Lectionary for August 3rd Worship

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost -- August 3, 2008

For the complete text of these scriptures, please click here. For a more lengthy interpretation of these verses, please check out the General Board of Discipleship's weekly worship page.

Genesis 32:22-31: Jacob wrestles with a "man" at the Jabbok and is renamed Israel because he has "striven with God and with humans, and has prevailed."

Psalm 17:1-7, 15 (UMH 749): Consider as an alternative sung response Charles Wesley's great narrative hymn, "Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown" (United Methodist Hymnal, 386). Note the last two lines of stanza one: "With thee all night I mean to stay, and wrestle till the break of day." Note also the last two lines of stanza four: "To me, to all, thy mercies move; thy nature and thy name is Love." See "Psalms for Singing" for another alternative.

Romans 9:1-5: Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, declares his great concern and anguish for his people, the Israelites.

Matthew 14:13-21: Upon hearing of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus and the disciples withdraw to a quiet place, but the crowd follows; and more than 5000 people are fed.

Why and how we do themes

We at Lockerbie Central United Methodist have begun to build our worship services around a common theme each month. We feel that this provides a broader context to understanding scripture, our own faith journeys, and where we might be headed as a community.

Broadly, the monthly themes emerge out of a process of study and conversation. The themes are developed through scripture as it relates to the lectionary, conversation with each other, happenings at the church, and events in our world.


1. The Lectionary: A lectionary is a list of scriptural texts (called "lections") recommended for use in worship or study on a particular day. Using the lectionary (most churches use the Revised Common Lectionary) ties worship in a local congregation to the worship of millions of Christians around the world. Using the lectionary also ties local worship to that of the historic Church.

2. Conversation: Our daily lives and our life together is made up of countless conversations. These informal discussions between each other, at gatherings, or even the internal discussion taking place within our own head are the glue that holds community together (or the force that tears it apart). As we do church together, we hope the worship themes reflect and further develops these conversations.

3. Happenings at Our Church: Lockerbie Central has become very involved in the Indianapolis scene. We have our own coffee shop, we host art shows and concerts, bring films and filmmakers to towns and are part of citywide festivals. The worship themes should reflect these events in our community.


4. Events in the world: As a church, we are concerned about the very serious problems facing our city and our world. Poverty and homelessness, violence, the environment , the war are all huge problems that churches need to grapple with and struggle against. These are events we feel that should not be shied away from on Sunday morning.