faith – Page 4 – katyandtheword

Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 4

March 10th, Lent 4
Mark 12:28-44 Great Commandment, Poor Widow
Psalm 89:1-4

Lent 4: Serving God: Love God exactly as you Are Don’t need to change Nothing (anything) first. How would the world be if we stopped worrying about appearances?

Breath Prayer Option
Inhale: I am imperfect
Exhale: I am ready to serve

Inhale: God loves me
Exhale: I am the Widow’s Mite

Inhale: God is faithful
Exhale: It’s Ok if I change

Call to Worship:
I will sing of your steadfast love, forever!
With my mouth, I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations!
God made a covenant with David and his descendants
God is faithful, Come let us praise our faithful God!

Call to Confession: God knows us and loves us, come let us confess ourselves to our loving God.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that it is hard to hear the story of the widow without judgement. Should we be the widow? Should the poor widow not have given her last mite? And yet, perhaps Jesus was just stating the facts that those who serve are going to be the poorest among us, because they get it. Help us when we judge how others use their money or how others serve, to instead just love and serve in our own ways, we pray. Amen.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that the command to simply love God with all of our heart, minds and souls does not seem to be concrete enough for us. In what ways? Are there not specific hymns to sing or prayers to pray? We confess that it bothers us that Jesus does not say how we are supposed to love God, just that we should, and this means that we cannot judge each other. Help us not to judge, and to just love you the best we can we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, God loves us exactly as we are, so we know the truth In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God help us to remember that you have called us exactly as we are to serve you, encourage us to go and into the world ready to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: Just As I am Without One Plea

Taize Option: Wait for the Lord

Children’s Activity: Play Freeze (try not to move) or Red Light/Green Light. Talk about how God is always faithful even if you change/move.

Children’s Book: I’ll Wait Mr Panda by Steve Antony about how waiting for the results of hard work is worth it.

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Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 3

March 3rd, Lent 3
Mark 12:1-12 [13-17] Wicked Tenants, Pay Caesar (Sacrifice)
Psalm 86:8-13

Kneeling with Christ
The Promise of a New Kin-dom
Breaking [A World Beyond] Capitalism

Lent 3: Serving God: Rendering to God what is God’s, What do you have to offer?

Breath Prayer Option
Inhale: Great is God’s Steadfast Love
Exhale: God delivers me

Call to Worship
God is great and wondrous
You alone are God
I give thanks to you, of you alone are God
Let us give our whole hearts to God
God’s steadfast love is eternal
Come let us glorify God’s name forever

Call to Confession: God allows us to sit in the Divine presence even when we feel uncertain, come let us confess ourselves to God.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we do not know what to render to you. It feels like everything belongs to society and Caesar: our bodies, our time, our work. We confess that it angers us in such a way that we might become like the tenants, ready to lash out even at those who come to with messages from God. Help us to move beyond the structures of this world, so that we can serve the Kingdom we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, the yoke of Jesus Christ is light, and He is ready to forgive, so we know the Good News of Christ’s grace In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven.

Communion Prayer: God you are here to serve us and to feed us. You stooped your divine self into human form–translating divinity into a body and Good News into a format that we can understanding, so that we can taste and see the Good News of your life, one of service and foot washing. Send your Holy Spirit upon these elements so that we can feel your holy presence as a moment of communion with you and understand your teachings as moments of grace and love, we pray in the name of your son Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God, we are here to dedicate ourselves to you, because when we do, our lives are more joyful and complete. Help us to recognize the ways you move and are in our lives, so that we might live more fully in service to you we pray. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: We Give Thee But Thine Own

Taize Option: Ubi Caritas

Children’s Activity: Talk about offering and what it means, and why it is you give offering–and how one can give offering of money, time and talents. Arrange a service project–preparing food or toiletries or birthday kits for the community.

Children’s Book: The Power of One by Trudy Ludwig or Children’s Book: The Power of One by Trudy Ludwig how goodness has ripple effects or Thank You Mr Panda by Steve Antony about how waiting is hard but it can have good effects.

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Rachel

A reflection on the ongoing violence in Gaza, CW: war, death violence against children

God
I hear her
in the middle of the night

Sometimes when my children
run around the house
in their ruckus game of Hide and Seek
(which I do not tell them they are too old for)
their teenage feet sound like
hippos
With the hunger to go with it
a trail of crumbs
going up and down the steps

I do not yell at them
for the noise
the chaos
the mess

I hear Rachel weeping
All the way from Gaza
it is a whispered
choking sound

Her snuffling lament
It sounds both angry
and full of hurt

And I can hear it
all too often
echoing across the oceans

Rachel is weeping
for her children

She refuses all comfort
I see her pacing
Unable to eat or sleep
because her children
are buried under rubble
or blown to pieces

Her children who were scrounging for food
and licking the rain off of gutters
Her children who she packed up
in the middle of the night

First to travel to one part of the world
and then another
In the bitter cold
In hats and gloves knitted by
an old Auntie, who unrolled all the wool they had
Just to cover the children

And then in a blink of violence

Rachel’s children are gone
And sometimes her eyes play tricks on her
And she thinks that she sees them
Out of the corner of her eye
or in the line marching towards a border
Blocked by soldiers
Even as her heart beats

They are gone
They are lost
I can’t find them

Rachel weeps
the tears flow
so that she does not notice them
any longer
she does not
notice…

Jeremiah 31:15 Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
   lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
   she refuses to be comforted for her children,
   because they are no more.

Picture of the wall written on by these students, which is lovely because it gives a fuller story of the conflict which is complicated by the terrorist group Hamas who wanted this war, the corrupt governance of Netanyahu and the anti-semitism throughout the world that begs for a safe place for Jewish people to exist and be (and this summary does not even do the situation justice, however this poem expresses some of the pain of this moment) https://lisaschirch.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/rachel-is-weeping-at-the-separation-wall/

With thanks to Rev Kyle Delhagan and Presbyterian Women for finding the image

Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 2

February 25, Lent 2
Mark 10:32-52 Son of Man to Serve, Heal Blind Bartimaeus
Psalm 34:11-14

Disciples want to get close to Jesus, Jesus continually points the disciples to look outward
Kneeling with Christ :When Jesus Comes Every Knee will bow,
Because Christ will return as he came, Kneeling to Serve
And we will Kneel to be Beside him
The Promise of a New Kin-dom
A World Beyond Capitalism, Breaking Capitalism

Call to Worship
I will bless the Lord at all times
Praise shall continually be in my mouth
Let my soul make its boast in the Lord
Let the humble hear and be glad
Let us hear the good news, and be warmed by it
Let us taste and see that God is good together
Come, magnify the Lord with me, for God is humble to be with us
Let us exalt the name of God together

Lent 2: Serving God: Whole Person/Confession & Serving God

Breath Prayer Option
God is with us
God Knows us

Call to Confession: Let us confess ourselves to Jesus Christ, the one who is human with us and for us, and so he accepts us as we are.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we are sometimes ashamed, we are afraid to come with our full selves. Afraid that we are incomplete, or not enough. We are afraid, and so we find it hard to serve. But you reassure us, that fear is part of the process, and that you will always answer and take care of us. Help us when we are afraid we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear this, God answers and delivers us, forgiving us so that we are radiant with the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of The Day/Dedication: God who sees us as complete and calls us by name in the midst of our struggles, lead us towards a faith that helps us to serve in a way that is not about ability* but about faith we pray. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: What Does the Lord Require of You, Taste and See, Lift High the Cross

Taize Option: Lord Remember Me

Children’s Activity: Self Portraits–talk about how everyone is different and how God knows us and loves us exactly how we are, and how each of us have imperfections like most handmade work

Children’s Book: God Gave Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren https://www.amazon.com/God-Gave-You-Lisa-Bergren/dp/0307729915

*Healing stories have a potential to turn ableist really quickly. Though it is amazing that Bartimaeus is healed, it is the fact that Jesus saw him as a full and complete person (notice how he is even named!), and took his faith as a priority that might be the most important aspect of this story.

Entire Liturgy

Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting
Suggested Donation for Entire Liturgy $75
(you decide what is fair for portions)
Receipt Available upon request
Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”

Venmo @Katy-Stenta (last four 7841), Paypal @KatyStenta, Google Pay Katyandtheword@gmail.com, Cash App $bookkats
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Ash Weds, Giving your Heart to God, a very brief reflection, Narrative Lectionary

Image from here and here

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Ash Weds/Maundy Thurs Prayer

(Invitation to write something you want to give to on a valentine/heart: a hope or a burden. This can be written in the order of worship, and dropped in at the end)

Let us gather together in the name of God,
Happy are those who confess themselves to God
When we keep silent, our bodies feel heavy, we can feel them growing
We grown all day long, everything feels heavy upon me, but the weight of it all can be taken by God
How beautiful is it, that God knows us and loves us? We are the children of God.
Come let us gather close to God.

Read:
Mark 9:30-37

How wonderful is it to know that there is no competition for Jesus. We will all be fed by him. Let us approach God with the wonder and questions of children.
Come let us celebrate the feast of our Lord Jesus and

(Celebrate communion together in your tradition)

As we have all been fed and brought to God with one another, now we can remember that we belong to God in life and in death. We can give our heart to God, and accept the truth, that we are ashes, and to ashes we shall return.

(Imposition of ashes, bringing of hearts valentines or end of service with the passing of the plates)

Postlude

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Advent Day 8 Silence & Noise

I like to think about
How Jesus was all about
the in-betweens

Because Jesus got
that some days
You wanted to be
in the the middle
of the racous noise

And others
the stillness
is what feeds
your soul

I remember the moment
in the pandemic
when all the introverts needed people
And I know there are many times
When I, and extrovert, was surrounded
by my family’s devices, and craved an empty house

The extremity can feel so holy can it not?
Alone in a field looking at the stars?
In the middle of a crowd, feeling lost in the humanity?

I love that all of this is blessed
Yes, be loud!
Yes be quiet!

Go, find your people!
Go, be alone!

Is this not how God makes things holy?
By blessing who we are
what we need
And how we do it?

Feel free to share/adapt/use with credit to Katy Stenta “Katyandtheword” tweet by Amy Colleen

Tweet by Amy Colleen @sweistwrites
So many Christmas carols can be divided into two categories “Will You Be Quiet” and “Let’s Get Loud.”

“Shush! The Herald Angles Will Now Perform
Muteness (x)
Let All Mortal Flesh Please Can It
If You Would Shut Your Pie Hold for 5 Seconds You would Hear What I Hear
(2) The Loud Ones
Virtuous Believers, Let Me Hear you Say Yay!
Happiness to the Earth!
Small Child Banging on Percussive Instrument.
Hasten to the Hilltop and Give it To’em
TRUMPETS! AND! LATIN! CHRIST THE LORD

Faith (in Advent)

Sometimes Faith
Is
Crying at injustice
Knowing
there is no magic wand
But

each

tear

matters.

Advent Resources

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Tender Christmas

God,
I’m praying
a tender prayer
for Christmas

For all those for whom
they have a tender and surrendered faith
because of all they have gone through.

Because you cannot surrender
until you’ve been through a battle
and so for all those who have felt like
Advent
Christmas
or just Living
has been a battle this year
I want to pray the prayer of thanksgiving

that you are still here
you are beloved
and God is with you–

And I hope you have found yourself in the Christmas story
whether it is in
Mary, not so meek,
Joseph conflicted but quietly obedient
Magi, shepherd, even if it is the donkey, the innkeeper or the star

I hope and pray that you find a corner to belong in
Because this is your story too

But if you do not, know, that’s ok
Maybe the space for you is in the silence
or the darkness of the night
or the wavering light of the candle

God I hope you know that
God is here
God is with you
God loves you
no matter what

And that is what makes Christmas
Especially when you feel tender
and like you have to give up
May God hold you in the Palm of God’s hand
Whenever and wherever that happens

Amen.

Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta and if you quote the tweet be sure to credit Traci Rhoades and Rev. Jes Last

Please Support my Writing, I am Funding some of my Doctorate in Creative Writing as a Public Theologian through donations https://gofund.me/554d36e3 Thank you to all those who have donated, I have successfully completed 2 years thanks to your support.

Full Advent Resources

With thanks to Jes Last and Traci Rhoades for their inspirational conversation

Traci Rhoades: I met with a mentor of mine yesterday. He said my faith was in a better spot, more tender and surrendered than ever before. Ya'll, tender and surrendered are not easily gained. They come out of hard seasons if we let them.
Reverend Jes Kast: Oh I understand and resonate with this, tender and surrendered are not easily gained indeed purple heart.

Prayer for the 14 year olds

This a prayer for the 14 year olds

The innocent, knowledgable,

cusp of adulthood, ready to take on the world

pandemic generation 14 year olds–

of whom my child is one of them

with hormones, and a burning need to change the world

learn everything, help everyone,

and a growing awareness,

God you know

of just how complicated this being human thing actually is.

And when the diagnosis is–

as they say in Big Hero 6,

Puberty, there is a whole world out there for us

to learn from them.

This is a prayer as they hear people fight about the future,

and those frustrations,

which let’s be honest, they were always

always aware of,

suddenly become into focus

because that is a part of growing into yourself.

This a prayer for them, that you will walk with them God,

as they wrestle with it all,

because God, I know I’m not handling everything ok,

so I don’t know how they are doing it.

Be with them,

Help them wrestle

and change the world,

to be what it should be!

Because God, they know when it isn’t!

So please God,

help the 14 year olds–and all the ages in-between.

I pray.

Amen.

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Living By Faith

Galatians 1:13-17, 2:11-21

Note: This year in the USA it is Mother’s day which can be controversial in church. These verses hint at, but do not necessitate Mother’s Day, there is a link to a specific Mother’s Day prayers at the end.

Call to Worship

God, you have formed me, and know me. You have set me apart with your love.

You have given me the gift of faith, loving me, before I even knew what love was.

You know us, and call us each my name.

Come let us praise our God, who knows us and loves us.

Call to Worship

God, you call us into faith

You call us, not alone, but together, so that we might better understand your love

God you call us to baptize all nations, in your name

For we are adopted into your grace not by our works, but by the gift of faith

God is calling do your hear?

Let us rejoice in the gift of faith.

Prayer of Confession: (unison) God, please search me and know me. You know the entirety of me, there is no part of me that is hidden from you. I confess that sometimes I startle myself, sometimes my thoughts betray me, sometimes I lose faith. Yet even then, you are there. Your left hand shall lead me and your right hand shall hold me fast. Keep me in the palm of your hand I pray (Silent Confession) Amen

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that sometimes we do not feel like the beloved children of God. Too often, we think we have to compete, Too often we squabble, and compare our good works. Too often we proclaim tests of faith, as if faith a gift that is given, rather than a metric to be proven. Forgive us. Open our eyes to your grace and mercy we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: When we fall down, God kneels beside us, helps us back up, and comforts us with her loving arms. And then she whispers into our ears the everlasting truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God let us go into the world sharing this gift of faith we have. Proclaiming your love and sanctuary with every step, every breath and every word, not because it is required, but because it is a celebration of your gift of faith. In your son Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Hymns; Amazing Grace, God of the Sparrow, Jesus Loves Me, Just As I Am, On Eagle’s Wings. We Walk by Faith and not by Sight

Mother’s Day Links

Mother’s Day Litany

Pandemic Mother’s Day

Complicated Mother’s Day Prayer

Mother’s Day Confession