We held virtual worship on Sunday, October 18, 2020 at 10am. You may watch a recording on Facebook by clicking here, or you may watch below.
CALL TO WORSHIP
We come to this time, to this place
with our loves and our losses,
with our almost given-up hopes,
with our long frustrations and unexpected joys.
We come before God
We come before God in praise and thanksgiving!
We come to this time, to this place,
trusting in the God we meet in Jesus Christ,
the God who will not leave us in discouragement and doubt,
but lifts up our hearts to the hope of new life.
We come before God. . .
We come before God in praise and thanksgiving.
We come to this time, to this place
with hands hungry for a closer touch,
with hearts yearning for a transforming experience,
with souls aching for what only God can provide.
We come before God. . . .
We come before God in praise and thanksgiving.
OPENING TO GOD Wild Geese Mary Oliver
Read by Narda Carlson
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
GOSPEL & YOUNG PEOPLE’S MESSAGE Luke 15:1-7
Danielle Sturgeon & Family
PSALTER Psalm 42
Like a stag, a doe,
longing for streams of cool water,
my whole being longs for you, my God.
My soul aches with thirst for God,
for a god that lives!
When can I go and see God face to face?
My only food, day or night, is my tears;
they recriminate me:
‘Where is your God?’ they say.
These things I remember
as I pour out my soul like water—
how I’d go with the crowds
and lead them into God’s house,
amid cries of gladness and thanksgiving,
drunk with the dance of celebration.
‘Why so dispirited?’ I ask myself.
‘Why so churned up inside? Hope in God!’
I know I’ll praise God once again,
for you are my Deliverance;
you are my God.
This is why my heart despairs:
I remember other days with you,
in the land of Jordan, on Mount Hermon
and the Hill of Mizar.
The primeval Deep is echoing
in the sound of your waterfalls;
your torrents rage and break over me,
overwhelming me.
Every day, God, you ordain your love toward me,
and during the night you bring me your song.
In my prayers to the God of my life,
I say to God, my rock: ‘Why have you forgotten me?
Why do you keep me in mourning,
oppressed by an unseen enemy?’
My bones are shattered by their words.
Foes taunt me constantly:
‘Where is your God?’ they say.
’Why so dispirited?’ I ask myself.
‘Why so churned up inside? Hope in God!’
I know I’ll praise God once again,
for you are my Deliverance;
you are my God.
REFLECTION The Blues of the Bible Mitchell & Barb
MUSIC Open My Eyes music & photos
by Kathryn Parker
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
SHARING PRAYERS
LORD’S PRAYER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Praise the Triune God music & photos
by Kathryn Parker
