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Ordinary Time

Sunday’s Coming: working toward January 15

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Here we are, beginning Ordinary Time all over again, but the stories are anything but ordinary. Or maybe they’re so ordinary they’re extraordinary. After all, it’s not uncommon to not understand what’s happening when we hear the voice of God…or what’s happening when someone else hears God’s voice but we don’t. And the affirmation of the psalmist that God surrounds us all the time is one that brings great comfort to many people (though I’ve met one or two who find it a little creepy!). And how often do we really recognize Jesus in the everyday things, like walking through town, enjoying a picnic under a tree, or talking with friends? Luckily, some of us have friends who will be persistent with their “come and see!” Or maybe this week you’re going with Paul’s very full text, reminding us that all things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial, and our bodies are temples of the Holy, so maybe we should treat them as such.

Personally, I wish I’d not procrastinated on an idea I had months ago, for a skit in which people hear many things but haven’t cultivated the relationship to know what to listen to. It seems it would make a perfect introduction to a sermon on Samuel–if you’ve never talked with God before, how would you know God’s voice? It’s fodder for a drama…but I didn’t get around to it in time. Maybe in three years!

SO: what are you thinking? What are you writing? What are you humming? Let’s write some liturgy together!

dedication: for a stewardship sunday

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Submitted by the Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL. A prayer of dedication, used for Stewardship Sunday / parable of the talents.

One: Creator of all, the earth is yours,
the world and all who live in it.
All: You have entrusted us with gifts—
time, talent, energy, money—
and asked us to use them to build your kingdom.
With thanks and praise we respond to your call.
One: We bring these gifts you have given,
returning your generosity, paying it forward.
All: We offer ourselves, our lives, our hopes and fears,
our dollars and our hours.
We commit ourselves to work for your world,
to love and serve wherever you call.
One: We ask your blessing on this, your church,
as we seek to follow you with heart, mind, and soul.
All: Bless also these gifts, our investment in your future,
that they may multiply in faith, hope, and love.
Amen.

confession: a closet of unused tools

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Submitted by the Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.

A confession about our talents…parable and otherwise.

One: Generous God, giver of every good gift,
you have offered us abundance
and yet we do not know how to use it.
All: Sometimes we keep it to calm our fear,
saving up for our own security,
insurance against days of scarcity.
One: Sometimes we hoard,
wanting to have the most and the best.
All: Sometimes we insist we don’t have anything to offer,
closing our eyes to the talents you bestow.
One: But mostly we are inertia-bound.
All: We know what to do, but we don’t do it.
You give us the tools to do your work,
but we just look at them in wonder,
then put them away in the closet.
One: Forgive us, O God.
All: Open our eyes, our hands, our hearts,
to know your abundance is enough for all,
to know your gifts are for using, not looking at,
to know we are blessed in order to be a blessing to others,
and to act on that knowledge.
We pray in the name of Christ,
who gave of everything he had.
Amen.

Sunday’s Coming: working toward November 13

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These waning days of Ordinary Time can be so challenging–some of us are still wrapping up Stewardship campaigns (check out the Stewardship brainstorming conversation for ideas about dedication, consecration, actions of commitment, and maybe to collaborate on writing a litany if you still need one!). We also have a call to worship for a commitment Sunday–check it out if that’s you this week!

Some of us are working through the interminable Matthew parables, this week working on everyone’s favorite: the talents. There’s nothing quite like a stewardship commitment sermon on the text “to those who have, more will be given, and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” Oh, the prayers of confession we could write with that!

Maybe you’re detouring to Deborah this week, in keeping with the women who were prepared last week. She was certainly prepared–but for what? What do these women of prepared faith tell us in this time?

Maybe you’re still in Thessalonians, contemplating the end (or at least the end of the liturgical year!). What does a life lived “in the day” look like during these days of waning daylight in the northern hemisphere? How can we encourage one another as we enter this season of giving thanks (in the US)?

Do you have a direction? A liturgical need? A call to worship or a prayer of confession you want to share? A prayer of dedication for our talents, buried or invested? The perfect hymn idea?

Join the conversation as we create together.

Sunday’s Coming: working toward November 6

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Maybe you’re saving All Saints for this Sunday, because yesterday was Reformation Sunday.

Maybe you’re having stewardship commitment/dedication Sunday.

Maybe you’re in the middle of the stewardship campaign.

Maybe it’s a communion Sunday.

Maybe it’s just another Sunday in the endless Year A journey through Matthew.

Whatever you’re doing this Sunday, we want to create together for worship! Join in the comments below as we write together, bounce ideas around, contemplate themes or hymns or creative expression. How are the people of God encountering the living Word this Sunday?

If you follow the lectionary, you might be pondering telling our history and figuring out how to make a choice to serve the Lord. What does it mean to serve the Lord with your congregation’s particular story? How might that relate to All Saints or Communion or Stewardship? Or you might be wondering what’s up with those lazy bridesmaids who didn’t make sure they had enough oil. Aside from singing Keep Your Lamps, what are some ways we can use the liturgy to help our congregations be prepared to encounter God? If you’re pondering the connection between yet another missed rapture date and All Saints, perhaps Thessalonians is your guide. What liturgical language do you need to illuminate this strange and oft-misunderstood idea?

As we contemplate the plot twists, the lives of our communities, and the movement of the Spirit–what language are you leaning toward for this week? What ideas do you hope to convey? What musical ideas do you have?

Let’s create together!