Call to Worship (from Philippians 2) We have come to seekEncouragement in Christ,Consolation from love,Sharing in the Spirit.God receives us with compassion.We receive each other with sympathy.May our joy be complete as we gather together in worship. Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon from Matthew 21:28-32 When we care more about looking good than…
We gather in worship to give thanks to God,To call on the Holy name,To sing praises to God,To remember God’s wonderful works.We gather in worship because our hearts seek the Holy One.We watch for signs of God’s presence.As our ancestors were led with the cloud by day and fire by night,God guides us with the…
God, Fill us with your Spiritthat we might have courage—Courage to be vulnerable,To risk being wrong;Courage to speak hard truths,And to accept them;Courage to lead through uncertainty,And to ask for help when we need it;Courage to try something new,And to try something again;Courage to take up our cross,And to follow you, regardless.It is a frightening…
O give thanks to the Holy One, who is good;God’s steadfast love endures forever!Let the church say,“God’s steadfast love endures forever.”Let us all proclaim,“God’s steadfast love endures forever.”In our distress we can call on our Creatorwho will answered us and set us in a broad place—A place of prayer and singing, a place of listening…
Almighty, suffering God,whose love for us extends from the heights of heavento the depths of Mary’s womband even into the darkness of the grave,Receive now these prayers we offer at the foot of your cross:For those, like Jesus, who must flee their homelands for fear of violence.For those, like Jesus, with no place to lay…
Here is a call to worship for Good Friday that I adapted from a piece I wrote several years ago: In this holy week, on this holy night,We come to be present with Jesus in his suffering.With the glory of Palm Sunday behind us and the victory of Easter not yet come,We gather with our…
Here is a “stations of Holy Week” service we did several years ago at Peace Mennonite. It takes people through the story of Holy Week through Jesus’ burial. It will need to be adapted for different theological and logistical contexts, but I hope you find the overall structure and simplified readings helpful if you hope…
Seek the Holy One, who may be found;Call upon God, who is near. Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts,Nor are God’s ways our ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than our ways and God’s thoughts than our thoughts. The holy word that goes out shall not return empty,but it shall…
For those of you keeping track at home, I’ve been trying to post some liturgical pieces each Wednesday. Usually it’s something I’ve written that connects to the week’s lectionary text(s) (or not). But this week, instead of sharing one or two pieces, I want to share an entire web site: Full disclosure: I recently joined…
We’re not using the Narrative Lectionary at Peace Mennonite right now, but I love this week’s reading on the parables of the Kingdom in Matthew 12:24-43. So I wrote a little something as a reflection on this passage. Honestly, I’m not sure exactly what it is–not quite a prayer, certainly not long enough for a…
Spacious Faith 