Feel free to use/share/adapt with Credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
Category: From Lament to Hope
Rainbow Tears
God is crying
Rainbow Tears
God who hung
Their Rainbow
Weapon
In the Sky
Before Jesus
Tread the Earth
God who Dances
With Abandon
God
who Protects
Joseph Lady’s/Rainbow Cloak
Ruth’s Found Family
Jesus of Two Dads
Baptizing the Egyptian Eunuch
God’s weeping
rainbow tears
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
Burying Jesus, Good Friday Worship: Virtual or in Person
Supplies: Communion, Nail nailed to wood or a cross, Cross and black cloth, Aloe Hand Sanitizer, Dirt, a lit candle
If doing the worship at virtually, Send home 1 nail, 1 packet of aloe sanitizer, and 1 candle to light. Ask the congregant to be ready to bury the nail at the end of worship. Ask them to light their candle at the beginning of worship. Do the removal of nails and the covering of the cross with a black cross from your main location onscreen.
We will be symbolically burying Jesus by burying nails,
Read John 19:30-33: Remove the nails and pass one out (have each congregant pick one up from by their seat depending upon your Covid Proticols) to each congregant (symbolically you can just remove 6 nails while the nails are being passed out)
Were You There When They Crucified the Lord (v 1)
Read John 19:38: Remove the Cross, Cover it in Black cloth
Read John 19:39-40: Have each congregant use the aloe Sanitizer for their hands and their nail
Were You There When the Nailed Him to the Tree (v. 2)
Celebrate Communion (optional)
Read John 19:40-42: Have each congregant come up and drop the nails in the dirt and then bury them, or have them symbolically do it at home.
Were You There When they Laid Him in a Tomb? (v. 3)
Blow out the Candle
Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.
For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail
Jesus Last Words: A Worship Service for in Person/At Home
Worship Suggesting (at home or in person, or as stations)
Supplies bracelet sized band of light cloth, OR piece of paper tape/stapler
permanent market,
pad and paper,
bowel of water and soap to wash hands/sink
Optional (depending on your virtual/in person options) Communion
Lit Candle
Read John 19:23-30
Tying Up Loose Ends: Take a band and confess something you want not torn from you and attach the band to your wrist.
Read John 19:25-27
Found Families: Write down those who you consider as close as family, meditate on the experiences that drew you close together.
Read 19:29
Communion or Wash your hands and think about how Jesus served communion and washed his disciples feet all at the same night then was given wine at the end.
Read 19:30
Blow Out Candle, Invite everyone to sit in the dark for a moment
Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.
For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail
April 17th Resurrection: Hope Seeing Resurrected Jesus
April 17th Resurrection: Hope Seeing Resurrected Jesus
Call to Worship
Christ is Risen
He is Risen indeed
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone
Look the Lord’s doing wondrous things before our eyes
This is the day that the Lord has made
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Call to Confession: God sees us exactly as we are and loves us, so come let us confess ourselves to God.
Confession: Jesus, we confess that sometimes we are blinded by tears or turned away, and it is hard to recognize you. We confess that all too often we do not practice or believe in the power of resurrection, so it sneaks by us. Forgive us, teach us to see the seeds you are planting, for you are, after all, the original gardener, and help us to co-create and tend the seeds of resurrection so that they grow, we pray in the name of the resurrection Jesus. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Christ is risen, so you are forgiven. Know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: We are an Easter people, a Resurrection People, let us name it and claim it we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.
For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail
April 24th Thomas: Disability Glorified
Sermon Ideas:
Topical Prayer: Disability Glorified
Call to Worship
God we are ready to see you
So we think
God we want to see you
Be present with us here today
Call to Confession: God we are so glad Jesus is ready to hear our full selves. Come let us sit with Jesus and confess.
Confession: Jesus we confess that it is sometimes hard to believe that you will glorify all things. Sometimes the questions Thomas has about the holes in Jesus’s body, the questions about disabilities or differences or even the vast varieties that we see around us are just too much for our human brains to process. We confess that we are a lot like Thomas–we are often just not brave enough to voice our doubts and misgivings out loud. Forgive us, and remind us that you glorify all things, and somehow do not take away one iota of who we truly are. Remind us with the Holy Spirit we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: If Christ is for us, who can be against us? Know and feel and taste the truth on your tongue: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: Walk with us Christ, remind us when we falter or feel alone that you are with us we pray. Amen.
Children: Talk about what you think Thomas’s reaction was when he saw Jesus, it is not actually described. Did they hug? Did he actually put his hand through the holes? Did they cry?
Hymns: We Walk By Faith and Not By Sight, Invisible Immortal God Only Wise, Lift High the Cross, Christ is Made the Sure Foundation, God of Grace and God of Glory, Lord Whose Love through Humble Service
Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.
For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail
April 10th Palm/Passion Sunday: Lament & Hope
The Crucified Messiah: Lament & Hope
Sermon Ideas, Pile of Good Things
Call to Worship
The earth is God’s, and all that is in it; the world and all those who live in it!
God has founded it on the seas and established the world on the rivers.
Let us lift our heads, and seek God, to the gates, so that the King of glory may come in!
Come, we know who the King of Glory is! Let us worship Jesus!
Call to Confession: God, we all have things to confess, Hosanna, save us as we confess together.
Confession: God, we confess that we are always crying Hosanna, Save us! Help us! We confess that our best selves are our Palm Sunday selves knowing we need help and willing to do the work. Our worse selves are our Passion Sunday mob selves angry that things are not fixed and lashing out from our own internal pain. Forgive us, remind us that we no longer have to choose to be a Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday People—you have transformed us into a resurrection people. Help us to hang onto that we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Christ has already saved us, so we can proclaim the good news again and again: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God bless us as we go, remembering that you love us, every single day. On our best days, on our worst days, and every day in between. Help us to hold fast to that love we pray. Amen.
Children: God does not keep score. Talk about forgiveness and how God does not judge like humans or keep grudges like humans. God’s grace washes it all away. Discuss how this is a really hard concept for humans, because we are really good at judging and holding grudges, but Jesus promises that is not how it works for God.
Hymns: Great is Thy Faithfulness, Be Thou My Vision, All Glory Laud and Honor, Hosanna Loud Hosanna, O Love How Deep How Broad How High
Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.
For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail
April 3rd Jesus Condemned: Lament for sin
Jesus Condemned: Lament for sin
Call to Worship
Our hope is the Lord our God
God made heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them
God keeps faith forever
Come let us praise the Lord!
Call to Confession: Come all you who are heavy burdened, and Jesus will give you rest. Come let us confess ourselves.
Confession: God we confess that we are frightened by the angry mobs of people, by death cults, by those who threaten violence when they lose their privilege. We confess it is frightening because we are afraid that we will will be caught up either in the mob, or be caught up and trampled by it. Avoiding it did not stop the violence, as your disciples can testify. Forgive us, God, for we do not know what we are doing, still. Teach us stop the crime of “crucify” and transform them into the grace and freedom that Pilate tries to enact. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: God loves us, today, tomorrow and forever, nothing can separate us from that love. Thus we can tell one another the truth in that love: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven. Amen.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God teach us true freedom, not that of mobs, but the freedom that grace provides. Let us walk away in grace we pray. Amen.
Children: Talk about 2nd Thoughts, why Pilate was having them, why it’s hard to have 2nd thoughts in a crowd/group/mob. Talk about why parents always say “if everyone jumped off a cliff would you” (I would say this very much as an inside joke that the kids all know). Talk about bravery, and the power of grace, and how true freedom means being able to have a difference of opinion and how Jesus wants us to be able to be free to love and protect one another first and foremost.
Hymns: Were You There, He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word, When I survey the Wondrous Cross, Amazing Grace, Jesu Lover of My Soul
Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.
For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail
March 27th Jesus and Pilate: Hope of the Kin(g)dom
Jesus and Pilate
Call to Worship:
God is faithful in all of their words, and gracious in all of their deeds
My mouth will speak the praise of God
Come let us praise the Trinity
Let all flesh bless God’s holy name forever and ever
Call to Confession: You send the Holy Spirit to encourage us and inspire us to be brave in our confession, so let us confess ourselves to you God.
Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we too often confuse earthly power with heavenly power. We think power is about wealth and politics and stuff, when really you show again and again that it grace and love and mercy given in abundance. Continue to teach us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: God loves us and forgives us, hear the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: Jesus Christ you are the truth, and the life and the hope everlasting. Let us hold onto that as we go about the world we pray. Amen.
Children: Talk about “The Lord’s Prayer’ “Thy Kin(g)dom Come” and the King and Kingdom that Jesus and PIlate are talking about with Pilate, why is Pilate so Confused? What are we praying for when we are praying “Thy Kin(g)dom Come?”
Hymns: Lead On O King Eternal, Lord Dismiss Us With Thy Blessing, Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty, Live Into Hope, Glory Be to the Father, Our Father Lord of Heaven and Earth, And He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word
Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.
For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail
March 13 Jesus Washes Feet: Hope of Serving
Jesus Washes Feet: Hope of Serving
Call to Worship
God we gather to serve
For you first served us, the one who taught the first will be last
Jesus we long to be near you
Come let us worship the alpha and omega
Call to Confession: God calls all those who are in relationship with God to come into God’s presence for confession, come let us confess ourselves to God and each other
Prayer of Confession: God, I confess that I am like Peter crying out create in me a clean heart God, clean my feet and my hands and my whole body! Because some days I understand all too well all of my imperfections, and they seem to scream at me, from my body and my personality and my accomplishments. Remind me God, that you sent Jesus to show us how to love and serve one another, no more, no less, and that your grace is infinite. Remind us, we pray in your most Holy name. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: God always restore us to the joy of salvation, hear the good news of the gospel: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God we come to you fully confessing ourselves and ready to be washed clean. Let us go forth rejoicing and ready to serve our God. Amen.
Children: Discuss Baptism and how Confession is a renewal of Baptism
Hymns: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Create in Me a Clean Heart, Jesu Jesu Fill Us with Your Love, I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me
Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.
For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail
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