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God's Creation Worship Service
and Sermon Resources

Contents:

1. Gratis Video: How Great is Our God
2. Worship Service Outline with Prayers and Hymn Suggestions
3. Powerpoint Sermon Outline and Excerpt
4. Sermon:
A Celebration of Creation by Richard Gehring
5.
Visit our Nextgen Environment Resource Page


Download this Video Gratis
(for private use or use in your service)

 

Call to Worship (based on Psalm 19)

L: The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

P: The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple;

L: the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

P: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

L: Come, let us worship the LORD!


Opening Hymn:  "All Creatures of Our God and King"
  

Prayer of confession  (in unison)

For the marvelous grace of your Creation, we pour out our thanks to You, our God. We praise you, O Lord
for plants growing in earth and water, for life inhabiting lakes and seas, for life creeping in soils and land, for creatures living in wetlands and waters, for life flying above earth and sea, for beasts dwelling in woods and fields.

But we confess, dear Lord,

As creatures priviliged with care and keeping of Your Creation that we have abused Your Creation gifts through arrogance, ignorance, and greed. We confess, Lord, that we often are unaware of how deeply we have hurt Your good earth and its marvelous gifts.We confess that we are often unaware of how our abuse of creation has also been an abuse of ourselves. For our wrongs, Lord, we ask forgiven ess. We offer our repentance. We promise to reverence Your Creation as a gracious gift entrusted to us by You, our God. We promise anew to be stewards and not pillagers of what You have entrusted to us.
 

Scripture Reading: Genesis 2:4-24


Closing Hymn: "How Great Thou Art"

Closing Prayer

Creator God, our Heavenly Father,

How many and wonderful are your works, our God! In wisdom you have made them all!. May we show our appreciation for your gift of life to all of us, may we seek you daily, and may we live in harmony with creation in such a way that we bless others.  Through Jesus Christ , our Lord, we pray.  Amen.

 

3. PowerPoint Sermon:

download this presentation for free


Excerpt from the PPT Sermon:

Genesis chapter 1 is an account probably from the Priestly tradition which flourished from the time the temple was erected  under King Solomon.  Genesis 1 reads very different from the creation story in Genesis 2; there is a certain rhythm, a meter, and certain repetitions such as “And God saw that it was good” as well as “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first …second… third day,” etc

It has been suggested that the reading of Genesis 1 was part of the temple worship services at one time. And one can easily see why that is entirely possible. It has the feel of a call to worship or a psalm.

The creation passage from Genesis 1 is a true celebration of God’s Creation—a Tribute to our Creator God.  There are so many “wows” in this passage, and yet, to some Christians the passage poses some difficulties.

So let’s address the “difficulties” some believers have with this passage and move on to celebrate, because that’s what this passage calls us to do—to celebrate our God, our faith, and God’s creation.

One of the most common difficulties people have with Genesis 1 is that the world view expressed is not consistent with our modern understanding.

What does Genesis 1 actually say?  When God went to shape creation, according to Genesis 1:2, there was something there already, namely the “deep” and water—a primordial ocean if you will.  Critics will point out that that’s very different from modern scientific understanding of a universe that started with a big bang.

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4. Sermon:

A Celebration of Creation   (excerpt)
a sermon based on Genesis 1:1-2:4a
by Richard Gehring

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.

            It's winter now at the South Pole—which means that it is also night time there.  The sun set in March, thus beginning the six-month-long polar night.  Most of the three hundred scientists and support personnel who staff the Amundson-Scott South Pole Station during the brief Antarctic summer packed up and left already in February.   But sixty hardy souls are still living and working in the total darkness that has now descended over the pole. 

            The near total lack of light, and the bone-chilling temperatures that come with it, make it impossible for planes to fly to and from the South Pole at this time of year.  No one and no supplies can be transported for several months.  Yet the “polies,” as they are known, continue to go about their daily lives in this dark, frigid world.  Some of them even make the two-mile round trip through the ice and snow every day on foot in order to keep the South Pole Telescope up and running. 

            With no light, it's impossible to see where you're going.  With no light, nothing is able to grow.  With no  light, temperatures during the Antarctic winter often dip into the triple-digit-below-zero realm, with wind chills even lower.

  It's no surprise, then, that most “polies” look forward to the sunrise with great anticipation.  As the dim orb slowly creeps back over the horizon in September, they are ably to begin moving around beyond the small compound where they have been sequestered for months.  They wait expectantly for the first flight in October when their isolation will come to an end as new supplies and personnel arrive, and many of those who wintered over can return home.  They deeply appreciate the goodness of light and the possibility for life that it brings.  Those who have endured the months-long night really  understand just how meaningful those words are:  “Let there be light.”

And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

 And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters [continue]