Holy Jesus, how can we not recognize you? How can we have celebrated the resurrection with the women, and yet still the disciples are not yet aware that Easter has taken place. Melt our hearts, O Lord, set us on fire, so we might no longer journey frightened and alone, but know you are more than footprints in the sand, so we might know you walk with us. Amen
#Selah #violence and #thecross
I love the word Selah, the untranslatable cry to God. We have guesses, but we don’t know exactly what it means
For me it translates into the prayer that we don’t know how to pray
Selah
Its the cry out on Maundy Thursday when Jesus is worried about something that we cannot yet conceive, Selah
The cry when the first Muslim judge- Sheila Abdus-Salaam-is found dead, the domestic murder of a teacher-Karen Smith-and her student-Jonathan Martinez-registers as almost normal and when an Asian man-Dr. David Dao–is assaulted to give up his airline seat. Selah.
The cry when it is revealed that one of your friends will betray your teacher, Christ. When the fellowship is still intact, but Friday is coming. Selah
The cry when your leader bombs not one but two countries in the same Fortnight. Selah
The cry when Friday is coming, and you wish this cup can be taken from your lips, but you know it can’t be, so you pray at Gethsemane, and Friday still comes. Selah.
Drought in Africa, Dirty water in Flint, Trans Man outed by a Gay Competitor, Black Lives Still Matter, Missing Teens of Color some of these prayers never seem to end. Selah.
“There’s usually a point in Holy Week when I inform God that I’m really not sure humanity was worth all that.
We’ve reached it.”-@revlucymeg. Selah.
The violence that makes up the Cross is present, its real, its stark and needs to be mourned. Selah.
Selah.
Selah.
#GoodFriday #Bulletin #Worship #liturgy
Short Liturgy of the Nails Featuring “Were You There”
Good Friday April 14th, 2016 6:30pm
New Covenant Presbyterian Church Won’t You Be Our Neighbor?
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERVICE
The service tonight is known as the “Service of The Nails”. It is a series of readings, responses, and silent reflection and prayer designed to help us enter more deeply into the meaning of Good Friday. Everyone is requested to take a nail to keep it with them for use during the service. For the service, you are asked to remain seated.
Call to Worship (based on Is. 52:13-15)
L The Lord be with you.
P And also with you
L See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Just as there were many who were astonished at him–so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals– so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.
THE NAIL OF STUMBLING MATTHEW 26:36-45
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Sung Response Extinguishing the Light
Were you there when he prayed upon the hill?
Were you there when he prayed in upon the hill?
O Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when he prayed upon the hill?…..(silence)
Meditation and Prayer
O God – help us consider how we waver, how we seek to avoid
responsibility and to blame others for our actions.
O God – do not let us deceive ourselves.
Our indecision hurts us and creates walls between us and others.
THE NAIL OF BETRAYAL MATTHEW 26:48-56
Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.” At once he came up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?” At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
Sung Response: Extinguishing the Light
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?(silence)
THE NAIL OF CRUELTY MATTHEW 27:27-31, 39-42
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.”
Sung Response Extinguishing the Light
Were you there when left him on the cross?
Were you there when they left him on the cross?
O, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they left him on the cross? (silence)
Meditation and Prayer
O God – help us consider how we are cruel to others, how we malign
and slander others and add to the evil that comes upon them.
O God – do not let us deceive ourselves.
Our cruelty hurts us and creates walls between us and others.
RESPONSIVE READING: THE PROMISE OF MERCY ISAIAH 53:8-13
They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, God’s servant, shall make many righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
THE NAIL OF HATRED LUKE 6:22, 32-33, 44-46 “ Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last..”
Sung Response: Extinguishing the Light
Were you there when the sun refused shine?
Were you there when the sun refused shine?
O, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when the sun refused to shine? (silence)
Meditation and Prayer
L O God – help us consider how we show hate to others, how we fail to
care for others and make distinctions among them.
O God – do not let us deceive ourselves.
Our hatred hurts us and creates walls between us and others.
THE RESPONSE
ACT OF CONFESSION ISAIAH 53:4-6
You are invited to have your sins nailed to the cross
Meditation and Prayer
O God – help us consider how we betray others, how we abandon
them in their time of need, how we think of ourselves first
O God – do not let us deceive ourselves. Our acts of betrayal hurt us and
create walls between us and others.
Communion
The Lord be with you
And also with you
Lift up your hearts
We life them up to the Lord
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
It is right to give our thanks and praise….(Pastoral Prayer & Lord’s Prayer)
Jesus came into the world, not to judge it, but to save it.
We are so grateful for God’s infinite love, and we celebrate with all of creation, the saving work, of our Suffering Saviour. On the night before he was nailed to the merciless cross,
Jesus shared His last meal with His friends. He took the bread, He broke it, and He gave thanks, and then He passed it among them saying,
This is my body which is broken for you. Eat it and remember Me.
He took the wine, and He gave thanks, and then He passed it among them saying,
This is my blood which is shed for you. Drink it and remember Me.
And so, we take, we eat and drink, and we remember:
There is no greater love, than this sacrifice which You, Jesus, made for us
Sung Response: Extinguishing the Light
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? (silence)
(Blow out remaining Candles and Leave in silence)
Maundy Thursday/Last Supper Lenten Links of Prayer for Narrative Lectionary
#Prayers for #maundyThursday #lastsupper
Image info (originally found in another language)
Invitation to Serve by Rev Amy Fetterman
Feel free to use/edit. Credit to the original author (i.e. based on prayer/prayers written by Rev Amy Fetterman) appreciated.
Luke 22:1-27 and Psalm 34:8-10 or Psalm 34:8
Call to Worship
The One who serves has set the table,
And eagerly desires that we join him here.
As we seek and find the Lord in this joyful feast,
We shall taste and see that the Lord is good.
Prayer of Confession
As Jesus prepares a feast for us, let us prepare our hearts to receive his word. Let us offer our confession to God and before one another. Let us pray:
God of bread and vine, you redeem us from all sin. Yet, we forget that in you we find our refuge. We live into our fear rather than our faith. We strive to be great…
View original post 616 more words
Triumphal Entry/Palm Sunday: Narrative Lectionary Lenten Links of Prayer
Prayer for #palmsunday
Invitation Build the Kin(g)dom to Rev. Jeanne Gay
Feel free to use/edit. Credit to the original author (i.e. based on prayer/prayers written by Rev. Jeanne Gay) appreciated.
Luke 19:29-44 and Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29
Call to Worship/Opening Prayer
Two voices & Bold for Congregation
“As you enter the village you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.”
We come following directions that we don’t always understand.
We come to welcome the Messiah.
As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
We come as part of a parade, along with the rest of the motley crew.
We come to celebrate the Messiah.
The days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and they will hem you in on every side.
We come to be with Jesus in…
View original post 781 more words
Invisible People
April 3
Vision
Katy Stenta
Luke 18:35-43
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Shush, says the crowd, big quiet, do not talk. This blind man, who couldn’t see Jesus, yet knew he was there. Jesus is on his way to certain death, making the final journey to Jerusalem. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on ME!” Louder, this time, and Jesus hears it. (Part of me thinks of course Jesus hears him, Jesus always hears him). The ignored one, the incomplete, imperfect one, the no-doubt-annoying-one. The fussy child who can’t sit still, the family that can never get to church on time, the elder who has a lot of trouble hearing, the one in pain, the one alone, the one who for whatever reason cannot see Jesus today. The one who can’t see Jesus, because of their perspective, the one who has to climb a tree just to see Jesus.
In a time where still people are ignored, erased or shunted to the side, in an age of constant chatter, still so many need to try out to be heard.
And then, Jesus stops. He stands still, and says not only “receive sight” but also “your faith has saved you.” We are given not only the vision, but also the salvation we need. What has been granted is so much more than “Be Thou my Vision.” We are given the time and notice and love we need—those things we need to have faith and be saved. Praise God.
Pastor Katy Stenta is the Solo at a Bigger-on-the-inside & Revitalized New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Albany, NY
Link to NextChurch reflection
Here is a blog I did for my area of pastors about the amazing Nextchurch conference http://albanypresbytery.org/reflections-2017-next-conference-stenta/
#bless and #blessing #slatespeak #reLENTless
I was able to take a pilgrimage to Israel in Seminary and meet Archbishop of Jerusalem Father Elias Chacour, who was doing work to build schools to education Jews, Muslims & Christians together to sow peace.
Father Chacour said that “blessing” has a very active meaning in his (and Jesus’s) native tongue of Aramaic.
To be blessed, means to be called to work into God. In essence every time we read that someone is “Blessed” we should probably actually translate it as Genesis 12:2 “You are blessed, now go and be a blessing” (Read the Beatitudes this way, and I guarantee it will rock your world)
I love it. Sometimes I think I want to start a new church plant and call it
Achoo ministries
Bless and be Blessing
Its catching
Blessings are funky, because we try to think that they are limited. Throughout the New Testament the disciples are worried about how liberal Jesus blesses and heals people. Their attitude continues to be “shouldn’t you save some of that for later/more of it for us” As if there is a LIMIT to the amount of blessings int he world. I can imagine Jesus continually chuckling at their confusing and explaining, again, that this is not how blessings work.
The most modern parallel I can see to this is safety. In the modern era we act like there is only so much safety to go around, we have to grab our safeness “quick” before its all taken. Also, counterwise, if someone else is safe, that means we cannot also be safe, because that group has “taken up” the safety.
Objectively put, we can see how ridiculous the idea of limited safety and blessing is….but the church, and the United States continue to act as if blessing and safety are limited.
When in fact, when one person is more safe, the entire community is more safe.
When in fact when you are blessed, then you also are being called to go and be a blessing and share it out as much as possible.
How changed is our life is we act like blessings and safety (i.e. Peace) are actually from the never-ending bounty of God.
….Its catching….
#Rain #reLENTless #slatespeak
The righteous and the righteousness all dripping with Goddroplets.
Love is not exclusive. Everyone can love. Even this who do not believe in God, even those who are evil, the “bad guys” that my 5 year old likes to name. Even they can love the people who love them.
Look at the dictators of the world, many of them love. But then they also hate. They hate their enemies, they burn with the need to destroy.
God says to love our enemies. Love the neighbor, love the stranger, love the enemy.
The good news is there is NO gaps in the love of God.
The bad news is, there is NO gaps in the love of God.
When we go out in the storm that is God, we all get soaked in God’s love. The righteous and the righteousness all dripping with Goddroplets.
Its a funny thing, that God is the storm, and the love is the water.
And yet, maybe that’s why we get baptized in water.
To remind us, when you go out in the storm, everyone gets soaked.
The Immigrant Apostles’ Creed
#immigrants we get the job done #apostlescreed
Rio Grande on the USA-Mexico Border. Image by Bob Palin. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
This was posted to Facebook by Neal Presa, the current moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA). I’m told it was originally written by Rev. Jose Luis Casal. Fruitful theological food for thought for anyone who cares about USA immigration policies.
Also worth reading on this subject is this sample chapter from Reading the Bible With the Damned by Bob Ekblad:
FOLLOWING JESUS, EL BUEN COYOTE: READING PAUL WITH UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
And here is the Immigrant Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in Almighty God,
who guided the people in exile and in exodus,
the God of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon,
the God of foreigners and immigrants.
I believe in Jesus Christ, a displaced Galilean,
who was born away from his people and his home, who fled
his country with his parents when his life…
View original post 187 more words
katyandtheword 