05/16/2026
Sunday, May 17, 2026 +++SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER+++
Home Worship or St. John’s [At Larry & Sharon Heyen’s Farm]
SERVICE OF ROGATION: A Seedtime Service of Prayer and Praise
"ROGATION" is connected to the Latin word for "asking," and refers to a traditional time of praying for agriculture. Traditionally celebrated on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the Sixth Sunday in Easter, Rogation Services have been a time to pray for planting and for those working with the land. In rural areas, many people bless the elements used in farming, the fields, the seeds and the animals. It is also a time to show gratitude for soil, water and growth, and to challenge ourselves to think more carefully about the food we eat as well as our care of water, earth and seed.
AFTER LORD’S PRAYER & HYMN: FOR “BLESSING OF THE SOIL, SEED, WATER, FARMERS, & FARM EQUIPMENT,” PLEASE HAVE ON HAND FOR BLESSING: SOIL SAMPLE, SMALL PORTION OF SEEDS FOR FIELD OR GARDEN, A SMALL VESSEL OF WATER, FARM AND/OR GARDEN WORKERS, AND FARM AND/OR GARDEN EQUIPMENT
Zion Lutheran Church, Shipman, IL
St. John’s Lutheran Church, Dorchester, IL
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Leader: Blessed be the Holy Trinity, ☩ One God, who calls us to responsible stewardship for all of Creation. AMEN.
Leader: Held in God’s mercy and surrounded by the earth that we are called to care for, let us confess our need for God’s forgiveness and renewal. (Silence for reflection)
All: Creator God, you created the earth and then created us to care for it. We confess our reluctance to acknowledge our dependence upon you for life itself, our ingratitude toward you for the earth that sustains life, our failure to treat your creation with respect, our indifference to its welfare, our unwillingness to engage in earth-keeping, our laziness when it comes to recycling, our lack of gratitude for those who till the soil and tend the land and its crops, our short-sightedness in choosing cheap products over more expensive products whose price reflects better care of the earth and its vegetation, and our lack of concern for the struggles of farmers and their families.
Truly we have not always loved the gift of this earth nor our neighbors whose labor brings forth the harvest. For the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, forgive us and renew us so that we may live in harmony with the earth, with those who farm the land, and with those who rely on the produce of the land. Amen.
Leader: Jesus Christ was lifted up from the earth on a cross. After his death he was laid in a tomb cut from the earth. On the third day he rose from his earthly grave to bring forgiveness to all who walk the earth. In the name of the Risen Christ, your sins are forgiven. As God once gave Adam and Eve the breath of life, so now the Holy Spirit breathes new life into you. You are free to walk the earth and care for the earth as a new creation. All: AMEN
LITANY OF PRAISE FOR CREATION
Leader: Creator God, by your word, you created light and darkness.
ALL: AND IT WAS GOOD.
Leader: By your word, you created the heavens.
ALL: AND IT WAS GOOD.
Leader: By your word, you created the dry land of the earth, and the waters of the sea.
ALL: AND IT WAS GOOD.
Leader: By your word, you called forth growing things, including plants that produce grain and fruit.
ALL: AND IT WAS GOOD.
Leader: By your word, you created the sun and the moon to order the days and nights.
ALL: AND IT WAS GOOD.
Leader: By your word, you created the living creatures in the waters and the living creatures of the air.
ALL: AND IT WAS GOOD.
Leader: By your word, you created the living creatures of the land, including domestic and wild animals.
ALL: AND IT WAS GOOD.
Leader: By your word, you created humankind - both female and male - to care for the earth and all that is over it, on it and in it.
ALL: AND IT WAS GOOD. AMEN!
HYMN: *ELW* #879 “For the Beauty of the Earth”
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUBMAi4jA1E
GREETING
Leader: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the God who created us, and the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
All: AND ALSO WITH YOU.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Creator God, you have made the earth and all that call it home. We give you thanks for the beauty, mystery and majesty of your creation. We give you thanks for making us stewards of this earth. As we enter a new growing season, give us humility and gratitude toward you. May we work the land with reverence and respect toward you. May we care for the soil you provide, the seed you give, and the water you send with due regard for their life-giving value. This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, AMEN.
FIRST READING: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (Everything Has Its Time)
Introduction: These verses give the impression that there is a rhythmic order to the things that happen in the world. And yet, God can work in unexpected ways, ultimately grace-filled ways that bring New Life out of death. For our Rogation Sunday, we see the time of planting as one of God’s seasons of creation.
PSALM: Psalm 8
Refrain: O Lord our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth (vs. 1 & 9)
SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (God Is the One Who Gives Growth)
Introduction: In the Christian Corinthian community, Paul uses planting imagery to emphasize the partnership of the missionaries who nurtured their growing faith. Paul planted the seeds of faith, another watered, but ultimately it was God’s Spirit who gave the growth.
�GOSPEL: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (The Parable of the Sower)
Introduction: Jesus’ parables use images from everyday life and tell us something about the coming of God’s good and gracious Kingdom. But usually the parables of Jesus have an unexpected twist or surprise about what that Kingdom is really like. The Parable of the Sower invites us to be good soil, open to receive the seed of God’s gracious Way of Love that grows in us and bears fruit.
BRIEF SERMON REFLECTION�
Farming has certainly changed from the parables of Jesus’s day to our day in the twenty-first century. This is the era of huge hi-tech tractors, with incredible technology, GPS tracking, hands-free operation, and so much more.
Jesus told a much different story in today’s Gospel Reading. The Farmer/Sower was not so high tech. In fact, the Sower didn’t seem to be greatly concerned that the seed being sown was going everywhere!
The Sower threw some of the seed on the hard path, where the seed couldn’t pe*****te the hardened surface. The Sower threw some seed on rocky ground, where the seed couldn’t live long in the scorching sun. More seed was sown/thrown on thorny ground, where thorns choked the growth. And (finally!) some—we hope “most”—of the seed actually landed on the fertile plowed soil, where the seeds grew into a surprisingly abundant grain, some with fifteen times the expected yield.
The big question seems to be, “What kind of SOIL are we?” Can we be the “good soil” that is open to the seed of faith that Jesus the Sower (& God’s Spirit) is planting in us?
Jesus’ first listeners to this parable, his disciples, were caught sometimes in misunderstanding (hard path), persecution (rocky ground), and caring too much about the world’s ways (thorny ground); but after Pentecost, the miracle of the abundant fruit of faith happened as God’s Way of Love shown in Jesus was at work in the world.
In this time of uncertainty when our faith is still challenged every day in so many ways, we sometimes under-value the grace we have already received (hard path), or we feel the pressure to abandon Jesus’ Way of Love as we act out our frustrations (rocky ground), or we feel overly-anxious about many things out of our control and we lose our way (thorny ground).
Jesus’ invitation is to let God’s Spirit transform the soil of our hearts, so that we are receptive to the abundant Easter Life that God is planting in us.
HYMN: *ELW* #689 “Praise and Thanksgiving”
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Oo-K6gIBA
THE PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
(Our prayers include the realization that, as we are able, *we* are called to be—and to support—God’s agents of care in the very things that we pray for)
We pray for farmers around the world who till the land and plant the seed; and those who depend upon the work of farmers’ hands. (A brief silence)
We pray for farmers around the world who struggle with poor soil, poor seed, insufficient water, or unreliable equipment. Raise up those who possess the knowledge, the skills and the resources to assist them. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We pray for farmers around the world who struggle to get their produce to market due to poor roads or insufficient transportation systems. Give understanding, wisdom and creativity to those who have responsibility for farm-to-market infrastructure. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We pray for farmers around the world whose hard work is undone by market prices that are out of their control. Give understanding, wisdom and compassion to those whose decisions affect the prices farmers receive for their produce. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We pray for farmers around the world who fight plant diseases and crop pests that consume the work of their hands. Give understanding, wisdom and creativity to those who work to eliminate or combat such agricultural plagues. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We pray for farmers around the world who have never learned how to conserve land and water. Give patience, perseverance and creativity to all those who work to educate farmers about soil and water conservation. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We pray for organizations and agencies such as Heifer International that work with farmers around the world to provide resources, training and hope. Provide them with contributors who share their vision and their passion. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We pray for all those who are unable to benefit from the produce brought to market – men, women and children who see food they cannot afford to purchase and go to bed hungry day after day. Show us ways to feed the hungry and move us to share from the abundance we have received. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We pray for governments around the world that they would make wise decisions regarding policies affecting agriculture and food distribution. We also pray for organizations such as Bread for the World that encourage the development of laws and policies with due regard for farmers and for the poor. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
We pray for your Spirit to help us to care for the land, to care for those who work the land and to care for those who depend upon the produce of the land. God of all creation, HEAR OUR PRAYER.
In your mercy, Creator God, hear our prayers, for we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
HOLY COMMUNION WILL BE OFFERED AT OUTDOOR WORSHIP AT THE HEYEN FARM
HYMN: *ELW* #679 “For the Fruit of All Creation”
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqXt-t9LNFY
BLESSING SOIL, SEED, WATER, FARM EQUIPMENT, AND THOSE WHO WORK THE LAND
Leader: O Lord our God, it is with a spirit of humility and hope that we bring these elements of soil, seed and water before you to ask for your blessing. (A brief silence)
Leader: We pray for God’s blessing upon the soil (Hold soil aloft)
All: Creator God, we give you thanks for the soil – both its inorganic mineral elements and its living organic elements. We praise you for the mysterious way in which soil comes to life each spring, teeming with a multitude of microscopic organisms that support plant life. We praise you for the smell of freshly tilled earth, the beauty of a cleanly cut furrow, and the magnificence of a well- plowed field. We pray that the soil in our fields may be fertile - rich in nutrients - so that seeds may germinate and plants may grow to their fullness. Amen.
Leader: We pray for God’s blessing upon the seed (Hold seed aloft)
All: Creator God, we give you thanks for the seed that carries within it the life force of the plant which it will become. We praise you for the wonder of seed that sprouts within the warmth of the soil, sustained by the energy it contains within itself. We praise you for the hope that seed sown into the earth represents. We pray that the seed planted in our fields, nourished and protected by the soil, will grow into healthy plants that yield a bountiful harvest. Amen.
Leader: We pray for God’s blessing upon the water (Hold water aloft)
All: Creator God, we give you thanks for the rain that falls upon the land and the water held within the earth. We praise you for the mystery of how the soil holds moisture and how the plants absorb it at the proper rate to supply their need for hydration. We praise you for the smell of the earth after a rain shower and the cooling it brings when the weather is hot. We pray for the rain to come at the right times, in the right amounts and in the right way so that our crops may flourish. We also pray for a stable water table that wells may be able to meet the demands of the farms they serve. Amen.
Leader: We pray for God’s blessing upon the men and women who farm the land (Invite farmers to identify their location and their crops.)
All: Creator God, we give you thanks for the farmers whom you have called to be stewards of the land. We praise you for the love of the land that you have embedded into their hearts and their hands. We praise you for the knowledge, wisdom and skill you have given them to manage the land they farm. We pray that you will bless them with safety as they till the soil, plant the seed, tend the crops, and care for the land they love. We pray that you will bless them with great hope at seedtime, sustaining faith during the growing season, and exuberant joy at the harvest. We pray that you will bless them with patience as they teach the next generation to love the land as they do, and pass on to young farmers all they have learned about the art and science of farming. Amen.
Leader: We pray for God’s blessing upon the equipment used by farmers (Invite farmers to identify the equipment they use – equipment they have brought to church or equipment back on the farm.)
All: Creator God, we give you thanks for those who design, build and maintain the equipment used by our farmers. We praise you for the marvelous way in which farm implements have become more efficient over time. We pray that the farm equipment we see here today, and the many pieces of equipment on farms throughout our area, will be reliable, have a minimum of down- time, and function safely from seedtime through harvest. Amen.
Leader: Into your hands, Creator God, we place the soil, the seed, the water, our farmers and all their equipment. May your hand of blessing be upon them as the ground is prepared, the seed is planted and the crops are tended.
All: Amen
BENEDICTION
Leader: Whether you work in the fields or support those who do – May the God of all creation bless your stewardship of the earth. May God keep you in the same way that soil holds, protects and nourishes the seed. May the face of God shine upon you just as the sun shines warmly upon the land and its crops. May God look upon you with favor and (+) give you peace.
All: Amen.
DISMISSAL
Leader: Go in peace. Till the earth and sow the seed with hope and joy!
All: Thanks be to God!
[Portions of this service are based on a Rogation Service prepared in 2010 by Pr. Gary C. Voss drawing upon materials from (1) the Center for Theology and Land at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, and (2) the ELCA NW Synod of Wisconsin Rural Ministry Committee.]
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