Order of Worship
Prelude: Rosemary Nettrouer
Announcements
Welcome & Greeting
Music: “This Is My Father’s World,” Hymn #56
Call to Worship: Romans 1:20
Ever since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature,
invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the
things God has made.
Centering Meditation
Music: “Jesus Loves the Little Children”
Children’s Message
Prayer Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
Message: “In God’s Image”
Scripture: Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Open Worship
Benediction
Postlude: Rosemary Nettrouer
This is My Father’s World
1 This is my Father’s world,
And to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas–
His hand the wonders wrought.
2 This is my Father’s world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world:
He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.
3 This is my Father’s world:
O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world:
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let earth be glad!
Technology provided by Michael Barrett, Joe Dawley, and Erin DeGroot. Music coordination by Dawn Blue, and pastoral leadership by Catherine Griffith.
June 27, 2021
Order of worship
Prelude: Rosemary Nettrouer
Announcements
Welcome & Greeting
Music: “This Is my Father’s World,” Hymn #56
Call to Worship: Romans 1:20
Ever since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things God has made.
Centering Meditation
Music: “Jesus Loves the Little Children”
Children’s Message
Prayer Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
Message: “In God’s Image”
Scripture: Genesis 1:1—2:3
Open Worship
Benediction
Postlude: Rosemary Nettrouer
Prelude: Rosemary Nettrouer
Announcements
Good morning!
Thank you, Rosemary, for the music. Thanks for technical support by Michael Barrett, Joe Dawley, and Erin DeGroot, with music coordination by Dawn Blue.
- Thank you for wearing your mask to help protect the unvaccinated among us.
- Offering plates are near the front and the back of the meeting room. Thank you!
- Childcare is available on the third floor from 9:45 until about 15 minutes after worship concludes.
- We are worshiping in person and live streaming on Facebook and the church website (wichitaquakers.org).
- Please feel free to share our worship with your Facebook friends by posting a link.
- Please also feel free to comment on the Facebook page with prayer concerns, announcements, or words of ministry.
- And if you worship with us online only and would like to be more connected, please leave a message on the Facebook page or the church website.
Today
- This evening at 7:00, Shakespeare in the Park will present “Richard III.” Snacks for tonight’s performance of “Richard III” would be welcome and appreciated.
Joan Smith is turning 85, and they’re having a party, 2-4:00 p.m. on July 10 at GracePoint Church.
Welcome & Greeting
Music: “This Is my Father’s World,” Hymn #56
Call to Worship: Romans 1:20
Ever since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things God has made.
Centering Meditation
Music: “Jesus Loves the Little Children”
Children’s Message
Prayer Concerns
- Randy Cook, after surgery and a cancer diagnosis, is having drainage issues and meets with the oncologist on June 30. He still has no energy and is extremely tired.
- Joan Smith is home recovering from successful hip replacement and won’t be able to drive for several more weeks.
- Larry Barrett is going through skin cancer treatments and dealing with the loss of his half-sister Sandra Williamson.
- Our church at this time of new beginnings, particularly the Pastoral Search Committee
Pastoral Prayer
Creator God, we open our hearts and lives to you. Fill us with your spirit. Teach us to see you in our world.
Message: “In God’s Image”
Scripture: Genesis 1:1—2:3
At our Monthly Meeting for worship with attention to business last week, we discussed whether this congregation is ready to affirm Great Plains Yearly Meeting’s Statement of Inclusion, and that matter was referred to Ministry and Counsel. As I pondered that discussion, I thought it might be good to bring some messages on the theology of marriage and sexuality. My intention, subject to God’s leading, is that this week is the first of a series that will include some basics from the Bible and the Christian tradition on marriage and sexuality.
This morning we will look at the creation poem of Genesis 1:1—2:3, and I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.
1 In the beginning when God created[a] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[b] swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness … Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together … Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind[c] in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,[d] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
27 So God created humankind[e] in [God’s] image,
in the image of God [God] created them;[f]
male and female [God] created them.
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that [God] had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work …, and … rested on the seventh day from all the work…. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that [God] had done in creation.
First, a couple of notes about the passage. This account of creation is poetic, not an eye-witness news report. No one was there taking notes or making a video on their phone. 😊
Bible scholars tell us that “Genesis was written over many centuries, using oral and written traditions” (NOAB, p. 7). Oral traditions are stories passed from generation to generation. “Most scholars agree that the texts now found in Genesis began to be written down sometime after the establishment of the monarchy of Israel in the tenth century BCE. *** Many important parts of Genesis, however, were not written until after the monarchy had fallen in 586 BCE and Judean leaders were living in exile in Babylon” (NOAB, p. 8).
In sum, we do not know many of the details of the earliest composition of Genesis, and the oral stories that stand behind the book are lost. Nevertheless, we do know that the book was written over centuries by multiple authors….
Genesis isn’t from “just one situation or set of perspectives. Instead, it is a chorus of different voices, reflecting ancient Israel’s experiences with God over the centuries” … (NOAB, p. 8).
What I’ve read to you this morning is one voice in in that chorus.
As we look at these ancient voices, we have to be careful about seeking answers to questions that the text doesn’t intend to address. Instead, our goal is to figure out, as best we can, what the original text intends to teach us.
As you might have noticed when I read the scripture, the creation of humans gets special attention. For everything else, God said, “Let there be,” and it was so. Light, sky, seas and dry land, plants and trees, sun and moon, water creatures and air creatures, land creatures. “Let there be…,” and there they were.
When we get to the creation of people, though, the pattern changes. Instead of “And God said, ‘Let there be humans,’” Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, “Let us make humankind….”
You might wonder who God was making this announcement to. The Qur’an suggests that God was talking to the angels. Verse 30 of the second surah (or chapter) of the Qur’an, says,
When your Lord said to the angels, “I am placing a successor on earth.” They said, “Will You place in it someone who will cause corruption in it and shed blood, while we declare Your praises and sanctify You?” He said, “I know what you do not know.” (https://www.clearquran.com/002.html)
Here, when God said, I’m going to make humans, the angels replied, “What are you thinking? What are we, chopped liver?” And God said, I know what I’m doing.
As Genesis in the Hebrew Bible continues, the text says God created human beings in God’s image and God created human beings as male and female.
We might be tempted to see that this text takes a clear position on the debate about whether humans are binary – male or female, and that’s it. I’m not sure we can get that from here. For one thing the rabbis of the Jewish tradition have acknowledged for centuries that some people are born with ambiguous genitalia and have made provision for such cases (http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/journal/cohen-1.htm).
So, what is going on in Genesis? Placed as the creation of humans is, it intends to say that, in some ways, humans have their feet planted in both the earthly world and the heavenly world.
Humans made as male and female means God created the human as a biological being: “… a creature, who with all other created life is given the power of reproduction …, receiving it in the identical words of blessing addressed first to the creatures of sea and sky” (Bird, 147) – Be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28, 22).
Genesis 1’s “understanding of sexual reproduction as a blessing, in humans as well as [other] animals, is an important contribution to a theology of sexuality. Sex at its most fundamental, biological level is not to be despised or deprecated. It is God’s gift…” (Bird, 157).
Our sexuality is a gift. And humans are creatures, biological beings like other creatures.
And, unlike other creatures, humans are made in the image of God. As such, the tradition gives humans a particular role. Genesis 1:26 says,
Then God said, “Let us make humankind[c] in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,[d] and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
I want to be careful to point out that dominion is not the same as domination. Dominion includes the notion of care and stewardship, responsibility. Being created in the image of God does not mean all the rest of creation is ours to use irresponsibly. For one thing, as creatures, we depend on clean air and clean water to live. If we spoil nature, loot and pillage creation, we’re done for, along with the spotted owls.
Genesis 1 gives humans a place of privilege. Unlike other creatures, we are made in the image of God, and we’re to use that position of privilege, our made in the image of God specialness, for good. It’s a blessing and a responsibility.
One more note, as one author has said, “to be human is to be made in the image of God. *** It is essential to human identity…. Distinctions of roles, responsibilities or social status on the basis of sex – or other characteristics – are not excluded by this statement. But where such distinctions have the effect of denying to an individual or group the full and essential status of humanity in the image of God, they contradict the word of creation. [And] … woman images the divine as fully as man” (Bird, 159). People of color are made in the image the of God. LBGTQ people are made in the image of God. Anything we do that denies anyone that fullness contradicts the word of creation.
God created human beings in God’s image, and God created human beings as male and female.
We have a position of privilege with regard to the rest of creation, a blessing and a responsibility.
Our sexuality is a gift, as much a part of our humanity as being made in the image of God. It, too, is a blessing and a responsibility.
I will close with these words, given to me by a friend:
Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. (Max Ehrmann)
Open Worship
Benediction
Postlude: Rosemary Nettrouer
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