a community creating for the relentless return of Sunday
Composer of life,
may the words of Scripture serenade us
like lyrics begging for a response…
may the catchy melody of creation
ring through these words, inviting us into the dance of new life…
and may the beat of your heart
keeps us in perfect rhythm with your vision for the world.
Amen.
Submitted by Scott Cervas, pastor at Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church (Lexington, KY)
We are not alone, sliding through a mystery with no guidance.
We have an Advocate who guides us with power and truth.
We do not pray alone, worried about “getting it right” or being heard.
We have an Advocate who prays with us, in deep, wordless sighs.
We do not work alone for the healing of the world.
We have an Advocate who directs our paths and reveals Christ to us.
We are born of water and fire, adopted into the family of God.
We have an Advocate who strengthens our relationship with the Holy.
We are a people of bountiful gifts and many connections.
We have an Advocate who blesses and encourages us.
We are yet coming to know more fully the height and depth and breadth of the love of God.
We have an Advocate who does not rest in revealing that truth to all creation.
Submitted by Rev. Julia Seymour, Lutheran Church of Hope, Anchorage AK
Moses, Nehemiah, Jesus,
and many other leaders in the stories of scripture
brought hope with their courage to speak against injustice
by calling out those responsible, and saying:
“What you are doing isn’t good!”
Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela,
and may other leaders in the history of the world
brought hope with their courage to speak against injustice
by calling out those responsible, and saying:
“What you are doing isn’t good!”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said,
“The church is only the church when it exists for others.”
He wrote those words while he was in a Nazi prison,
because he had to courage to speak against injustice
by calling out those responsible, and saying:
“What you are doing isn’t good!”
We don’t have to write books from prison,
but we ARE the church…
and we ARE a community whose purpose
is to exist for others…
So we MUST have the courage to speak against injustice
by calling out those responsible, and saying,
“What you are doing isn’t good!”
We don’t have to be nailed to a cross,
but we ARE the church…
and we ARE a community whose purpose
is to exist for others…
So we WILL have the courage to speak against injustice
by calling out those responsible, and saying,
“What you are doing isn’t good!”
…and may our words be followed by our actions,
so that God’s light might shine bright in the world.
Amen.
Submitted by Scott Cervas, pastor at Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church (Lexington, KY)
The earth…
and everything on it, around it, in it, and beyond it…
belongs to God!
According to the creation hymn of Genesis, chapter 1,
we have the distinct pleasure of being responsible for the earth’s care.
So let’s celebrate creation…
let’s celebrate bees and trees and manatees…
let’s celebrate mangos, chipmunks, mountain peaks, and each other…
and let’s worship God together!
Submitted by Scott Cervas, pastor at Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church (Lexington, KY)
Prayer of Confession
We come to you conflicted, Lord. We want to be people who love well, turn the other cheek and generously share what you have given us. But we find ourselves needing to be right, striving to win the argument and keeping a tight grip on both our stuff and your good news. We are afraid to be vulnerable and frightened by too much honesty in others. Gathered like this, we must look like quite a mess… a mess that only your grace can put right. We come in need of your faithfulness, your cleansing, your healing, your forgiveness.
(silent personal reflection)
Open our eyes to your presence. Loosen our grip so that you might be in control. Love us most clearly through the ones with whom we have fought, so that the body might regain health and wholeness. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Friends, hear this good news: the One who started a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. The saving work of Christ is done, for you and for me. The reconciling work of Christ is happening in you, in me, among us. In Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Amen.
Submitted by Laura Viau.
recent comments