A Service of Worship for
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Worship notes are also included at the bottom of this page.
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Prelude
“Prelude” from Suite No. 1 in G major for unaccompanied cello by J. S. Bach; Susan Wegner, cello. Call to Worship Opening Sentences In the Christian sense, love is not primarily an emotion, but an act of the will. Jesus is telling us to love our neighbors in the sense of being willing to work for their well-being even if it means sacrificing our own well-being to that end, even if it means sometimes just leaving them alone. Thus in Jesus’ terms, we can love our neighbors without necessarily liking them. This does not mean that liking may not be a part of loving, only that it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes liking follows on the heels of loving. It is hard to work for people’s well-being very long without coming in the end to rather like them too. Scripture Lesson: John 14:1-14 Time for Children Call to Confession Unison Confession
God of Grace, Despite our best intentions, we are not certain that we want to tell the truth about our lives; or that we want others to enable us to tell the truth about our lives; or that we want relationship with you to reveal the truth about our lives. We say we are in pursuit of truth. We admit, however, that truth is often what we fear most, what we want least, what we avoid at all costs. But, God of grace, we also believe that it is truth that makes us free. So, in grace, lead us to the truth. With faith, give us courage to be truthful. Through love, do not let us go. Amen Music
“Bring Me Li’l’ Water, Sylvie,” African American Folk Song, Jeannie Gambill.
Proclamation |
Music
“He Comes to Us,” written by Jane Marshall; Eric Avera, tenor. Prayer Abide with us, holy one. Come and be among us. Fill our boundless sanctuary. Come to us, yet again and speak, “Follow Thou Me.” Holy one, may we hear you. May we hear you and may we follow in the way of love. This day we pray for the family of Ahmaud Arbery. We pray for the family of every black man and boy. We pray for all people of color. We pray for safety. And God, we pray for change. This slaughtering must stop. You showed us the way of love. The way of welcoming everyone. The way of peace. You continue to come among us, in each time and each place, showing us the way of justice and peace. Help us holy one, to follow. Abide with us. There is work to be done and we must do it. Now is the time. Racism is killing our siblings and we cannot remain silent or inert. Show us the way forward: the way of listening to our siblings of color, listening, believing, and honoring; the way of confronting racism whenever and wherever we encounter it; the way of acknowledging our own racism; the way of refusing to be defensive when we are confronted with internal racism; the way of working for justice beginning with ourselves. Abide with us this Mother’s Day when some are celebrating and some are mourning and some are doing both in equal measure. We pray our celebration of the gift of those who have nurtured us, cared for us, loved us. We pray for mothers struggling to feed their children, for mothers seeking safety, for mothers grieving for their children. We pray this day our gratitude for love and mothering that extends beyond the boundaries of blood, of biology, of age, of gender. Abide with us and bring comfort and healing; bring hope and a purpose; bring passion for the work of justice; bring demanding love. Amen - Laura Mayo
Invitation Prayer of Dedication We must make a choice. Will we continue to march to the drumbeat of conformity and respectability, or will we, listening to the beat of a more distant drum, move to its echoing sounds? Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul saving music of eternity? More than ever before we are today challenged by the words of yesterday, “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Affirmation of Faith There is no conflict between God and humanity, no hostility between spirit and body, no wedge between the holy and the secular. Humanity does not exist apart from God. The human is the borderline of the divine. Life passes on in proximity to the sacred, and it is this proximity that endows existence with ultimate significance. In our relation to the immediate we touch upon the most distant. Even the satisfaction of physical needs can be a sacred act. Perhaps the essential message of religion is that in doing the finite we may perceive the infinite. God is not hiding in a temple. The Torah came to tell attentive humanity: “You are not alone, you live constantly in a holy neighborhood; remember: ‘Love thy neighbor — God – as thyself.” We are not asked to abandon life and to say farewell to this world, but to keep the spark within aflame, and to suffer God’s light to reflect in our faces. Let our greed not rise like a barrier to this neighborhood. God is waiting on every road that leads from intention to action.
Music “Rise, My Soul and Stretch Thy Wings,” Rose Lange. Benediction This day, may we be filled with demanding love that will enable us to work for the peace for which we long. Postlude “Prelude and Chaconne in C,” by Dietrich Buxtehude; Patrick Parker, organ. |
Worship Notes
The worship leader is Sabrina Neff.
The prelude is played by Susan Wegner, cello.
The Call to Worship is “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou.
The Opening Sentences are from “Wishful Thinking” by Frederick Buechner.
The Unison Confession is by Jay Leach.
“Bring Me Li’l’ Water, Sylvie” is played by Jeannie Gambill.
“He Comes to Us” is sung by Eric Avera.
The Prayer of Dedication is from “Transformed Nonconformist” in Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Affirmation of Faith is adapted from Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion by Abraham Joshua Heschel.
“Rise, My Soul and Stretch Thy Wings” is sung by Rose Lange.
The postlude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.
The worship leader is Sabrina Neff.
The prelude is played by Susan Wegner, cello.
The Call to Worship is “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou.
The Opening Sentences are from “Wishful Thinking” by Frederick Buechner.
The Unison Confession is by Jay Leach.
“Bring Me Li’l’ Water, Sylvie” is played by Jeannie Gambill.
“He Comes to Us” is sung by Eric Avera.
The Prayer of Dedication is from “Transformed Nonconformist” in Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Affirmation of Faith is adapted from Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion by Abraham Joshua Heschel.
“Rise, My Soul and Stretch Thy Wings” is sung by Rose Lange.
The postlude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.
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