We come to you Lord Arms outstretched in praise Hands clenched in frustration Jesus you were always an outsider, isolated For those that feel disconnected, We pray a sense of home and belonging For those that are lonely, Who feel like they haven’t found their kin The Sequoias whisper your ancient wisdoms The waves lap at the shore in peace, peace, peace You know all the constellations, Creator Everything in time Amongst the Sequoias, the sea, the stars, We break out in discord We fissure like fault lines Seethe like magma Savior, Help us Our actions betray the Son of Man Babel cannot understand one another So to, we cannot understand our brothers and sisters But we pray to meet them with grace For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God Jesus, for the stamina of our representatives That speak your name For the good trouble For Spring For Rebirth For making all things new We lift our hands and pray In the name of a Savior of expanse A Christ that embraces difference and rebukes the wicked And a triune God that came back from the dead Amen. (Vox Prayer Team)
Scripture
We invite you to hear from the Gospel according to Luke 22:47-54 47 While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?” 49 When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” 50 Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as though I were a rebel? 53 When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour and the power of darkness!” 54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house.
The Good News of the Lord. Thanks be to God! The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.
How might we draw courage from Jesus’ response to violence?
How might you practice nonviolence toward yourself this week?
Which violent patterns might you wish to interrupt?
Benediction
Let us close with a benediction Lord, we remember the prophets spoke your name And waited Like a farmer waits for the first rain—so to we wait For the Earth has seen it all The fire, The fissures, It has seen wanderers and the displaced come back home In the name of a Spirit of Spring A Christ of peace, peace, peace And a Creator that goes to prepare rooms, for all their children Amen. (Vox Prayer Team)
Tethered to Belonging Part 2 October 18, 2026 Liturgy Brandon Kinder continues our fall vision series, Tethered to Belonging: A Theology for Wanderers, Skeptics, and Believers, by exploring our relationship with Scripture through Psalm 1. Drawing on poetry, ancient…
Tethered to Belonging Part 1 October 11, 2026 Liturgy Vanessa Maleare launches our fall vision series, Tethered to Belonging: A Theology for Wanderers, Skeptics and Believers, with a reflection on unity in diversity. Drawing from Philippians 2:1–8, she invites…
Oh, Skybala! October 4, 2026 Liturgy Lynn Osgood continues her series, God in Ordinary Places, and walks us through Jesus' parable of the tenants, a story set in an ordinary workplace, where everything the tenants fight…
