Covenant Church
an ecumenical liberal baptist congregation
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A Service of Worship for
July 12, 2020

Picture
Artist - Jesus Mafa
Picture
Sower With Setting Sun, Vincent Van Gogh 1888

The earth is at the same time mother,
she is mother of all that is natural,
mother of all that is human.
She is the mother of all,
for contained in her
are the seeds of all.
The earth of humankind
contains all moistness,
all verdancy,
all germinating power.
It is in so many ways
fruitful.
All creation comes from it.
Yet it forms not only the basic raw materials for humankind,
but also the substance
of the incarnation
of God’s son.

Hildegard of Bingen
Adult Education - TODAY,  9AM
Adult Education will be showing the movie The Strange Demise of Jim Crow over two Sundays at 9AM on July 12 & 19 via Zoom. ​Zoom links are available on the Online Gatherings page on our website: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html

​This movie was created by Thomas Cole and co-produced by Bill Howze: Not all the civil rights victories of the '60s were won at the cost of vicious beatings and mass arrests played-out in front of television cameras. The Strange Demise of Jim Crow reveals for the first time on film how many Southern cities were desegregated in a quieter, almost stealthy fashion with behind-the-scenes negotiations, secret deals and controversial news black-outs. It makes visible a fascinating case-study in Houston of how urban power is really wielded.

You can also see an introduction to the movie on our This Coming Sunday page on our website: https://www.covenanthouston.org/this-coming-sunday.html

Creator/Executive Producer: Thomas R. Cole, 
Director: David Berman
Co-producer/Editor: William Howze

Worship Order
Worship notes are included at the bottom of this page.
​
With this link you can make a donation to Covenant through PayPal or a credit card. 

Prelude
"Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel, Jacy Grannis, viola.

​Call to Worship

Opening Sentences
To be of the Earth is to know 
the restlessness of being a seed 
the darkness of being planted 
the struggle toward the light 
the pain of growth into the light 
the joy of bursting and bearing fruit 
the love of being food for someone 
the scattering of your seeds 
the decay of the seasons 
the mystery of death and 
the miracle of birth.


​Scripture Lesson: Matthew 13:1-23

​Time for Children
For more ideas for conversation starters with kids, click the image below:
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​Call to Confession
Unison Confession
Sower of living hearts,
sower of tenderness,
sower of courage,
sower of service,
sower of prayer,
sower of light.
God, sow within us.!
 
Sower of gifts,
sower of forgiveness,
sower of faith,
sower of joy,
sower of life,
sower of the Beatitudes.
God, sow in the hearts of all people!
 
Even if we are hard as stones,
be patient with us!
Your Good News will manage to slip
between the tight cracks in our rock and will
grow into giant sheaves of Good News!

​Music/Hymn

“Though I May Speak,”text by Hal Hopson, sung by the Covenant Singers.
​​Proclamation

​Prayer
From http://worldinprayer.org
Creator God, we meet to give you praise and worship.  Each one of our homes can be called Beth-el, the house of God:  Hear us as we now try to pray from our place here in the United States and in the world for it is all your world.  We praise you for the beauty of the world and we worship you that we are able to see it as it is – your creation.

We pray for all children and teenagers especially in countries where one school year is ending and we have doubts about what the new one will bring; the changes to schools and universities and how these will affect our lives.
​
We pray for all those we meet as life slowly changes to a new normal, especially those for whom it means vast changes to life and work.  We pray for the vast networks of support, from foodbanks to care assistants, that all may discover the help needed.

We pray for all who have found lock-down hard, life difficult, and health problematic; for those who mourn, who despair, and who suffer.   For those we know and can name in the silence of our hearts; for those we don’t know but know about, and for those worldwide who suffer.

We pray for our environment: despite the lock-down, earthquake and storm, wildfire and drought, flood and destruction, continue to happen.  We celebrate the reduction in human-made air pollution: now that we have seen how quickly the earth responds grant us the will to care for the whole ecosystem.

We pray for those who are still growing crops and wondering how harvesting will take place.  We pray for those packing our food; for those who transport it, especially the crews of bulk carriers and container ships, of tankers, and also of cruiseliners.

We pray, giving thanks for the things we have rediscovered this year:
the beauty of silence and bird song;
the letting go of busy, over-committed lives;
the time to savor in many ways the gifts of word, speech, and friendship;
the time to be in your world as your house.
​
This is your world, all things are made by you and for your glory.
Hear us, that we might know you are indeed our God.
Amen. 
​
​Invitation

​Prayer of Dedication
Don’t worry and fret about the crops.  
After you have done all you can for them, 
let them stand in the weather on their own.
 
But the real products of any year’s work 
are the farmer’s mind and the cropland itself.
 
If he raises a good crop 
at the cost of belittling himself 
and diminishing the ground, 
then he has gained nothing. 
He will have to begin 
all over again the next spring, 
worse off than before.
 
Let him receive the season’s 
increment into his mind. 
Let him work it into the soil.
 
The finest growth that 
farmland can produce 
is a careful farmer.
 
Make the human race a better head.  
Make the world a better piece of ground.


​Affirmation of Faith
In the stilled place that once was a road 
going down from the town to the river, 
and where the lives of marriages grew 
a house, cistern and barn, flowers, 
the tilted stone of borders, and the
deeds of their lives ran to neglect, 
and honeysuckle and then 
the fire overgrew it all, 
I walk heavy with seed, 
spreading on the cleared hill the beginnings
of green, clover and grass to be pasture. 
Between history’s death upon the place 
and the trees that would have come
I claim, and act, and am mingled 
in the fate of the world.


​Benediction
And so we acknowledge that we need to listen, we commit to being not only hearers but doers also, we feel the support of this community as we seek to be more loving. Amen. ​

Postlude
“Bamboo Stem and Jasmine Flower” from Two Folk Tales from Southern China, Jonathan Stock, ed. Jacy Grannis, viola.

Worship Notes

The worship leader is Jeannette Dixon.

The prelude is played by Jacy Grannis, viola.

The Call to Worship is from “Connections Are Made Slowly” by Marge Piercy.

The Opening Sentences are by John Soos.

The Unison Confession is from Imaging the Word Vol. 2, by Charles Singer and Albert Hari.

“Though I May Speak” is sung by The Covenant Singers. 

The Prayer of Dedication is from “Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer” by Wendell Berry from Farming: A Handbook.

The Affirmation of Faith is from “Sowing” by Wendell Berry from Farming: A Handbook.

The postlude is played by Jacy Grannis, viola.
​

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Covenant Church
4949 Caroline St., Houston, TX 77004
office@covenanthouston.org
713-668-8830
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