A Service of Worship for
The Second Sunday of Lent
February 28, 2021
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Adult Education - TODAY, 9AM
Today, Lisa Spiro will share her spiritual journey with us. We hope you can join! Zoom link is available on the Online Gatherings page on our website: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html Full worship service video:
COFFEE TIME Gathering on Zoom
Today, 11AM We will begin as a large group before we transition into “rooms" for coffee time. Log in details on the Online Gatherings page. |
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Prelude
"Jesus, Still Lead On" by Gerald Near. Andrew Bowen, organ. Call to Worship Opening Sentences We are called on not to mirror but to challenge culture, not to sustain but to upend the status quo, and if that to some sounds overly bold, isn’t it true that God is always beckoning us toward horizons we aren’t sure we want to reach? Scripture Lesson: Mark 8:27-38 Time for Children Confession Unison Confession
Listen! I will be honest with you. I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but I offer rough new prizes. These are the days that must happen to you: You shall not heap up what is called riches, You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve. However sweet the laid-up stores. However convenient the dwelling, You shall not remain there. However sheltered the port, and however calm the waters, You shall not anchor there. However welcome the hospitality that welcomes you, You are permitted to receive it but a little while. Afoot and lighthearted, take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before you, The long brown path before you leading wherever you choose. Say only to one another: Camerado, I give you my hand! I give you my love more precious than money, I give you myself before preaching or law: Will you give me yourself? Will you come travel with me? Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?
Music "Forth in Thy Name" words by Charles Wesley, music by Judy Sclater. The Covenant Singers, directed by Fran Avera. Carl McAliley, organ. |
Proclamation
Prayer We build on foundations we did not lay We warm ourselves by fires we did not light We sit in the shade of trees we did not plant We drink from wells we did not dig We profit from persons we did not know This is as it should be. Together we are more than any one person could be. Together we can build across the generations. Together we can renew our hope and faith in the life that is yet to unfold. Together we can heed the call to a ministry of care and justice. We are ever bound in community. May it always be so. Amen By Rev. Peter Raible and inspired by Deuteronomy 6:11 Invitation
Prayer of Dedication May I, may you, may we not die unlived lives. May none of us live in fear of falling or catching fire. May we choose to inhabit our days, to allow our living to open us, to make us less afraid, more accessible, to loosen our hearts until they become wings, torches, promises. May each of us choose to risk our significance; to live so that what comes to us as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to us as blossom, goes on as fruit. Doxology
Affirmation of Faith Through Jesus’ life and teachings we see that God’s power consists not in coercion but in God’s willingness to forgive and have mercy. God wills nothing less than that men and women should love their enemies and forgive one another. Jesus challenged both the militaristic and ritualistic notions of what God’s kingdom required. He issued this challenge not only through his teaching but through his life. The announcement of the reality of the kingdom, its presence here and now, is embodied in life. In him we see that living a life of forgiveness and peace is not an impossible ideal but an opportunity now present. Benediction Postlude "The Wayfaring Stranger" Old Southern Melody, arr. Cindy Berry. Karen Kline, piano. |
Worship Notes
The worship leader is Amy Corron.
The Lent banner was created by Nancy Henry.
The prelude is played by Andrew Bowen, organ.
The Call to Worship is from War Talk by Arundhati Roy.
The Opening Sentences are from Credo by William Sloane Coffin.
The Unison Confession is from “Song of the Open Road” by Walt Whitman.
The Covenant Singers sang “Forth in Thy Name,” directed by Fran Avera, from November 16, 2014.
The Prayer of Dedication is a prayer by Dawna Markova from Prayers for a Thousand Years edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon.
The postlude is played by Karen Kline, piano.
The worship leader is Amy Corron.
The Lent banner was created by Nancy Henry.
The prelude is played by Andrew Bowen, organ.
The Call to Worship is from War Talk by Arundhati Roy.
The Opening Sentences are from Credo by William Sloane Coffin.
The Unison Confession is from “Song of the Open Road” by Walt Whitman.
The Covenant Singers sang “Forth in Thy Name,” directed by Fran Avera, from November 16, 2014.
The Prayer of Dedication is a prayer by Dawna Markova from Prayers for a Thousand Years edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon.
The postlude is played by Karen Kline, piano.
Sunday schedule for today:
9:00 - Adult Education with Zoom
10:00 - Worship via videos on the Worship Page
11:00 - Transition from worship to coffee time with Zoom
9:00 - Adult Education with Zoom
10:00 - Worship via videos on the Worship Page
11:00 - Transition from worship to coffee time with Zoom
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