Order of Service

Luke 4:18. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Luke 9:1-6, 10-17
 Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey: no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there.  Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”  So they departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere

Feeding the Five Thousand

 On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. Then, taking them along, he slipped quietly into a city called Bethsaida.  When the crowds found out about it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed to be cured.

 The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surroun¹ding villages and countryside to lodge and get provisions, for we are here in a deserted place.”  But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”  For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”  They did so and had them all sit down.  And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.  And all ate and were filled, and what was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces. NRSVUE

He was inviting them to do His kingdom work.

I Do. We Do. You Do.

They looked at their lack.

The sacred invitation is to participate in the mystery of Christ as we proclaim the good news to the poor and the captives.

Psalm 146, The Message

Hallelujah!
O my soul, praise God!
All my life long I’ll praise God,
singing songs to my God as long as I live.
Don’t put your life in the hands of experts
who know nothing of life, of salvation life.
Mere humans don’t have what it takes;
when they die, their projects die with them.
Instead, get help from the God of Jacob,
put your hope in God and know real blessing!
God made sky and soil,
sea and all the fish in it.
He always does what he says—
he defends the wronged,
he feeds the hungry.
God frees prisoners—
he gives sight to the blind,
he lifts up the fallen.
God loves good people, protects strangers,
takes the side of orphans and widows,
but makes short work of the wicked.
God’s in charge—always.
Zion’s God is God for good!
Hallelujah!