Readers' Theatre: Ephesians 4: 1-16

Here’s a two-voice reader’s theatre setting of Ephesians 4:1-16. It is based on The Voice translation of scripture.

Reader’s Theatre

(Ephesians 4:1-16)

One:     As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you:

            Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you.

Two:     Be humble. 

One:     Be gentle.

Two:     Be patient.

One:     Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love.

Two:     Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created,

            with peace binding you together.

           

One:     There is one body and one Spirit,

            just as you were all called to pursue one hope.

           

Two:     There is one Lord Jesus,

            one living faith,

            one ceremonial washing through baptism,

            and one God—  the Father over all

            who is above all, through all, and in all.

One:     This God has given to each of us grace in full measure,

            according to the Anointed’s gift as the Scripture says,

Two:     When He ascended to the heights, He put captivity in chains;

            And in His triumph, He gave gifts to the people.

One:     Well, when it says, “He ascended,”

            then that must mean that He had descended earlier to the lower levels,

            that is, to the earth. 

            The One who descended is the same One who rose from the dead

            to ascend far above all the heavens

            so that He could fill all things.

Two:     It was the risen One who handed down to us such gifted leaders—

            some emissaries,

One:     some prophets,

Two:     some evangelists,

One:     as well as some pastor-teachers—

Two:     so that God’s people would be thoroughly equipped to minister

            and build up the body of the Anointed One.

One:     These ministries will continue until we are unified in faith

            and filled with the knowledge of the Son of God,

           

Two:     until we stand mature in His teachings

            and fully formed in the likeness of the Anointed, our Liberating King.

One:     Then we will no longer be like children,

            tossed around here and there upon ocean waves,

            picked up by every gust of religious teaching

            spoken by liars or swindlers or deceivers.

Two:     Instead, by truth spoken in love,

            we are to grow in every way into Him—the Anointed One, the head.

One:     He joins and holds together the whole body

            with its ligaments providing the support needed

            so each part works to its proper design

            to form a healthy, growing, and mature body

            that builds itself up in love.

~ taken from The Voice.™  Copyright © 2006, 2007, 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Adapted by Christine Longhurst, re:Worship.

Readers' Theatre: Romans 13: 8-14

Here is a readers’ theatre setting of Romans 13: 8-14, one of the suggested scripture texts for September 4, 2011 (the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost).

Readers’ Theatre

(based on Romans 13: 8-14)

One:     Brothers and sisters,

            don’t owe anyone anything—

            with one exception:  love.

            Love is a debt which never ends,

            because love fulfills all the requirements of God’s law.

            For the commands given in Scripture say:

Two:    Do not commit adultery,

            do not murder,

            do not take what is not yours,

            do not envy your neighbour.

One:     These commands, and others like them,

            can all be summed up in this one commandment:

Two:    Love your neighbour as yourself.

One:     Love does no wrong to others.

            In fact, love achieves everything the law requires.

Two:    This is all the more urgent,

            because of the times we are living in.

            It is time to wake up and see what is right before your eyes.

            Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

One:     The night is almost over,

            and the day of salvation will soon be here.

Two:    So remove the deeds of your old, dark life like dirty clothes,

            and put on the shining armor of right living.

            We belong to the day,

            so we should live lives of decency and goodness for all to see.

One:     Don’t fall into patterns of dark living:

            wild parties, drunkenness, sexual depravity,

            immoral living, quarreling and jealousy.

Two:    Instead, clothe yourselves with the presence

            of the Lord Jesus Christ,

            putting aside thoughts of how to indulge your sinful desires.

For more worship resources related to this text, or other texts for September 4, 2011 (the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost), click on Proper 18A in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.

For other readers’ theatre settings of scripture, click on Readers’ theatre in the list of “Labels” at the right.

Palm Sunday Call to Worship

Here’s a responsive call to worship litany from Pastor Shannon Keeney at First United Methodist Church in Littleton, NH.

Congregational Call to Worship

for Palm Sunday

Pastor:  Who comes this way?

People: I wonder who is he?

Lay Leader: They say he is the Christ.

Pastor: That means Messiah,

People: That means the Anointed One, the Savior, the…

All: King

Lay Leader: Who comes this way?

People: Is it really him?

              I want him to beat the Romans

              and save us from poverty and hunger.

Pastor:  Is he victorious? Is he powerful? Is he scary?

Lay Leader: Where is he from Greece? Rome? Jerusalem? Littleton?

People: They say he comes from Bethlehem

             and grew up in Nazareth and Galilee.

Pastor:  “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

People: Who comes this way?

Lay Leader: Who is he? Why are we cheering him on?

            Is he good or bad? He must be rich to get such praise.

Pastor: Stop waving that branch in my face!

            Move away! Let me see around this parade.

            Put me on your shoulders.

            I need a higher glimpse of him.

            I just want to see his face

            and then I will know who he is, let me see…

People: Wait!

Lay Leader: Wait!

People: It is only a man.

Lay Leader: And he is just on a donkey, no conquering steed.

Pastor: It is only a man, what is so great about him?

People: Hosanna! Hosanna in the Highest!

Lay Leader: Hosanna means “save us” and “we pray”

Pastor: But who is this man that will save us?

All:  Who comes this way?

~ written by Pastor Shannon Keeney at First United Methodist Church in Littleton, NH.

Readers' Theatre: Generosity

Here’s a readers’ theatre setting on the topic of wealth and generosity. It combines verses from Mark 10:17-22, 12:38-44 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-15.

Readers’ Theatre

(Mark 10:17-22, 12:38-44, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15)

One:     As Jesus started on his way,

            a man ran up to him

            and fell on his knees before him.

Two:     Good teacher,

            what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Three:  Why do you call me good?

            No one is good—except God alone.

            You know the commandments:

            ‘You shall not murder,

            you shall not commit adultery,

            you shall not steal,

            you shall not give false testimony,

            you shall not defraud,

            honor your father and mother.’”

Two:     Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.

One:     Jesus looked at him and loved him.

Three:  One thing you lack.

            Go, sell everything you have

            and give to the poor,

            and you will have treasure in heaven.

            Then come, follow me.

One:     At this the man’s face fell.

            He went away sad,

            because he had great wealth.

            Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple

            and watched as the crowds dropped in their money.

            Many rich people put in large amounts. 

            Then a poor widow came

            and dropped in two small coins.

            Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 

Three:  I tell you the truth,

            this poor widow has given more

            than all the others who are making contributions. 

            For they gave a tiny part of their surplus,

            but she, poor as she is,

            has given everything she had to live on.

Two:     Remember this:

            Whoever sows sparingly

            will also reap sparingly,

            and whoever sows generously

            will also reap generously. 

One:     Each of you should give

            what you have decided in your heart to give, 

            not reluctantly or under compulsion, 

            for God loves a cheerful giver. 

Three:  And God is able to bless you abundantly,

            so that in all things at all times,

            having all that you need, 

            you will abound in every good work. 

Two:     Now he who supplies seed to the sower

            and bread for food 

            will also supply and increase your store of seed

            and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

            You will be enriched in every way

            so that you can be generous on every occasion,

            and through us your generosity will result

            in thanksgiving to God.

Readers' Theatre: Luke 14: 1, 7-14

Here’s a simple readers’ theatre setting of Luke 14: 1, 7-14.  It is set for two voices:  Jesus, and a narrator.

Readers’ Theatre

(Luke 14: 1, 7-14)

One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner

in the home of a leader of the Pharisees,

and the people were watching him closely. 

When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner

were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table,

he gave them this advice:

When you are invited to a wedding feast,

don’t sit in the seat of honor.

What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? 

The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’

Then you will be embarrassed,

and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table.

Then when your host sees you, he will come and say,

‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’

Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. 

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled,

and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Then Jesus turned to his host.

When you put on a luncheon or a banquet

don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors.

For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 

Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 

Then at the resurrection of the righteous,

God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.

Readers' Theatre: Colossians 1: 15 - 28

Here’s a readers’ theatre setting of Colossians 1: 15-28, the suggested epistle reading for Proper 11, Year C.  It is set for two readers.

Readers’ Theatre: Colossians 1: 15-28

Christ is the exact image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created

and is supreme over all creation,

for through him, God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—

thrones and kingdoms,

spiritual powers and authorities.

Every detail was crafted through His design,

by his own hands and for his purposes.

He has always been!

It is his hand that holds all creation together.

Christ is also the head of this body, the church.

He is the beginning,

the first of those to be reborn from the dead.

So he is first in everything!

For God in all his fullness

was pleased to live in Christ,
through him, reconciling everything—the whole creation—to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

This even includes you who were once far away from God.

You were his enemies,

separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 

Yet now he has reconciled you to himself

through the death of Christ in his physical body.

As a result, he has brought you into his own presence,

and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him

without a single fault.

But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it.

Don’t allow yourselves to be shifted away from the hope of the gospel,

which you have heard,

and which, indeed, the whole world is now having an opportunity to hear.

I myself have been made a minister of this same gospel,

and though it is true at this moment

that I am suffering on behalf of you who have heard the gospel,

yet I am far from sorry about it.

Indeed, I am glad,

because it gives me a chance to experience in my own suffering

something of the untold pains which Christ suffers

on behalf of his body, the Church.

For I am a minister of the Church by divine commission,

a commission granted to me for your benefit,

and for a special purpose:

that I might fully declare God’s Word—

that sacred mystery which up till now has been hidden

in every age and every generation,

but which is now as clear as daylight to those who love God.

They are those to whom God has planned to give a special vision

of the full wonder and splendor of his secret plan for the nations.

And the secret is simply this:

Christ in you!

Yes, Christ in you bringing with him the hope

of all the glorious things to come.

So, naturally, we proclaim Christ!

We warn everyone we meet,

and we teach everyone we can,

all that we know about him,

so that, if possible, we may bring everyone

to full maturity in Christ Jesus.

Readers' Theatre: Luke 7:36 - 8:3

Here’s a readers’ theatre setting of Luke 7:36-8:3, the suggested gospel reading for Proper 6 C.  It is set for three voices.

Readers’ Theatre: Luke 7: 36 – 8: 3

One:     One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him,

so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.

 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there,

she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 

Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping.

Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair.

Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself,

Two:     If this man were a prophet,

he would know what kind of woman is touching him.

She’s a sinner!

One:     Then Jesus answered his thoughts. 

Three:   Simon, I have something to say to you.

Two:     Go ahead, Teacher.

Three:   A man loaned money to two people—

500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 

But neither of them could repay him,

so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts.

Who do you suppose loved him more after that?

Two:     I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.

Three:   That’s right.

Now look at this woman kneeling here.

When I entered your home,

you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet,

but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You didn’t greet me with a kiss,

but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 

You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head,

but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven,

so she has shown me much love.

But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.

One:     Then Jesus turned to the woman, and said,

Three:   Your sins are forgiven.

One:     The men at the table said among themselves,

“Who is this man that he goes around forgiving sins?”

But Jesus just looked at the woman and said,

Three:   Your faith has saved you; go in peace.

One:     Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages,

preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God.

He took his twelve disciples with him, 

along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases.

Among them were Mary Magdalene,

from whom he had cast out seven demons; 

Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager;

Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources 

to support Jesus and his disciples.

Stardust and Promise: Genesis 15

Here’s a dramatic reflection on Genesis 15:1-18 from Roddy Hamilton.  It was posted on Mucky Paws.

Stardust and Promise

(inspired by Genesis 15: 1018)

Once there was a traveller who had seen many things in his days for he was an old traveller and was settling down to retire. He had seen all he wanted to see but he was a disappointed man. Even though he had seen many lands, even though he had seen his wealth grow, he had no children and this disappointed him.

But just when he was about to slip into being a sad old man he was turned towards the night sky and God said, ‘I dare you, if you can, count the stars.’

And Abraham went silent. “I am an old man. I can hardly see the stars to count them and I am old enough as it is! How old do you think I’d be by the time I counted even a small portion of the stars?”

And God said “My childless friend, those stars have names, each a name of one of your children for you will have more children in generations to come than there are stars in the sky.”

Abraham, who had been holding his breath, breathed again, a great sign of faith. He realised he was not going to be settling down after all and from that day on, whenever night came, you could hear him counting quietly to himself.

And here we are, made of stardust and promise. Abram’s children and still counting.

~ written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on Mucky Paws. http://www.nkchurch.org.uk/index.php/mucky-paws

Responsive Call to Worship: Who do you say I am?

Here’s a responsive call to worship inspired by Matthew 16:15; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20.  It has been adapted slightly from a version by Richard Bott, posted on Sharing Liturgy.

Responsive Call to Worship

(inspired by Matthew 16:15; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20)

One:     They went to Jesus,
            and he asked them,

Two:     Who do you say I am?

One:     They answered,

Three:  You are the eschatological manifestation
            of the ground of our being,
            the kerygma of which we find meaning
            in our interpersonal relationships.

One:     And Jesus said,

Two:     What?!

One:     Faith doesn’t have to be that hard.
            Life doesn’t have to be that difficult.

Three:  Sometimes, we just have to live God’s love.
            Sometimes, we just have to live what we believe.

Two:     And so we are here,
            simply,
            to sing,
            to celebrate,
            to worship God!

~ written by Richard Bott (revised slightly), and posted on Sharing Liturgy.  http://liturgy.richardbott.com/

Readers' Theatre: Romans 6: 1-11

Here’s a simple, two-voice setting of Romans 6: 1-11, the suggested Epistle reading for Proper 7 A.

 

Readers’ Theatre:

Romans 6:1-11

What shall we say, then? 

Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 

By no means!

We are those who have died to sin; 

how can we live in it any longer? 

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus

were baptized into his death? 

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that,

just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,

we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his,

we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 

For we know that our old self was crucified with him 

so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, 

that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, 

he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 

The death he died, he died to sin once for all; 

but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin 

but alive to God in Christ Jesus.