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
*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.
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”
Kneeling with Christ The Promise of a New Kin-dom Breaking [A World Beyond] Capitalism
Feel free to Email KatyandtheWord at Gmail for Text version for easy Copy/Paste Formatting Suggested Donation for entire Liturgy $75 (you can decide what is fair for portions) Receipt Available upon request Please give credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
Breath Prayer Option Breathe in: Jesus I will serve you Breathe out: Jesus I will follow you
Call to Worship Jesus we are following you into Lent Your laws are perfect, so we follow you Jesus we long to love and serve like you Here we are, starting the journey into Lent, Journey with us God Come let us journey with God Come, let us make space for this holy time together.
Call to Confession Jesus calls us to follow him, because we are heavy burdened, let us lay down what we are carrying to God, so we might find rest
Prayer of Confession: God we know that what you have to offer is more desirable than God and sweeter than honey, but we confess that we are not ready to give up all of our possessions and follow you. We confess that we find the idea of changing everything, difficult. We confess that we are uncertain, sometimes, what following you even means sometimes. Forgive us when we are afraid, teach us how to serve beside you in ways that are life giving and hopeful we pray. In the name of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News: Jesus promises that he is preparing a way full of grace and mercy for us, so we can be assured of the good news, In Jesus Christ we are forgiven, Amen.
Prayer of the Day/Dedication: Let us go forth proclaiming the good news, that faith is not about who is first or who has the most. It is not even about being perfect. For it is God who will teach us to serve, and we will carry that throughout the world. Amen.
Hymn Suggestions: They will Know We are Christians By Our Love, I Wonder as I Wander
Taize Option: Veni Sancte Spiritus
Children’s Activity: Play Simon Says, Stoplight, Duck Duck Goose depending on Ages, talk about how these games who wins “it” the person in control, how you lose, and then play them backwards, where the loser WINS
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”
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”
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(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.
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)
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”
You know God, as my husband takes down the Christmas tree Christmas eve (quick before we get distracted) and the relations make their way home and the songs and candlelight fades
that we need time to sink into Christmas because Christmas is a journey.. I say this not to tsk about Advent vs Christmas vs Epiphany But to think about deep rhythms of the body, winter and the universe
And how we need a good couple of weeks of Christmas-tide to rest think and pondering
There is so much journeying and pondering at Christmas
not to mention comforting of one another
Yet we seem to burst onto the scene in joyfulness and glory and demand a quick wrap up with the wise ones before we rush home
I wonder how wonderful it would be if we gave one another the time of slow and fruiting Christmas with a full couple of weeks of rest
(I thought this especially during Covid “Shutdown” what if we emphasized a quiet holiday time home protecting one another?)
How I long for a time of cozy recovery built in to our culture Tricia Hersey suggests we snatch this kind of of rest whenever we can
So I pray that you steal some cozy restful comfort and recovery this holiday-tide
And if you have not I hope that you build it in As I imagine
Jesus longing for Peace for all as he lay with his parents snug after all of the festivities
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
Pride and prejudice archive. The days between Christmas and New Years. A woman reading by the fire, another reclining on the couch, the third writing. all look languid.
Dr. Wil Gafney “Christmas is not Canceled. Festive Christmas celebration and public displays are. But the Feast of the Incarnation will continue to be observed. There will be church services for the local residents. Tourism is strongly discouraged.” Layla Darwish: Most average Americans doesn’t even know Christmas is cancelled in Bethlehem.
Christ Incarnates Christ always comes that is the promise
That is what I said when I took my ordination question I said that I believe that Christ will come and every knee shall bow
And someone stood and asked me How?
Aren’t you worried about Universalism (Worried that Jesus might save everyone?? HA!)
And I said I don’t know It is not my job to understand it
Just to believe it and to declare the good news
That even in the midst of war and rubble and horrific devastation where humans dehumanize one another Christ will keep his promise
I believe that somehow Christ is still with us and will be incarnate for everyone
Because the Bible says Good News for All People All people will stream Every Knee shall bow
I did not see any asterisks or footnotes
I did not see any guns or calls for coercion or force
Last I saw Jesus said to kneel to one another And wash each other’s feet
(I have suspicions about this is why we will be kneeling to be besides the Christ who is already kneeling to serve us)
But right now I am just hanging on to the faith that Jesus is here And Coming
Because it’s not my job to bring Jesus
Or to bring anyone to him God has already done all of that work
Jesus is coming Hear the Good News Alleluia, Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
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
If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here as a working Public Theologian:
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f you use this series you must credit Tricia Hersey’s authorship and Book, as it is foundational for all of the work you see here. Please credit Tricia Hersey “Rest is Resistance” and Pastor Katy Stenta for liturgy.
Can you encourage your congregation to rest? What is the culmination of this season? Is it going to be less committees? A period of prayer only? A shift to retiring/merging congregations? A decision to take every 4th or 5th Worship off to just rest? How can you be more sanctuary?
In some ways this work is the sequel to the Sermon Series This Here Flesh, if This Here Flesh is about Emobodied Liturgy (liturgy meaning the work of the people) then this is about, what do we do with our bodies, after we learn that they are in fact liturgy. (I am sure it works vice versa as well)
How are you going to model this in your Worship? Will you encourage pillows and blankets? Put moments for stretches in worship? Hopefully at least time to close your eyes and do nothing, to listen to the birds, music, to do nothing.
Cultivate rest–do what you can to encourage sleep, encourage Sabbath, sanctuary.
Who would come to Church if it was a place of Rest?
Less is more
Not because we need to work more, but because being is more important than doing
These Questions might help your preaching* But may be “too much” for your congregation, that’s ok, meet them where they are at. The political issues are real, try to address them as much as you can. Tricia Hersey talks a lot of being in the world but not of the world, this language works well in the church.
Week 1 “What would it feel like to be consistently rested?”p. 56 Come & Rest with Me Genesis 1:27-2:3 So God created humankind* in his/their image, in the image of God he created them;* male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. Psalm 46:10a Be still, and know that I am God Notes
Week 2“What does exhaustion look like for me?” p. 56 Broken Humanity: Scarcity & Hate Hosea 5:15-6:6 I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face. In their distress they will beg my favor: “Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.”What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes away early.Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have killed them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Psalm 3:1-6 1 O LORD, I have so many enemies; so many are against me. 3 But you, O LORD, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. 5 I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the LORD was watching over me. 6 I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side. Notes
Week 3“What would it feel like to be consistently rested?” p. 56 Bounty Psalm 34:8-10 Taste and see how good YHWH is! Happiness comes to those who take refuge in YHWH. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Ecclesiastes 4:6 Better is a handful with quiet than two handfuls with toil, and a chasing after wind. Notes
Week 4“Who was I before the terror of the toxic systems? p. 56 (W)holistic Self Psalm 127:7 In vain you get up early and stay up late, sweating to make a living, because God loves us and provides for us even while we sleep. Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Mark 4:36-41 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ Notes
Week 5“What have you been told about your worth and existence?” p. 56 Worth and Blessedness Isaiah 14:3-4 When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased! How his insolence has ceased! Psalm 62:1 In God alone my soul finds rest, for my deliverance comes from God, who alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress: I will never be shaken. Notes
Week 6 “How do you make space to transcend the confines of a system that prays to the call of ‘profit over people’?” p. 56 Grief & Healing 1 King 19:4-7 But [Elijah] himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” Romans 8:22:26 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedeswith sighs too deep for words. 27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Notes
Week 7 “Who do I want to be?” p. 56 Restoration & Liberation Psalm 23:2 or Psalm 23:6 Surely Goodness and Mercy Psalm 23 John 14:(1-7)27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. Notes
Parenting Decolonization: Normalize not giving fuck what white folks think about how we get into spaces. Regal Picture of Toni Morrison with her gray hair pulled back in a black shirt with a purple sweater overlaying it. “The function, the very serious function of racism, is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaingin, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language, so you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly, so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Someone says that you have no art, so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms, so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary There will always be one more thing.” Notice NO TIME AT ALL FOR REST in Racism, for ANYONE, Most of all the Black people and POC. (Toni Morrison was known for not giving her time to White Academia, because she was trying to save as much of it as possible, she got up super early before her family to write)
3 yo daughter, pointing to a broke toy: “We can fix it?” Me: Of Cours.” Her: “Why do we fix it?” Me: Umm..to make it work again?” Her: “No. Because we love it.” Me: *silently contemplates the theology my toddler just taught me* Posted by @Kylebeshears
If you appreciate my work, please support my D. Min in Creative Writing. I am in my final year and raising money here: https://gofund.me/391febb1. I am more than halfway funded! Any amount $10-$200 helps. Receipts available!
A 1950s (?) Redhead luxuriating… reading a newspaper and drinking tea in bed. “They say follow your dreams..so I’m in bed. The signature looks like it is AHS
“He gets You” is really appropriative, because its more about “He gets me: white, straight, cis, conservative, men”
Whereas Jesus does not say “I get you” Jesus says, “Do you see me” And when people ask, “Where were you” He says “I am among the poor, the immigrant, the forgotten, the widowed, the queer, the homeless, the ones without identification, the imprisoned, the ones your eyes slide over because you have deemed them unimportant, the dispossessed, the naked, the hungry, the powerless, the ones you refuse to listen to…” (Matthew 25) Ministry isn’t even about power, its about something else altogether
You can’t brand Jesus for the masses Because that’s getting the whole message backwards
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