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From Sea to
Shining Sea
WORSHIP FOR
A NATIONAL
HOLIDAY
From Sea to Shining Sea
WORSHIP FOR A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
Opening Litany..............................America the Beautiful
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!
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P From east to west, you have blessed us, Lord God Almighty.
C From fields ripe for harvest, from business and industry creating products to make our lives better, to the natural beauty of animals and
plants, fish and fowl, lakes and streams, thank you for your many gifts
to our nation in land and sea and sky.
P For the blessings that span our nation from sea to shining sea,
C We give you thanks and praise.
P For the rights we share as citizens in this land and especially for the
freedom we have to worship and speak of our faith in you,
C Lord God, we praise and glorify you!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law!
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P From north to south, you have gathered people to live united in
these states,
C We thank you for our government leaders and for all those who guard
our cities and keep us safe.
P We pray for our armed forces at home and across the sea, for those
who protect our nation and keep our country strong.
C We thank you for their sacrifice and for all those who work tirelessly
to preserve us as a people.
O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness and ev’ry gain divine!
Confession And Absolution
Psalm Responsory������������������������������������������������Psalm 33
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P By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
C and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
P He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
C he puts the deeps in storehouses.
P Let all the earth fear the Lord;
C let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
P For he spoke, and it came to be;
C he commanded, and it stood firm.
P The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
C the plans of his heart to all generations.
P Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
C the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
Prayer Of The Day
Old Testament Reading���������������������������� Genesis 1:6-10
Let the waters under the heavens be
gathered and let the dry land appear.
Epistle Reading.......................................... Romans 13:1-4a
For there is no authority except from God.
Gospel Reading............................................. Mark 4:35-41
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“Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Children’s Sermon
Hymn.....................................God Bless Our Native Land
God bless our native land; firm may it ever stand
Through storm and night. When the wild tempests rave,
Ruler of wind and wave, do thou our country save by thy great might!
So shall our prayers arise to God above the skies,
On whom we wait. Thou who art ever nigh,
Guarding with watchful eye, to thee aloud we cry: God save the state!
Sermon
Offering
Prayers
Lord’s Prayer
(If Holy Communion is celebrated, it may occur here.)
Benediction................................................from Psalm 139
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P Where shall I go from your Spirit?
C Or where shall I flee from your presence?
P If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
C If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
P If I take the wings of the morning
C and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
P even there your hand shall lead me,
C and your right hand shall hold me.
P If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
C and the light about me be night,”
P even the darkness is not dark to you;
C the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
P The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine
upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord look upon you with
favor, and grant you his peace.
C Amen.
Closing Hymn..................Eternal Father, Strong To Save
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Eternal Father, strong to save, whose arm has bound the restless wave,
Who bids the mighty ocean deep its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea.
O Christ, the Lord of hill and plain, o’er which our traffic runs amain.
By mountain pass or valley low, wherever, Lord, our brethren go,
Protect them by thy guarding hand from ev’ry peril on the land.
O Spirit, whom the Father sent to spread abroad the firmament.
O wind of heaven, by thy might save all who dare the eagle’s flight.
And keep them by thy watchful care from ev’ry peril in the air.
O Trinity of love and pow’r, our brethren shield in danger’s hour.
From rock and tempest, fire and foe, protect them wheresoe’er they go.
That evermore shall rise to thee, glad praise from air and land and sea.
By Mark Zimmermann. Image: istockphoto.com. © 2012 by Creative Communications for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton,
MO 63026. 1-800-325-9414. www.creativecommunications.com. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. FSP