Matthew 5 – katyandtheword

Dec 4th Love and Justice

Justice, Mercy & Light Extended Advent

Dec. 4
Esther Love Candle
Esther 4:1-17
For Such a Time as This, Esther was Made Queen
Matthew 5:13-16 Salt and Light
Psalm 89:1-13

Advent Candles Liturgy

Topical Prayer: Love, A Prayer for Such a Time as This

Call to Worship
God we need your justice
For such a time as this to light our way
When salt and light is not enough, Jesus we need you
Come, let us look for God
God we are looking for your love
Come, let us love God together

Call to Confession: God you call to your love in the good and the bad times. Come let ourselves to God

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that it is hard to come to you in uncertain times. How can anything be worthy of love at such a time as this? Who can sort out there feelings in this mess? We want time, to clean up, to get things in order, to research, to know things. God, you remind us that you are the city on the hill, not us. You are the salt in our food, not us. Be our salt and light, and remind us that we are allowed to be a mess and still love we pray. Amen

Assurance of Pardon: Jesus comes in the midst of emergencies, full of grace, so we know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven, right now. Amen.

Prayer of the Day, Dedication: God, remind us the Grace does not wait, because we need its immediacy. Let us go forth full of grace we pray. Let it spill from our hands, our mouths and feet as we go, so that we may become the very embodiment of your love. May this be our prayer as we go about the world. Amen.

Hymns: We Are One In the Spirit, Here I am Lord, O Come O Come Emmanuel, I Love the Lord Who Heard My Cry, I Wonder as I Wander, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

With Children: Warm Fuzzies https://reenchantements.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/warm-fuzzy-tale.pdf Sharing Love vs. Hate in times of Trial
I feel its very important to note that we call Dandelion fuzz: Wishies in my family and also link “warm fuzzies” to dandelion seeds

Image

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Full Extended Advent Resource

As the Rain Falls

The rain is falling today.

It’s indiscriminate. The rain doesn’t care who it falls on.

If you go out in the rain you will get wet.

It falls on the powerful and the meek.

It falls on the just and unjust

Yesterday the sun was shining

It didn’t care; the sun doesn’t care who it touches

If you went into the sun, you received it’s rays filled with vitamin D

It shone on those who were happy and those who mourned

It shone on those with COVID19 and those without alike.

Sometimes I feel caught up in my shoulds….

What should I be doing? How should I be feeling? Who should I be, now in the middle of this world crises.

God reminds me, God is my God, and the God of those who are angry, and the God of those who are terrified, or alone.

God is still my God when I feel those things. The sun still shines on me and the rain still makes me wet.

And if I’m just scraping to make ends meet: physically, monetarily, intellectually or emotionally. God is still my God then too.

You can’t be too anything for God: too good or too bad, too straight or too queer, too rich or too poor, too sad or too happy.

God promises, no matter what, God will be our God.

And I’m glad, in this time when I can’t touch many people–I can feel the drops of rain on my tongue and the warmth of the sun between my shoulders.

Remind me whoever I feel too much, or too little God that these are not your limits. Allow me to take comfort in the sun and the rain I pray. Amen.

Other Prayers and Resources for the Pandemic

#Rain #reLENTless #slatespeak

The righteous and the righteousness all dripping with Goddroplets.

Love is not exclusive. Everyone can love. Even this who do not believe in God, even those who are evil, the “bad guys” that my 5 year old likes to name. Even they can love the people who love them.

Look at the dictators of the world, many of them love. But then they also hate. They hate their enemies, they burn with the need to destroy.

God says to love our enemies. Love the neighbor, love the stranger, love the enemy.

The good news is there is NO gaps in the love of God.

The bad news is, there is NO gaps in the love of God.

When we go out in the storm that is God, we all get soaked in God’s love. The righteous and the righteousness all dripping with Goddroplets.

Image: Storm Goddess

Its a funny thing, that God is the storm, and the love is the water.

And yet, maybe that’s why we get baptized in water.

To remind us, when you go out in the storm, everyone gets soaked.