We held worship on Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 10am! You may watch a recording on Facebook by clicking here, or you may watch below.
Quote for Reflection:
“I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered something Father Tom had told me–that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.”
“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” Anne Lamott
CALL TO WORSHIP
HYMN Christ Is Alive UMH 318
CALL TO WORSHIP
Lighter of lights – illumine us
Fire of fires – thaw us
Power of powers – strengthen us
Lover of lovers – warm us
Teller of tales – encourage us
Destroyer of darkness – save us
Touchstone of truth – examine us
Summoner of stars – amaze us
Wellspring of wisdom – weather us
Water of life – refresh us
Dancer of days – delight in us
Breath of the universe – bless us, as we gather to worship.
HYMN O Living God W&S 3089
OPENING TO GOD Steve Garnaas-Holmes
He was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. —Acts 1:9
God raised Christ from the dead
and seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenly places . . .
The mystery of God’s will… is to gather up all things in Christ. —Ephesians 1:20, 10
Christ, risen and ascended,
you are no longer one person, but the whole.
Christ, you are raised bodily,
and your Body now is us,
and all Creation.
Loving One,
may I live this day
as your body, your flesh and blood.
As the only purpose of my hand
is to be my hand, to move as I will,
so my only purpose today
is to be your hand, your eyes,
to touch and to bless,
to create and to heal, as you will,
as your Spirit moves me,
one with my whole Body,
gathered in your grace,
the flesh of Christ,
the flesh of Creation,
the body of your love.
YOUNG PEOPLE’S MESSAGE
ACTS LESSON Acts 1:1-11
In my earlier account, dear Theophilus, I dealt with everything that Jesus had done and taught, from the beginning until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After the Passion, Jesus appeared alive to the apostles – confirmed through many convincing proofs – over the course of forty days, and spoke to them about the reign of God.
On one occasion, Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem. “Wait, rather, for what God has promised, of which you have heard me speak,” Jesus said. “John baptized with water, but within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
While meeting together they asked, “Has the time come, Rabbi? Are you going to restore sovereignty to Israel?” Jesus replied, “It’s not for you to know times or dates that Abba God has decided. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.”
Having said this, Jesus was lifted up in a cloud before their eyes and taken from their sight. They were still gazing up into the heavens when two messengers dressed in white stood beside them. “You Galileans – why are you standing here looking up at the skies?” they asked. “Jesus, who has been taken from you – this same Jesus will return, in the same way you watched him go into heaven.”
REFLECTION Wise, Present, and Kind Barb and Mitch
HYMN Christ, From Whom All Blessings Flow UMH 384
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Prayer Song from Ghana
Journeying God,
pitch your tent with ours
so that we may not become deterred
by hardship, strangeness, doubt.
Show us the movement we must make
toward a wealth not dependent on possessions,
toward a wisdom not based on books,
toward a strength not bolstered by might,
toward a God not confined to heaven.
Help us to find ourselves as we walk in other’s shoes. Amen.
SHARING PRAYERS & LORD’S PRAYER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BENEDICTION Joyce Rupp, mod.
Disturbing God—
Wake us up
To what needs doing,
And what needs undoing.
Wake us up
To what must be let go,
And to what to draw closer.
Wake us up to what enlarges love
And what diminishes it.
In all parts of our life,
Disturb and wake us up and send us out
to Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.
RESPONSE Halle Halle Halle FWS 2026a
POSTLUDE
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