March 30 Lent 4 Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16:19-31 Psalm 41:1-3* Verse 3: Lord sustains them in their sickbeds could be translated as God sustains them mutually in sickness or health
Lost Life? God reminds you what really matters There is a theme of mutuality and community As well as an interesting theme about weeping here: weeping wounds, weeping from sadness, etc.
Call to Worship Blessed are those who consider the Poor God protects For God delivers them trouble God sustains God provide mutuality, in sickness or in health God restores Blessed be the Divine From Everlasting to Everlasting, Blessed be God
Call to Worship God we look to you in mourning You love us God of resurrection, You are rich beyond compare You are the God of Love You remind us to live in Love May we greet one another in Love today
Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we are a country that hoards things: goods, power, influence. We are not good at sharing. And you are honest with us, resurrection and life and the Good News are sometimes not enough for us to hear. We confess that we are afraid of losing things. Teach us to live into love, relationships and community and to embrace joy and good whenever we can, so that we do not miss the riches we have we pray. Amen.
Prayer of Confession: Jesus we confess that we worry, we worry sometimes that we are the Rich Man, other times we worry that we are Lazarus with weeping wounds unable to help others. Help us when we are uncertain or scared of the outcomes, to remember that Christ is with us, doing the work of resurrection.
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News Jesus came for us, loved us, taught us, died for us and is resurrected for us, so we know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God your Good News calls us towards a Resurrection that is beyond riches. Teach us to hear and believe your Good News we pray. Amen.
Children: https://a.co/d/evgvo9hThe Golden Goose Laughter and Joy over Money) Or the Selfish Giant The Kingdom of Heaven is sharing not Hoarding https://a.co/d/dJq9XqJ There are a million editions of both of these stories–and they could be told with figures too or cutouts as well
March 23 Lent 3 Lost Sheep, Coin, Son Luke 15:1-32 Psalm 119:167-176 Lost? God searches, and searches and finds you (Instead of You Finding God)
Call to Worship God, you seek us Even when we feel lost and alone You not only find us, you celebrate God, help us to find you God wants us to find each other Come let us find one another and celebrate with God
Call to Worship (based on Psalm 119:169-176( God’s hand is ready to help We long for God’s liberation Let us live, so that we can praise God When we have gone astray, seek us out God, for you are our shepherd My lips will pour forth praise, and you will give me understanding of your Word Come let us sing of God’s promises together.
Call to Worship God we may lose you But you will find us God sometimes I feel all alone God you are the shepherd, the widow who never stops searching God, you are the father who throws pride aside and runs and runs to greet his child Come let us be with a God who wants to spend time with us
Prayer of Confession: God, I confess that I find myself searching. Sometimes I am not sure if I’m the one who is lost, or if it is others. Then I realize, it doesn’t matter, for we all belong to God. You just want us to find one another and you. Whether we are the sheep, shepherd, widow, elder or younger child or the parent in the story this week; help us to find and rejoice with one another we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: God promises that if we knock, the door will open, so we know whenever we ask, God will forgive, so let us proclaim the truth In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that the last minute stories of you finding and forgiving people make us uncomfortable. We are the people who are here on Sunday, worshipping, doing due diligence. Forgive us, teach us the unbridled joy of the Widow, Shepherd and Parent who rejoice, hug and dance when they find what they have been looking for we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News: Jesus Christ loves us and give us grace to learn and be found again and again, let us rejoice together saying: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: May we go into the world continuing to seek communion with one another and God in the world wherever we go we pray. Amen.
Call to Worship Still Again, let us declare God’s steadfast Love, with songs, instruments and praise For God makes our hearts glad by your work, by the works of God’s very hand, we sing for joy! God’s works are great, and God’s thoughts are too deep to even know; destruction and nothingness have nothing to do with you God of the Covenant, we will rest with you Come, let us seek sanctuary and Sabbath with God Come, let us rest with Jesus
Prayer of Confession: (All) God we admit that we long for wholeness, and healing and peace and all of that, but confess that we feel like it is something that we need to achieve instead of seek. Help us to find Sabbath, to sit and be with the Lord of the Sabbath with Pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the good news, Jesus is walking with us, teaching us and healing us, thus we know the good news: (All) In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen
Offering/Dedication Prayer: God, may we use these and all our gifts for rest, healing and wholeness as we go into the world we pray. Amen.
Children’s Sermon: Remember that God rested on the 7th Day, so it is not surprising that Jesus wanted to honor resting/healing with the disciples even before he chose them/got to work with them
Breathe in: God I am overwhelmed Breathe out: God sit with me
God, I confess that I have been cursed with your Holy Spirit I have your empathy in spades
Her whispers echo in my ear I feel worry for the children for my trans* and nonbinary family for all those who are black and brown
whose birth, citizenship and being are being tossed about and trying to be erased like words on a page
Holy Spirit How is it that the same Spirit that comes and teaches us to witness also encourages, inspires and consoles?
God almighty I confess my breath catches when I feel our relationships with other nations disintegrating when I see signs of hate shrugged off or joked about
Pneuma– I confess, I need your help to breathe in to breathe out because I confess that sometimes remembering to breathe freely is an act of rebellion
Jesus Christ I remember all of your short actions that were so disruptive most of them were listening and calling people by their chosen name
Walk with me walk with us as we do the same help us to listen closely to one another and to call one another by name
God of empathy breath listening and Name
Be with us in this time of Trial I pray Amen
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
This is a link to a Blue Christmas/Longest Night Service I wrote
It is written so it can be done at home virtually at your convenience Though I love the community of church, I am also aware that sometimes that is not possible (as we missed one last night because my eldest’s volunteer work ran over) So..if you are wishing to participate in a service of comfort Feel free Grab a candle if you wis (Completely optional)
God Who is not too busy counting the stars to know the hearts that are broken for God is abundant in power And what you mean by that is that you measure understanding by sitting by children who whisper their fears
and you somehow pay attention to the droning politicians who make up nonsensical arguments against humanity and you hold the hands of those who have to listen too
You wrap your wings around those in never ending warzones knowing that Jesus was borne in an occupied country
You stand with all the women who write poems for justice, magnifying your creative work lifting the downtrodden
God you are the one who casts the wicked to the ground Telling amazing stories of misunderstood witches and reminding or hearts that the songs of hope that we sing in the middle of the night count as hymns of praise to your ears
Peace is sown, bit by bit, in every act of community and solidarity with the mutual aids and signatures But also through the real listening the space to let one another rest and all those who do the small things to get through mundane days
God you do not bother with shows of strength Strongmen do not impress or bother you God you do not worry about human displays of greed or power You instead take delight in cute animals beautiful flashes of nature: a pretty cloud, snowflake or flower Because you know what love is and you grant peace True peace, through love
It is love and peace you desire And I will hold this in my right and left hand especially when my palms feel empty in these advent days. Amen
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”
Without community there is no liberation-Audre Lorde
NL and RCL covers Elijah going to the Widow of Sidon during the drought. She says “I don’t know why YOUR God sent you here, I have but one meal left for my son and I and then we will die.” She talks about the pain, loneliness and shame of having nothing. Elijah then asks–“Do you have a cup of water?” and she agrees (I like to think begrudgingly as a tough woman) that she does.
Over this established Table Fellowship and Hospitality Elijah offers pastoral care to a widow. I like to think that as she opens her heart to him, she feels seen and heard, and she realizes that the table fellowship was a moment of openness that was just the beginning of a beautiful friendship. He then says that if they establish a community, that she, her son and he will not run out of the oil, meal/flour (and one would think Elijah would then help to gather the wood to cook them).
Mutual aid works because people who have little share what they have and form strong bonds of community. Community is formed here hospitality, pastoral care, table fellowship and mutual aid, among foreigners of different races, religions, genders, and socio-economic statuses. Community is not just about leadership, but about what the people do to help one another along the way, in the times of trouble when the leadership was terrible Elijah and the widow formed community. This is the work, the hope and the blessing that is before us. 1 Kings 17:8-16
People often romanticize “being in community” without realizing community is formed and sustained through reciprocity—fulfilling mutual obligations to one another—and that this is sometimes inconvenient and often taxing! But your can’t receive support without offering it! by Baena@Silkyyy with thanks to decolonizing.love on Facebook for the images
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta, “KatyandtheWord”
katyandtheword 