ABC Sale: Lafayette Industries

One of the long-time missions of St. Mark Presbyterian has been Lafayette Industries.  We continue to support them through our deacons and the money raised at the ABC Rummage Sale which will be held August 2 and August 3.

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Mission: The mission of Lafayette Industries is to provide employment opportunities to persons with developmental disabilities and to persons with other disabilities who are 18 years or older.

Goals:
 To provide a meaningful and productive work experience to persons who are disabled
 To maintain a safe and pleasant work environment
 To teach and to train persons with disabilities to acquire better work habits
 To enhance self-worth and dignity through employment
 To provide high-quality business service through packaging, light assembly and commercial mailings
 To operate the center in a professional, fiscally responsible manner
 To provide fair wages and good benefits

For more on Lafayette Industries, click here

ABC Sale Hours

Friday, August 2:
Early Bird $5 Admission: 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM – (you may pay $5 for Early Bird admission)
8:00 AM to 1:00 PM (free admission after 8 AM)

Saturday, August 3:
8:00 AM to 12:00 noon (free admission)

Worship Prayers July 21

CENTERING PRAYER God, we have too many things to do today! Help us to see you in everything we do, in everything we say. Help us to take a deep breath and remember the Holy Spirit is inside us, with us, around us. Help us to pause, drink a glass of water, and remember our baptism and the covenant you established. Help us to study your Word, and think not just of the past, but also of how you act in the present. Help us to work for and with our brothers and sisters, giving kindness, sharing hope, and living out the faith you give us. Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP God is good and loving to the faithful. Give thanks and praise for all God does for us. God is good! Praise the Lord!

PRAYER OF CONFESSION Giving God, you provide every good thing, but we hunger after possessions that will never fill us. Loving God, you call us to return to your tender arms, but we thirst for acceptance in faraway places. Almighty God, you pursue us with the light of your Word, but we prefer to live in the darkness of our selfishness and prejudice. We confess our intolerance, our indifference, and our unwillingness to heed your call to follow. Forgive us, and help us to remember daily that you are the deepest desire of our hearts. We continue to pray in Jesus’ name. (Silent Confession)

Scripture for July 27-28

Hosea 1:2-10 New International Version (NIV) Hosea’s Wife and Children 2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.” 8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the Lordsaid, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.[a] 10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ Footnotes: Hosea 1:9 Or your I am New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Duccio di Buoninsegna - The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIAPublishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202.

Daily Prayer for July 26

• Morning Psalms 130; 148
  
• First Reading 1 Samuel 31:1-13
• Second Reading Acts 15:12-21
• Gospel Reading Mark 5:21-43
• Evening Psalms 32; 139

Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

Jesus, Good Shepherd of the sheep, by whom the lost are sought and guided into the fold: Feed us and we shall be satisfied, heal us and we shall be whole, and lead us that we may be with you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Almighty God, by grace alone you call us and accept us in your service. Strengthen us by your Spirit, and make us worthy of your call. Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation. In the beginning you separated light from darkness and placed all your works in our hands. You have given us the light of day that we might see your wonders in all we say and do; you give us the gentle darkness of the night that we might rest from our burdens and be refreshed in body and spirit. Break through the darkness of our sins with the splendor of your mercy and love. Send your light to dispel our fears and anxieties and fill us with hope and joy. Glory, praise, and honor are yours, O God. (Add your prayers.) Amen.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

(Opening sentences, prayers, and blessings are from the Book of Common Worship. Readings are from the daily lectionary in Daily Prayer. Both are published by Westminster/John Knox Press.)

ABC Sale: Isaiah 58

Volunteers Needed for Day of Event, July 27th Isaiah 58 will hold their Back to School Event on
Saturday, July 27th. Each school age student will receive a backpack filled with appropriate supplies to start the school year. The recipients are primarily students within the St. Louis Public School Districts. In order to ensure each child has the appropriate supplies, Isaiah 58 has asked participating congregations to provide specific supplies.

If you would like to volunteer for the Back to School Event on Saturday, July 27th, please contact Jean Steward or Joyce Blackwell.

For the summer months, the pantry at Isaiah 58 is in need of: canned fruit, tea, cooking oil, dried beans, 1-2 lb bags of flour or laundry soap. Place these items on the table outside Pastor Dave's office.

For more on Isaiah58 Ministries, click here.  Isaiah 58 is one of the beneficiaries of the ABC Rummage Sale

Worship Prayers July 14

CENTERING PRAYER        (Clement of Rome, 1st Century)

We ask you, Master, to be our helper and protector. Save those among us who are in distress; have mercy on the humble; raise up the fallen; show yourself to those in need; heal the sick; turn back those of your people who wander; feed the hungry; ransom our prisoners; raise up the weak; comfort the discouraged. Let all the nations know that you are the only God, that Jesus Christ is your servant, and that we are your people and the sheep of your pasture.

CALL TO WORSHIP            (Luke 10:27–28)

Love the Lord your God,                               

with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind!

Love your neighbor as yourself,

with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind!

Do this and you will live!

Let us worship God!

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Holy God, we are your sons and daughters, descendants of the God most high, yet, we do not honor you and our actions belittle the love you have for us. We do not defend the weak or those in the margins. We do not uphold the poor or the oppressed. We do not commit to efforts to rescue the frail and the needy; we sometimes deliver them into solitude and neglect.

Rise up to judge us, O God. We prefer your merciful justice than living with guilt and fear. Straighten our path and guide our feet on the path of justice. We continue to pray in Jesus name. (Silent Confession)

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – Book of Order, F-1.01

The good news of the Gospel is that the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—creates, redeems, sustains, rules, and transforms all things and all people. This one living God, the Scriptures say, liberated the people of Israel from oppression and covenanted to be their God. By the power of the Spirit, this one living God is incarnate in Jesus Christ, who came to live in the world, die for the world, and be raised again to new life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ announces the nearness of God’s kingdom, bringing good news to all who are impoverished, sight to all who are blind, freedom to all who are oppressed, and proclaiming the Lord’s favor upon all creation.

For the sermon "For level words in crooked times", click here.

Scripture for July 21

Amos 8:1-12 New International Version (NIV)

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.

“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[a] Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor of the land,

5 saying,

“When will the New Moon be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market wheat?”—
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating with dishonest scales,
6 buying the poor with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.

8 “Will not the land tremble for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.

9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your religious festivals into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth
    and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son
    and the end of it like a bitter day.

11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.

Footnotes:

1. Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Photo by Monika Grabkowska on Unsplash

Daily Prayer for July 19

Friday

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in God's word is my hope.

• Morning Psalms 51; 148
• First Reading 1 Samuel 21:1-15
• Second Reading Acts 13:13-25
• Gospel Reading Mark 3:7-19a
• Evening Psalms 142; 65

Brightness of God‘s glory and exact image of God’s person, whom death could not conquer nor the tomb imprison, as you have shared our frailty in human flesh, help us to share your immortality in the Spirit. Reveal yourself to us this day and all our days, as the first and the last, the Living One, our immortal Savior and Lord. Living God, by the Passover of your Son you have brought us out of sin into righteousness, and out of death into life. Grant to those who are sealed by your Holy Spirit the will and power to proclaim you to all the world. Holy God, giver of peace, when in our families and churches we are divided and at odds with one another, take from us mistrust, party spirit, contention, and all evil that divides us. Work in us a desire for reconciliation, so that, putting aside personal grievances, we may go about your business with a single mind, devoted to our Lord Jesus Christ. (Add your prayers.) Amen.

May God in endless mercy bring the whole church, the living and departed, to a joyful resurrection in the fulfillment of the eternal kingdom.

(Opening sentences, prayers, and blessings are from the Book of Common Worship. Readings are from the daily lectionary in Daily Prayer. Both are published by Westminster/John Knox Press.)

Quiet My Soul

Morning Psalm 42

1   As a deer longs for flowing streams,
          so my soul longs for you, O God.
2   My soul thirsts for God,
          for the living God.
     When shall I come and behold
          the face of God?
3   My tears have been my food
          day and night,
     while people say to me continually,
          “Where is your God?”

11  Why are you cast down, O my soul,
          and why are you disquieted within me?
     Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
          my help and my God.

And now we wait.  The last chemo was June 28 and we should be celebrating.  We wait for another PET scan to show us if my husband still has cancer.  He is feeling better, looks good, and I am hopeful that he will soon be strong again, but I can’t shake the “disquiet” in my soul.

We are grateful for a good life, caring children and loving grandchildren.  We are “comfortable” and not in need of anything, but. . . a clean scan.  Even with a clean scan, will I be worry-free?  Probably not—I will be waiting for the next scan—waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I feel battered like a ship in a storm.  The storm has moved on, but I feel damaged as I head into the port.  Will I be strong enough to withstand another storm?  What I need is peace and only I can find that, with God’s help. 

God, please give me strength and peace to navigate the troubled waters of life.  Make me strong enough to weather the next storm.  Quiet my soul.  You are bigger than the storms in my life.  Thank you for the gift of writing which helps me heal.  Thank you for our friends, family and church who are the lifeboats.  In Your name I pray. Amen.

JaclynMorgan

Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash

Amos Sermon Series

We are going to work through the prophet Amos the next couple of weeks in worship at St. Mark. I imagine most are not really familiar with the works of the "minor prophets." I thought this video might prove helpful as we begin this short journey together. Please take a few minutes to watch and let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to exploring this important material together in worship.

Pastor Dave
Click here if video doesn't appear.

Worship Prayers for July 7

CENTERING PRAYER

Each morning when we wake up, you remind us of your presence. The light of the sun, the sounds of the birds, the sun on our shoulders; your creation serves as witness of your love and your imagination. Let us take it all in as you transform our awe into praises that those around us can hear each day and know that you are God. Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP (Psalm 30)

Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may linger for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

Come! Let us worship the Lord of all of our days!

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God, you catch us in our sinful behavior. We come to you with the hope of your restoration. We walk with our heads held high, without noticing others and their burdens. We are even blinded to our own! We keep our mouths silenced when we are full of stories to share about the good things that you have done for us. We even keep our actions silenced as we become so overwhelmed with the needs of the world that we do nothing to overcome them.

Fill us with your peace and with your mercy. Free us from the destruction of sin and restore us to a life lived in you. We continue to pray in Jesus’ name. (Silent Confession)

For the sermon "Traveling Light", click here.