Jesus – Page 6 – katyandtheword

Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 5

March 17th, Lent 5
Mark 13: 1-8, 24-37 End of age, Watch
Psalm 102:12-17

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

Lent 5: Serving God: Watching for God for the Kin(g)dom that is promised. Christ promises us that a new world is being built, how can we participate in the building and serve God? Your Kingdom Come/Your Will Be Done

Breath Prayer Option
Inhale: Keep Awake
Exhale: Watch for God

Inhale: God endures forever
Exhale: I will serve God

Inhale: God’s Kingdom Come
Exhale: God’s will be done

Call to Worship:
God is enthroned forever, and promises to return
We are waiting for Jesus
God will rebuild all things, so that everything will shine with justice and mercy
God will hear the prayers of those who are stripped of all things
God will appoint the time and the place, stay awake
Come let us listen closely to the Word of our God

Call to Confession: Come let us speak to the God who always listens with a confession.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we do not know the hour or the day of your coming and that troubles us. We worry that we will not be awake or aware enough for when you come. We are afraid that we will be asleep. Comfort us. Remind us that you are the God of grace, and that it is not a grace that is earned but one that is given out of love. Help us to know that you will help us to tend to the Kin(g)Dom work, so that we may pray and participate in Your Kin(g)dom Come, Your will be Done with confidence we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: Jesus Christ, we know that too often staying awake and being woke is used as a bludgeon of judgement instead of a measurement that you are the help and sure redemption in our lives. Help us to reassure one another that you are the Lord of Sabbath and Rest and that the awareness you promise is that of hope, truth and Love (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the good news, if Christ is for us, who is against us? We know that Jesus Christ is even now working towards our grace, and so we can proclaim the good news, In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God help us to be aware of your presence as a space of comfort and hope as we venture into the uncertainties of the world we pray. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: Great is Thy Faithfulness

Taize Option: Wait for The Lord

Children’s Activity: Build a Tower/Town together or a collage– Talk about cooperative learning/building together and how God wants us to be cooperatively learning and building and watching and waiting together and that this is Kin(g)Dom building work. Children’s Book: A Day without Words by Tiffany Hammond talk about how we can watch how other people interact and work in the world, and how we can build relationship with them, and how that is building the kingdom of God.

Definition of Kin-dom https://sojo.net/articles/kin-dom-christ

Children’s Book: A Day without Words by Tiffany Hammond talk about how we can watch how other people interact and work in the world, and how we can build relationship with them, and how that is building the kingdom of God.

Entire Liturgy

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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.

Entire Liturgy

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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.

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Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 1

Mark 10:17-31 Rich Man sell all
Psalm 19:7-10

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”

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Lent 1: Serving God, Journey & Change

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

Children’s Book:The Goblin and the Empty Chair https://www.amazon.com/Goblin-Empty-Chair-Mem-Fox/dp/1416985859 Talk about about how the disciples fought over where to sit as opposed to the empty chair where welcome was made for the Goblin

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A circular wooden table with wooden chairs, above is the Holy Spirit dove with a circle of arrows pointing everywhere

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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12 Days of ….

Black and White image of a Patridge perched in a pear tree found https://www.englishstamp.com/product/partridge-in-a-pear-tree/

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.

#Advent Day 15 Christ is Coming Anyway

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”

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