Immigrant God Be with us Be with those separated from families Teach us how to make room at the inn Remind us That you translated Yourself into Humanity Because you understood That we humans
We hate translating Teach us to keep at this translation work of human to understand divine of cultural understanding of the beauty of change (we humans aren’t so good at change)
And I pray for the day when movies don’t hit home So hard
And the brown children in the midst of war waving a flag Don’t break your heart
And the world Splitting in two of a “Natural Disaster” doesn’t make your jaw clench
And God I pray that when people cry because the Lex Luthers of the world Make them feel bad And the immigrants are the Superheroes
That the Holy Spirit Keeps Tapping them On the shoulder nipping Them in the Ear And touching them on their heart
Because Maybe art Isn’t the one Way through
But I’ll take Blood, Sweat, Tears, Votes
And your favorite Pop Character
Because At this point Anything To Welcome people
to there revelation
God help us Walk until everyone can see the Superpuppy as cute
and all earthlings as Beloved
We pray. Amen.
Feel free to share/adapt/use with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”
with thanks to my middle child Westley who loves all movies, and honors remakes and sequels, etc and more of the thing he loves and teaches a deep appreciation of all art–it’s good remember to take joy in all things (This movie was really good, but it is truly fun to walk in to everything with the attitude of, this will be fun)
My God is the Immigrant God The son of a slave (I’m sorry do we usually translate Mary as a servant?) The God of the found Family the God of Queer Joseph prancing around in their lady’s cloak.. coat of many colors
God sees and hears the trauma In the stories and sees the perspectives we miss Holding our hand as we untangle the narrative that we need to hear Helping us to get to a place of true sanctuary community and Shalom: wholeness, defragmentation, peace
Our God is the accessible God not contained to Jerusalem Ephraim God can be worshipped anywhere even in Samaria
And so God says–remember I am the immigrant God
And when David says Solomon says humans say I’ll build you a building God says Why would I EVER Want to be Contained in that
I’m really glad we listened to you on that one
Our God is the expanding God The one who turns the “bad Moabites” sterotype on it’s head with Ruth The one who contrasts the evil people from Uz with blameless Job the one who shows the wholeness of personhood Of foreigners and eunuchs (God of immigrants) with the magi and the baptistism of the African Eunuch And the Samaritans, those neighbors too like the Hebrews become “Good” in the neighbor parable of Jesus
God is a protest God who sends yelling Prophets and Fighting Judges of Justice and Well Endowed Women to back Jesus and his disciples
God is many things a mover a shaker a creator an artist someone helping those in the corner of your eye
Affirming the full personhood of all those you meet
What God is not is a Kingmaker A wealthproducer An institution creator a power propper
The Divine has no interest in human machinations they are but wisps and string Unimportant
God is interested in how people and relationships will flourish Giving life and personhood to all…. Moving in Unexpected ways (Which is probably why we think the Divine is so mystery)
Thank God for that!
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
God of Chosen Names Jesus Yesu El Shaddai God of Many Breasts; Y/Know the God of Many Mountains-Able to be Worshiped anywhere Otherwise translated as Almighty Abundant God Merciful God Purveyor of Peace Everlasting Guardian King of Kings Ruler of All Kin-dom Creator
God of Chosen Fam Sibling Maker Creator of Heirs The One who makes us all Heirs of Love
Creator of Peace the one who faces Trauma Hard Family Dynamics Gossip Rocky Friendships And walks with people With dirt between your toes and washes our feet dries our tears Sits with us
In silence Waits And calls us By our Chosen name
God of Compassion Empathy God of the in-between God of Grays Twilights Sunrises Sunsets Dragonflies Amphibians Marsupials Fungi Duck-Billed Platypi
God of the Blackholes Stardust God the quarks and leptons You are inst and amongst the rainbows Encouraging personification of self Co-creation, Naming You celebrate our being the Imago Dei and the DEI Diversity Equity and Inclusion
You are proud of all of your children You oo and ahh and shout with joy Proclaiming the fullness of your Trans* Queer Lesbian Gay Ace Nonbinary Intersex and Pansexual Children
You send angels before them (canonically nonbinary themselves) Proclaiming That they are Fierce And Wonderfully Made Saying Make way for them For they are Children of God
May the world Have ears to Hear And Hearts to Understand The beauty of your Creation Amen Amen!
Feel free to use/share adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”
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.
katyandtheword 