When God Seems Absent

We held virtual worship on Sunday, October 11, 2020 at 10am. You can watch a recording on our Facebook by clicking here, or you may watch below.

CALL TO WORSHIP

The Lord is here;

God’s Spirit is with us!

We need not fear;

God’s Spirit is with us!

We abide in peace;

God’s Spirit is with us!

We are immersed in love;

God’s Spirit is with us!

We continue in hope;

God’s Spirit is with us!

We rejoice in faith;

God’s Spirit is with us!

OPENING TO GOD Flickering Mind Denise Levertov

Lord, not you,
it is I who am absent.
At first
belief was a joy I kept in secret,
stealing alone
into sacred places:
a quick glance, and away—and back,
circling.
I have long since uttered your name
but now
I elude your presence.
I stop
to think about you, and my mind
at once
like a minnow darts away,
darts
into the shadows, into gleams that fret
unceasing over
the river’s purling and passing.
Not for one second
will my self hold still, but wanders
anywhere,
everywhere it can turn. Not you,
it is I who am absent.
You are the stream, the fish, the light,
the pulsing shadow,
you the unchanging presence, in whom all
moves and changes.
How can I focus my flickering, perceive
at the fountain’s heart
the sapphire I know is there?

YOUNG PEOPLE’S MESSAGE Danielle Sturgeon
TORAH Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” . . . .

The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?

. . . And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

REFLECTION     When God Seems Absent Mitchell & Barb
MUSIC   Marching to Zion music & photos
by Kathryn Parker
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK    Australian Catholic Social Justice Council
God of yesterday, today and tomorrow,
we call to mind your presence within us and around us.
Open our ears that we may hear your Word.
Open our hearts that we may understand your Word.
Open our mouths that we may speak your Word.
Inspire us with the gospel message,
that we may celebrate all that is life-giving,
restore hope where it has been lost,
and work to bring about change where it is needed.
May we live the gospel with courage, constancy, and love.
May we be open to the challenge of your call to true freedom.
May we be faithful to you in our daily choices and decisions.
May we make your love known
through our words and actions.
May the Triune God reign in our hearts, now and forever.