Because I see the face of terrified College students of Brown People with Tattoos
Echoing Those of Separated Families at the border
I am still haunted by a picture of their jewelry and crosses piled like Jewish loot during the Holocaust
And the Fragile Gaza peace has been broken
and so I pray Protection For the families
And for the Soldiers in Yemen And around the world
As OPSEC is said but not Enacted
Though truly My heart Longs for Peace I pray for a language beyond bombs and threats and bullying
and even tariffs
Staunch Pacifist that I am
As the budget for food and Veterans are cuts but the Military remains bloats Military Industrial Complex Indeed Lord, I cry
And God, I cry out for all of those with Cancer longing for Treatment whose funding was cut The researchers who have been sustained I know that God You work to sustain All those with infirmities I pray that you will work To heal all infirmities
Open the ears and hearts of those who need to understand Melt those with hearts and brains of stone
Melt them Reverse their Decisions Transform things so Completely That we do not even Recognize things
For God you know When we pray for Health We are praying for a healthy World– Not for just ourselves But for me, my neighbor, my enemy to all be transformed into (almost unrecognizable) signs of mercy Signs of the Kin(g)dom And so I pray For a Forgiveness of Debts That I cannot comprehend
For Food for all people In a Dailyness of Bread
For the coming of your Glory Which of course will be in Mercy
And for Your Kin(g)dom Come Your Will Be done Amen, Amen.
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”
Psalm 41:1-3
1 Happy are those who consider the poor;* (marginal/oppressed) the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble. 2 The Lord protects(guards them/covenants with them) them and keeps them alive;(like a. shepherd guards a sheep, like a sacred duty, like a hedge of protection) they are called happy in the land. (It will be a gifting, a granting) You do not give them up to the will of their enemies. 3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed; (a sustain, supporting, comforting, stability and continuity)) in their illness you heal all their infirmities.* (Healed and transformed, reversed, turn over a new leaf) The grace and mercy of God will be through compassion.
Call to Worship: This day is marvelous Because it is the Lord’s doing What day is that? Today, is the the day that the marginal stone, that the builder’s rejected became chief cornerstone for equity This is the day, this must be the day that the Lord has made Let us rejoice and be glad in it
Call to Worship We must recount the deeds of the Lord We give thanks to God who has become Salvation Salvation and Liberation, for are they not the same thing? God is marvelous in our eyes This is the day that the Lord has made Let us rejoice and be Glad in it.
Prayer of Confession: God we confess that your resurrection is too hard to believe. We confess that some days it is hard to talk about the good news, that sometimes the message seems to get lost. Help us to live in such love and relationship that we can understand the Good News we pray.
Prayer of Confession: Jesus, we confess that we are perplexed. Your love is too deep for us to understand. Teach us to be an Easter people we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Here the Good News, Jesus loved us, came for us, died for us and is the Resurrected living Christ, thus we know in our Hearts the Good News of Easter: In Jesus Christ, we are Forgiven. Alleluia. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, all sins have already been washed away, we have the promise of the resurrection and so we can sing the Good News to one another. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven, Alleluia, Amen.
Prayer of the Day/Dedicaiton: God, we are an Easter People, and we get to celebrate it every Sunday. May we go into the world with the promise of Resurrection in our hearts we pray. Amen.
Children’s Story: Summarize Velveteen Rabbit. (Being made more real/human by God’s Love)
April 13 Lent 6 Passion/Palm Sunday Luke 19:29-44 Psalm 118:19-23 Triumph Entry, Jesus Weeps Lost Peace? God weeps with you
Call to Worship Let God open the gates of Equity Whenever God opens them, I give thanks When God opens the gates Justice will enter I thank God who answers prayers—and becomes Liberation The stone that the builders reject will become the chief cornerstone, it is God’s doing God’s steadfast love endures forever, Praise God!
Call to Worship When God opens the Gates, we shall know Equity, Justice and Liberation will flow in the form of Lovingkindness All that seemed marginal and rejected before, will become marginal In God’s world, everything will be upside down, and peace will finally be prioritized We love God who is all about love, salvation and redemption. How can you no praise that kind of God? Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that we get tangled up in our words, thinking that this story is all about judgement instead of empathy. We confess that too often we are looking for the bad guys, instead of the purveyors of peace. Forgive us, teach us how to plant, sow and understand peace we pray. Amen.
Prayer of Confession: Jesus, we confess that sometimes we want to weep without stopping. We feel stuck in the Good Friday moment, and we do not feel like a resurrection people at all. Sit with us when we cry, and teach us how to get up, walk and take the next steps we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News: Nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ, nothing in the present, past or future. No angels, demons, laws, rules, governments, powers, principalities, churches or anything else. So hear and know in your hearts the Good, Good News. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God send us into the world, remembering that Jesus became fully human to walk and be with us. May we try to be fully present in love with one another too. Amen.
Call to Worship How our souls long for God My heart and flesh sing for the joy to the living God Even the Sparrow (Freest of Birds) finds a home, and the Swallow (Smallest of Birds) a nest for herself. Happy are those who live in your House, Singing your Praises God. A day in God’s house is better A day in your courts, are better than a thousand elsewhere Come let us keep the door for God Come let us listen for God, our sun and our shield, today.
Call to Worship We long for you God We want to feel your presence Even when we can’t see you God you see us and call us Be with us God, be with us today
Prayer of Confession: God I confess that it is hard to see Jesus. We look and cry out, and sometimes Jesus is not there. Teach us to be open to Jesus so that when he invites himself over to dinner, we may be able to open our doors to him we pray. Amen
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, Jesus is looking for us, and loving us into being. Thus we know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of Confession: Jesus, we confess that we hate not knowing and feeling lost. We feel like we need to know the way. Allow us trust that it is ok to feel blind, and help us when we stumble and fall we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and will never lead us astray, so we know the truth. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God teach us to be ok with following Jesus, even when we feel lost along the way. Teach us to trust and follow we pray. Amen.
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 16 Lent 2 Lament over Jerusalem/Fig Tree Bore No Fruit Luke 13:1-9, 31-35 Psalm 122 Lost Fruit/People? God Gives Time and Dirt (remember what humans are formed with)
Call to Worship (based on Psalm 122) I am glad, whenever I make it to God’s House We stand at the Gates of God, and sigh We are heading towards God, bind us together Peace is on our lips Put it in our hearts Come let us experience the fruit of God
Prayer of Confession
God, we are looking for the fruit of our labors, and yet, we confess that it seems to be missing. Where is it? We are frustrated! Grant us patience, fertilizer, dirt, time, all of the time we need. Grant us the peace to grow we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: God of Time, a thousand years is like a day for you, and so we know that your forgiveness is quick. We will linger in your steadfast love and the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we long for your sanctuary and to seek your walls, but it is hard to get you. We cannot always find your peace. We can’t always get to church, find time to pray, or even remember that you are there to shout to God? Help us when we cannot find the ways to access you God, to take the time and space to do so, we pray. Remind us that you will fill the space for us. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Jesus is the Prince of Peace, therefore we can rest in the truth In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God, remind us as we enter the world, that you will give us time and food that we need, grant us the gift to do the same for others we pray. Amen.
Lost Neighbors? God brings Strangers/Enemies/Immigrants
Call to Worship (based on Psalm 15)
Come let us dwell with God Come let us sit in God’s honesty Let us find our deepness here Come we want to honor imago dei in one another May we be near each other and God Come, let us dwell in God together
Call to Worship Come let us find our neighbors The big, small, near and the far Who is our neighbor? Come let us find our neighbor with God Come let us build a community with God Come let us dwell with God and neighbor today
Prayer of Confession: God we confess, sometimes we do not want to admit that those who need help are close enough to be our neighbors. However, you remind us that anyone who is helper is a neighbor. Teach us to build neighborhoods of love we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Let us dwell in the Good News of God, God is here to forgive us so we can live in community with one another, so we know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Prayer of Confession: God we confess that I do not always see imago dei, your image in the eyes of those human beings around us. Sometimes we find people too annoying, different or mean to find any image of God in them. And yet you remind us, there is no one who is not made in your image. Teach us, how to see humanity in your image we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, God loves us and calls us by name, so we know the truth, in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.
Prayer of Confession: God we confess we are always comparing ourselves, we are in tumult over surviving the world, like Martha. However let our anxiety not take away from the good in the world. Teach us to understand both our Mary and Martha parts we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Jesus loves us exactly as we are, so let us dwell in the grace of Christ knowing the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen
Prayer of Dedication/Day: God, may we go into the world knowing that you are inspiring us to heal, bless and find neighbors through all the gifts that we are given. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen
God I’m gonna have to be reminded of your steadfast Love once again
Because the truth is I might be grasping onto it, by threads these days
For it might be one of the few things That makes my heart sing and reminds me that there are good things to eat and that art is worth making in this world
For truly sometimes everything seems to be full consumers– you know them the dullards who for some reason want to BURN everything Down And they seem to multiply like weeds And at time Evil seems to flourish And spread Nothingness Wherever they go
And so I meditate on you God and remember How Evil fell once before
And I count my blessings And how you reach out to me.
I remember all the enemies —my enemies, but really our enemies, because they are the enemies of justice, equity and good— You have defeated on my behalf before that my eyes have seen my ears have heard internal external I have proof And I take a deep breath and remember
God I know that you grow justice blooms, fruits, flourishes It becomes mighty and beautiful solid and wondrous, Like a towering oak that I could build a treehouse in and nestle in to sleep– and that will continue to be safe even in its oldest years.
And God as I nestle, may I remember you are always full of justice even when all else fails You will always stand for equity. I can sleep knowing that.
katyandtheword 