Sunday June 21, 2020

PREPARING OUR HEARTS & MINDS FOR WORSHIP:

Watch this song video, “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” performed by Lauryn Hill & Tanya Blount. 

What does this hymn teach you about God?

What connections do you see between the song and today’s scripture readings?

CANDLE-LIGHTING

We light a candle each week as a reminder of God’s presence with us through the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. We also remember the words of our congregation’s mission statement—“being formed, being sent, by Christ”—and that Jesus is still doing this work in us, even as we are physically apart and worshiping in our homes. AMEN.

CALL TO WORSHIP* 

God cares for us completely and calls for our total commitment. 

Christ gave his life that we might live and calls us to give our lives to him.

Through Christ we have died to sin; 

in Christ we are fully alive to God. 

Come, let us worship God.

 PRAYER TIME*

Prayer of the Day: God of the covenant, your compassion reaches beyond the mere making and keeping of promises. Teach us to listen to one another with your heart, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

Pause for individual prayers: Take a moment to silently lift your prayers and praises to God. Whatever you have on your heart today, share it with God in this time of silence. 

Prayers of Intercession:

God of our ancestors, you are the God of our future.

You showed mercy to Hagar and Ishmael in the desert,

just as you answered Sarah’s laughter with Isaac’s birth.

We pray that you heal the deathly divisions between all peoples of the earth today.

We pray that the church of Jesus Christ will also be filled with the Holy Spirit,

so committed to the head of the church that we will have Christ’s mind among us.

May the sword of the Word pierce our hearts

and give us compassion for a suffering world.

We pray for world leaders, that they would seek to make peace.

We pray for medical professionals committed to healing. 

May they be guided and guarded by the Spirit who lifts up the brokenhearted and even raises the dead. 

We pray for your promised kingdom to come,

when all wars will cease, and there will be no disease;

when courageous faith, hope, and love cast out hatred and poverty.

All this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our savior, redeemer, and friend, who taught us to pray, saying…

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come, your will be done, 

on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us today our daily bread. 

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. 

Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. 

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours 

now and forever. AMEN.

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Genesis 21:9-21, Matthew 10:29-31

MEDITATION

OFFERINGS

God's gifts to us are abundant, and in gratitude we offer our hearts and our gifts to God. Offerings may be contributed online here, or can be mailed to the home of our church Treasurer (address in church directory). 

We also invite you to consider contributing to our Mosaic Mennonite Conference Shalom Fund. This fund helps our congregations and ministries respond to members and neighbors in ways that provide support for basic and essential needs. We greatly appreciate your generous support of this ministry. 

SENDING BLESSING*

The God of all mercy,

who answers the cries of the helpless

and raises you from death,

keep you safe in Christ Jesus,

now and forever. AMEN.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• What does the story of Sarah and Hagar (Gen 21:9-21) say about God?
• What does the story suggest about how we might treat one another more justly? 
• How might the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow” resonate with the story of Hagar and Ishmael?
• Who do you need to see and hear today? What steps will you take to listen more deeply to people who are different from you?

 *Adapted from Kimberly Bracken Long. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 2: Trinity Sunday through Reign of Christ (p. 37-40).

Sunday June 14 2020

PREPARING OUR HEARTS & MINDS FOR WORSHIP:

Read this piece about “angelic troublemaker” Bayard Rustin, from the book Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints by Daneen Akers.  

In what ways did you notice Rustin showing or embodying compassion?

CANDLE-LIGHTING:

We light a candle each week as a reminder of God’s presence with us through the Holy Spirit, and that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. We also remember the words of our congregation’s mission statement—“being formed, being sent, by Christ”—and that Jesus is still doing this work in us, even as we are physically apart and worshiping in our homes. AMEN.

CALL TO WORSHIP:

Holy Presence, let us be with you today. Awaken our senses to the wonders of your creation, and fill us with compassion for every person we meet. Protect us from those who would hurt us; make us watchful so that we do not harm anyone. Fill our inward being with the love of Christ, and inasmuch as it is possible, let others know your presence through us. In this way let us glorify you, Holy One, Holy Three. Amen.*

HYMN: "Heaven's Here" 

PRAYER TIME:**

Prayer of the Day:

God of all power and peace, as Jesus sent his disciples out to heal the sick, cast out demons, gather the lost, raise the dead, and proclaim the nearness of your realm, make us ready to go and share the good news we have received; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN. 

Prayers of Intercession: 

From you alone, Lord Jesus Christ, comes the authority to heal the sick, cast out demons, welcome the outcast, and even raise the dead. Therefore we are bold to seek your power and ready to claim your grace. 

Heal the sick…. [silence] 

Touch with compassion all those who suffer; 

speak the word that will make them whole. 

Cast out demons…. [silence] 

Banish the powers that oppress your people; 

bring peace to troubled hearts and minds. 

Welcome the outcast…. [silence] 

Open the doors of your church to all; 

gather the lost and bring them home. 

Raise the dead…. [silence] 

As you broke free from the grave, 

destroy the power of death forever. 

Nothing is impossible for you, Christ Jesus. 

Let these signs of your coming realm be manifest in our world today; 

for you are our Lord and Savior. 

And now we pray together, as Jesus taught us, saying the words of the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come, your will be done, 

on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us today our daily bread. 

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. 

Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. 

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours 

now and forever. AMEN.

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Matthew 9:35-10:1

MEDITATION

OFFERINGS:

God's gifts to us are abundant, and in gratitude we offer our hearts and our gifts to God. Offerings may be contributed online here, or can be mailed to the home of our church Treasurer (address in church directory). 

We also invite you to consider contributing to our Mosaic Mennonite Conference Shalom Fund. This fund helps our congregations and ministries respond to members and neighbors in ways that provide support for basic and essential needs. We greatly appreciate your generous support of this ministry. 

SENDING BLESSING:

Live without fear of the wrath of God. 

Live in the peace of Christ. 

Live in the hope of the Spirit. 

The three persons of the Trinity surround you. 

The hand of God keep you from all harm; 

the Spirit of God guide you in all joy; 

the Son of God deliver you to eternal life.***

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

• Pema Chödrön has written, “Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.” How might we go about doing this? (from The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times)
• When you think of God’s good news (“gospel”) do you think of compassion being part of that news? Why or why not?
• What is one way you can show compassion this week? What is a step you are willing to take?

* Adapted from Kimberly Bracken Long. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 2: Trinity Sunday through Reign of Christ (p. 32).

** Kimberly Bracken Long. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 2: Trinity Sunday through Reign of Christ (p. 34).

*** Kimberly Bracken Long. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 2: Trinity Sunday through Reign of Christ (p. 32).

Sunday June 7, 2020

PREPARING OUR HEARTS & MINDS FOR WORSHIP:

Take a few minutes to watch this song of lament by Mark Miller.

CANDLE-LIGHTING:

We light this candle as a reminder of God’s presence with us. The candle reminds us that Jesus is the Light of the world, and that Jesus is Lord. And the light also reminds us that we are gathered here as the Church: the church is not “closed” because the church is not a building. We are Christ’s Body, and we have never stopped worshipping, serving, and loving our neighbors. And we welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit as we worship—She is sometimes called the Comforter (and visualized as a dove), but She’s also known as the “Wild Goose” for Her way of disturbing our plans and moving us in new directions. Guide us, Spirit of God. AMEN.

CALL TO WORSHIP:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

HYMN: "How Much Longer" 

PRAYER & LAMENT:

This Sunday we are having a special time of prayer, to lament the violence, pain, and injustice that people of color suffer in our nation. We ask that you pray for compassionate and wise leadership for our country during this time. And we pray that our own compassion and empathy would be awakened, so that we would be willing to truly listen to the voices of our marginalized neighbors and act for justice, healing, and peace. In our words and in our actions we will bear witness to the truth that Black Lives Matter.

*A Lament written by Javier Márquez: This morning we prayed without hiding the pain in our hearts for the death of George Floyd. It hurts every minute that passes without justice, which is an indispensable element of peace. It hurts every minute when we witness that acts of hatred continue killing, polarizing, separating us as brothers and sisters. It hurts every minute we spend in the shadow of impunity. It hurts every minute when we wonder who George Floyd was, who he has left alone, who will never be able to feel his love, his hugs, his words, his looks, his smiles. It hurts every minute also because the Holy Spirit makes us aware that George Floyd’s violent, discouraging and unjust death is in many ways our own death, that the pain of his family and friends is our own pain, that the anger of his community is our own anger, that the hopelessness that we are living in this moment can become ours.

We pray to a Jesus who wept with the sad and suffered with the oppressed. That is why our prayer is also a complaint that claims for true peace, that asks for forgiveness, waiting for days of real and comprehensive reconciliation.

Lament, written by Clara Weybright: God, we lament the damage that our silence in the face of racial violence has done,
for the sins of racism that run through our lives like so many threads in a cloth.
Forgive us for the times we have given in to our discomfort, for the times
we have forgotten our own privilege and failed to stand with our black siblings.
Help those of us who experience white privilege every day remember that, with our privilege,
we are imbued with the responsibility to challenge and hold one another accountable.
Give us the courage to educate ourselves, to listen well,
and to use our voices when it is most needed.

Lament, written by Danilo Sanchez

God of the Oppressed,

Yet again you have been killed by the very people that claim to love you

Yet again your innocent blood has been poured out

How long must your body endure this suffering?

God of Justice,

Yet again we ask you, when will you make all things right? When will you hold accountable the evil doers?

We are tired of waiting! Your people are still dying!

Make your ears deaf to the prayers of those who would say these evil acts are justified

For you are a God who loves justice and will punish the evil doer.

Reconciling God,

We lament we are not your reconciled people

We lament that the love of power has found a place in your church

Forgive us. Heal us. Speak your truth to us. 

 Amen.

Lament, written by Kayla Berkey

“They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14)

Oh Holy One, how long will we grieve death,
how many more breaths will these cycles of violence steal from sacred black lives?

Hear our cries.

We grieve for George Floyd.

We grieve for Breonna Taylor.

We grieve for Tony McDade.

We grieve for Ahmaud Arbery.

We grieve for Dion Johnson.

We grieve for Nina Pop.

We grieve for Sean Reed.

We grieve for each sacred person whose name we have come to know
through the unspeakable grief and injustice of their death.
We shudder at the inhumanity, at how many precious lives have been taken.
We grieve the ache of every person who bears this pain
and holds fear for their lives deeply in their bodies.

We lament the loss of these holy lives.
We lament officers and politicians encouraging, “peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
We lament the absence of justice.

Awaken us to any false declarations of “peace, peace,” that cover over violence.
Awaken us to the violence of this country’s status quo.
Awaken us to the urgency of overturning the tables of injustice.

Awaken us who are white women to the reality of our ongoing history
of complicity with anti-black racism done in our name.
Expose us where we are most deeply shaped by a racist system
so that we can name it in ourselves and never stop working to dismantle it.

Holy Spirit, come with fire that burns away silence and complacency.
Move us beyond saying ‘peace, peace.’
Help us shape our words into stones with weight that we use, in community,
to build the long path to justice, to peace.

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Jeremiah 6:14, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

MEDITATION & COMMUNION:  

OFFERINGS:

God's gifts to us are abundant, and in gratitude we offer our hearts and our gifts to God. Offerings may be contributed online here, or can be mailed to the home of our church Treasurer (address in church directory). 

We also invite you to consider contributing to our Mosaic Mennonite Conference Shalom Fund. This fund helps our congregations and ministries respond to members and neighbors in ways that provide support for basic and essential needs. We greatly appreciate your generous support of this ministry. 

HYMN: "Spirit of God" 

SPIRIT OF GOD - VIRTUAL CHOIR - PENTECOST 2020 from Mosaic Mennonite Conference on Vimeo.

 

SENDING BLESSING:

“A Franciscan Benediction”

May God bless us with discomfort 

at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships

so that we may live from deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with anger

at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of God’s creations

so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless us with tears

to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war

so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them 

and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with just enough foolishness

to believe that we can make a difference in the world,

so that we can do what others claim cannot be done:

bring justice and kindness to all our children and all our neighbors who are poor.

AMEN. 

*These laments, and several others, can be found at Prayers of lament: Responding to the violence of racism.

Sunday May 31, 2020 Pentecost Sunday

This Sunday we worshipped together with our entire Mennonite Conference, which is now called Mosaic Mennonite Conference. 

Sunday May 24, 2020 Easter 7

During the season of Easter (April 12-May 24) we are doing a series on the “fruits of the Spirit” from Galatians 5. We suggest doing the PREPARING activity first. Then start the MEDITATION video, which includes the prayers and other parts of the liturgy, so you can participate with each element. Just pause the meditation video for the elements that are included below (HYMNS, OFFERING, etc).

 

PREPARING OUR HEARTS & MINDS FOR WORSHIP:

"By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things." (Galatians 5:22-23)

Read this short article about the Freedom Riders of the civil rights movement. 

How do you see faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control embodied in the lives and actions of the riders? 

CANDLE-LIGHTING:

We light this candle as a reminder of God’s presence with us. The candle reminds us that Jesus is the Light of the world, and that Jesus is Lord. And the light also reminds us that we are gathered here as the Church: the church has never been “closed,” because the church is not a building. We are Christ’s Body, and we have never stopped worshipping, serving, and loving our neighbors. And we welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit, who joins us in our worship time each week. AMEN. 

CALL TO WORSHIP:*

Let us come together with humility.

How good a thing it is when all of God’s people live together in unity.

Though we may be tempted to use harsh words, let us come together with gentleness.

How good a thing it is when all of God’s people live together in unity.

Though we may want everything to happen quickly, let us come together with patience.

How good a thing it is when all of God’s people live together in unity.

Though the world around often encourages hate, let us come together in love.

How good a thing it is when all of God’s people live together in unity.

In humility, gentleness, patience, love, and unity,

let us worship the God who has called us together. 

HYMN: "Great is Thy Faithfulness"

PRAYER TIME:

We are going to create some space for silent reflection and prayer. Feel free to pause the video and pray and meditate as long as you like.

During this time you are invited to offer your prayers to God—whatever prayers and praises you have within you today. We also want to use this time to continue to offer a silent remembrance for the lives that have been lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. We remember them and hold them before our God of steadfast love and mercy, even as we seek to honor and benefit the most vulnerable among us.  

Let’s pause now, and silently offer our prayers to God.

Congregational Prayer** and Lord's Prayer: 

Redeeming God, you call us to be one with you, as you are one with Christ. As his perfect love casts out our fear, and changes it to love, unite us by your Spirit of peace, that we may be one with you, as you are one with Christ. 

Spirit of God, bless us with a word of life this day

to restore, support, and strengthen us

as we seek to be one with you. 

Make the fruit of the Spirit grow in our lives as we seek to live more like Jesus, who taught us to pray saying…

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come, your will be done, 

on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us today our daily bread. 

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. 

Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. 

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours 

now and forever. AMEN.

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Galatians 5:22-23; Lamentations 3:22-23; Acts 1:6-11

MEDITATION: 

OFFERINGS:

God's gifts to us are abundant, and in gratitude we offer our hearts and our gifts to God. Offerings may be contributed online here, or can be mailed to the home of our church Treasurer (address in church directory). 

We also invite you to consider contributing to our Mennonite Conference Shalom Fund. This fund helps our congregations and ministries respond to members and neighbors in ways that provide support for basic and essential needs. We greatly appreciate your generous support of this ministry. 

HYMN: "Revive Us, Again"

SENDING BLESSING:

Friends, God cares for each of us. Therefore, cast all anxiety on God, and keep alert, so that we may remain steadfast in faith with Christ, who supports and strengthen us in all things. 

May the abundance of God bless you, the strength of Christ keep you, and the Spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, shine upon you forever.***  

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

• Can you name some new things you learned about the fruits of the Spirit this Easter season? 
• What Bible passages help you reflect on the faithfulness of God? How do we reflect God’s faithfulness in the way we live our own lives?
• Why do you think people are sometimes not gentle toward others? When do you personally find it most difficult to exercise gentleness to others, and why?
• How are you a witness of Jesus to your neighbors during the pandemic?

* “Unity,” Words for Worship 2 (Herald Press, 2009), number 17. 

** Adapted from Kimberly Bracken Long. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 1: Advent through Pentecost (168). 

*** Adapted from Kimberly Bracken Long. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 1: Advent through Pentecost (170).