE SAVIOR” Tan #435
COMMUNION SONG: “I AM ON THE BATTLEFIELD FOR MY LORD” Tan #480
THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant.
+ We Rejoice in Our Mission +
THE BENEDICTION by the Pastor…We are sent forth to be and become the BODY OF CHRIST for the world!
CLOSING SONG: WOMEN’S DAY CHOIR