Liturgy

Come with your questions, come with your awe, for the
God who broods over the chaos meets us in this place.

Come with your energy, come with your weariness, for the
God who breathes new life into the dust meets us in this place.

Come with your sadness, come with your joy, for the
God who dared to become human meets us in this place.

Living and faithful Spirit, the God in
whom we live and move and have our
being, the God who is made known in
Christ Jesus, bless us one and all as
we wait on you this day.

Please remove from our minds and hearts
whatever impediments hinder worship or
dampen our joy. Increase within us that holy
longing for closeness which can open our lives
to fuller delight and to a deeper commitment.

May our hymns and prayers, our searching
thoughts, and our hearing of the Scriptures,
be a reminder of who you are, the one who
made and loves us as we are.

By you, with you and for you,
may our lives publish your praise.

We ask and pray in the name
of our God, the Creator,
of our Jesus, the Savior,
and of the Holy Spirit,
our advocate and guide.
Amen.

Community Confession

Master, Savior, Shepherd, Messiah —
we know you by many names, Lord.
Your presence fills our lives —
all that we are and all that we have
comes from you; all that you do
declares your love for us.

We are your people,
and we praise you, Lord.

Yet when trouble comes,
when adversity plagues us,
when apathy quells our fire,
we wonder where you are;
we even wonder who you are.
Forgive us, and call us back to you.

How quickly we forget
that you are always with us.
Forgive us, and call us back to you.

Dispel our gloom and despair.
Change our garments of darkness
into robes of dazzling light.
Call us back to you time and again.

Lead us in the patterns of faith and grace,
for it is in your name that we pray,
our God in community, holy in One.
Amen.

Sermon and Reflection

Sermon Podcast 11.12.17 – Thoughts on Prayer

What emotions or needs in my life might be trying to surface from my prayers about the other?
How can I have empathy for myself in my raw, angry moments?

Benediction

May you depart here knowing
the invitation of God, to move
from comfort to insecurity,
from what we know to what
we have yet to discover,

from where we have been
to where we have yet to go,
from safety to a place of risk.

Go in the name of Jesus, our Christ,
who said ‘follow me’ without saying
where he was going, only promising
transformation and relationship
with the Triune God along the way.

Live this week, praying and serving all
in the name of God, our Creator,
of Jesus, our Savior,
and of the Holy Spirit, our breath of life.
Amen.

Go in peace and live the church.
See you throughout the week.

[Photo by Robert Ogilvie @ Flickr]