We held virtual worship at 10:00am on Sunday, January 17, 2021! You may watch a recording by clicking here to watch on Facebook, or you may watch below.
The ultimate weakness of violence
is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.Martin Luther King, jr.
CALL TO WORSHIP (based on a poem by Howard Thurman)
People of God, rejoice! We live sustained by God’s presence!
Thanks be to God!
As we mourn the wounds of God’s children,
God weeps with us.
As we struggle for justice,
God struggles with us.
As we strive for peace,
God strives with us.
As we work to build the beloved community,
God works with us.
As we offer our gifts to all,
God blesses us.
Sisters and brothers, rejoice.
Sustained by God’s presence and love we worship God.
OPENING TO GOD
Most holy and merciful God: we acknowledge and confess our slowness to do good, our blindness to injustice, and our complicity in deferring the dreams and hopes of the oppressed. We have refused to heed your call to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you, our God.
(silence)
We condemn racial injustice in our pronouncements, yet we cling to the privileges derived from inequity. When we ought to be ashamed of our failures, we prefer to cling to private, selfish, imprisoning desires. We participate in our own oppression.
(silence)
Help us to name our sin, to claim responsibility for our actions, and to change our behavior. In accordance with the commands of Jesus Christ our savior, shake us from our sleep with your imperative to do justice; move us to action with the compassion of your grace; and give us courage to pay the price, however painful or costly, that the peace, justice, and mercy you desire may be done, on earth as in heaven. Amen.
YOUNG PEOPLE’S MESSAGE The Aroma of Christ Danielle Sturgeon & family
GOSPEL LESSON John 1:35-46
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’
He said to them, ‘Come and see.’
They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’
Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’
REFLECTION Come and See Mitchell & Barb
MUSIC Quiet Devotion Music & photos by Kathryn Parker
REAL WORLD EPIPHANIES Liz Rochefort
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Beloved, you have not given up on us.
Shine your light within us.
Crucified One, you have been here before.
Sustain us with your presence.
Give us the wholeheartedness
to mourn our brokenness
and then to rise and get to work.
Give us the resilience to stay faithful,
even in the shadow of evil,
to do justice and to love mercy.
Loving One, lead us.
Redeem our fear, redirect our despair
and revive our spirits.
Give us hope and dissatisfaction.
Give us strength and patience.
Give us humility and courage.
Give us love that will not quit
in the face of evil.
Be among us, be with us, be in us.
Faithful God, hold our hearts in yours,
and grant us your peace.
Amen.
SHARING PRAYERS & LORD’S PRAYER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Sing Praises for the Coming Year music & photos
by Kathryn Parker
