A Service of Worship for
January 3, 2021

 Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it
listen for what it intends to do with you.

We have the deep joy of knowing that we are here on earth to be the gifts that God created.

With courage and grace may we find "the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need."

Today we will let our lives speak. 


Frederick Buechner and Parker Palmer


Worship notes are included at the bottom of this page and in the Worship Order located at the link below.
With this link you can make a donation to Covenant through PayPal or a credit card. 
Adult Education - TODAY,  9AM
​This Sunday will feature Ben Ball’s spiritual journey. Ben is a relatively new member of our Covenant community. On the following two Sundays in January Ben will guide us in two sessions exploring our own life experience of theology, topics to be announced as we move into the new year.

​​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 and discuss the elements of worship we find particularly meaningful. After that, we will transition into “rooms" for coffee time. 
​Log in details on the Online Gatherings page. 
Prelude
"The Old Year is Passed Away," by Marcel Dupré; Patrick Parker, organ. 

​Call to Worship

Opening Prayer
O God,
who am I now? 
Once, I was secure in familiar territory, 
in my sense of belonging,
unquestioning of the norms of my culture,
the assumptions built into my language,
the values shared by my society.
But now you have called me out and away from
home and I do not know where you are leading.
I am empty, unsure, uncomfortable. 
I have only a beckoning star to follow.
Journeying God,
pitch your tent with mine
so that I may not become deterred
by hardship, strangeness, doubt.
Show me the movement I 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
but scandalously earthed, poor, unrecognized.
Help me find myslef
as I walk in others' shoes. 

​Scripture Lesson: John 1:1-18

​Time for Children

Confession
Unison Confession
Why me, God? 
Right in the middle of a strange, mixed-up world.
And with this nagging awareness within me
that you want me
to do something
or say something
or be something
that will make a difference.
It may not change the course of history--
but it may change the course of some life.
And I am obligated to respond to your call.
Why me, God? 

​I don't know why. I only know the unrest,
the divine discontent,
the eagerness on one hand to charge off in service for you,
and the agony on the other of not knowing what direction.
Why me, God?
And what, what would you have me do? 
Music
"The Cloths of Heaven," by Thomas F. Dunhill and W.B. Yeats; Kathleen Avera Trail, mezzo-soprano, Carl McAliley, piano. 
​Proclamation
Hymn
"In the Bleak Midwinter," by Gustav Theodore Hoist, Christina Rossetti, alt.; led by Carl McAliley, organ. 
​
​Prayer
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.
- Howard Thurman
​Invitation
​
​Prayer of Dedication
We need to be explorers of our own inner lives.
We need to get beyond our own egos;
     to withdraw the shadow-projections
     that constantly involve us in making enemies out of 
​     others; 
     to learn how to forgive and seek forgiveness; 
     to rejoin our souls and our work
     by living examined lives. 

Doxology
​
Affirmation of Faith
We expect to do the work of God - a God we believe is real
     But we no longer seek to define this God as a 
     supernatural person.
We believe instead that we can experience this God
     when we are agents of life, love, and being to each 
     other. 
For the God we worship, the God we see in Jesus,
     is revealed in the personhood of everyone.
This God calls us all to be the incarnation of love.
     We do this by working to embrace the humanity of 
     every person, free the life present in every person
     and celebrate the being of every person.
     Through these actions we discern the presence of
     divine footprints and know that God has been
     among us. 

Benediction

Postlude
  "In Thee Is Joy," by Marcel Dupré; Patrick Parker, organ. 
Worship Notes
The worship leader is Nancy Preston.

The prelude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.

The Call to Worship is “Briefly It Enters, and Briefly Speaks” by Jane Kenyon. 

The Opening Prayer is by Kate Compston printed in Soul Weavings: A Gathering of Women's Prayers, edited by Lyn Klug.

The Unison Confession is by Jo Carr and Imogene Sorley in Soul Weavings: A Gathering of Women's Prayers edited by Lyn Klug.

“The Cloths of Heaven” by Kathleen Avera Trail, mezzo-soprano; Carl McAliley, piano

The Prayer of Dedication is adapted from Teaching with Heart and Soul: Reflections on Spirituality in Teacher Education by Parker Palmer.

The Affirmation of Faith is adapted from A New Christianity for a New World by John Shelby Spong.

The postlude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.
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

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