A Service of Worship for
November 8, 2020

"What message have you for young people?" 
asked Carl Stern of NBC 
in concluding a television interview
with Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel 
shortly before his death.  
Rabbi Heschel replied,
"Let them remember that there is a meaning beyond absurdity.  
Let them be sure that every deed counts, 
that every word has power, 
and that we all can do our share 
to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities 
and all frustrations 
and all disappointments.  
And above all, [let them] remember . . . 
to build a life as if it were a work of art."
Worship notes are included at the bottom of this page and in the Worship Order located at the link below.
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Adult Education - TODAY,  9AM
Travis Hicks and Ginger Clarkson have been conducting meditation sessions as a team at Covenant (pre-COVID era) and now virtually for the past year. This Sunday in Adult Education Travis will discuss the complimentary heart practices such as metta or loving-kindness meditation. The discussion will include ways in which this practice balances and compliments vipassana practice and its historical origins. There will be an opportunity and invitation to try a guided meditation.
​
​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 and then transition into “rooms" for coffee time. 
​Log in details on the Online Gatherings page. 
Prelude
"There is a Spirit That Delights to Do No Evil," Ned Rorem;  Patrick Parker, organ.

​Call to Worship

Opening Sentences
Yes, Jesus, 
I want to be on your right side or your best side,
not for any selfish reason.
I want to be on your right or your best side,
not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition,
but I just want to be there in love and justice
and in truth and in commitment to others,
so that we can make of this old world 
a new one.

​Scripture Lesson: Genesis 13, Zechariah 7 and Philippians 4.

​Time for Children
This video features some of our Youth reading and acting out a book to inspire you!

Confession
Unison Confession
Gentle God, we bring before you our sinful selves
And our need for reconciliation with others.
We have done deeds we deeply regret.
We have spoken words that have hurt others.
We have trapped ourselves in false expectations, and 
we have accepted transient goods 
to satisfy our deepest longings.
We have failed to reach out hand and heart
to others in need.
We have not believed in ourselves.
Call us to salvation, God,
and help us be at peace with all your children.
Amen.

Music
"Set Me as a Seal," Rene Clausen; The Covenant Singers, Fran Avera, Director. 
​Proclamation
​Prayer
​​​
​Invitation 
​​
​Prayer of Dedication 
Break up the hard-packed soil of our nation, God,
and let there be shoots of new life.
Deliver us from the narrow ways
that speak of “we” and “they,”
that rest upon ignorance or apathy.
Deliver us from silence
when faithful people must speak out,
when old truths need repeating
and division may be bridged by insight.
Deliver us from the noise of too much busyness
with too little purpose,
from pleasure seeking that is self-centered
rather than renewing,
from wealth while much of the world is impoverished.
Prepare us for the peace that grows out of reconciliation,
for the change that matters and is constructive, and
for the service that binds us into human community.  Amen.

​Doxology

​Affirmation of Faith
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts.  
It is even beyond our vision.  
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fragment 
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
 
We cannot do everything, 
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.  
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace
to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;
​ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

Benediction

Postlude
"Andante," from Sonata No. 1 in C Minor,  Josef Rheinberger;  Patrick Parker, organ.
Worship Notes

The worship leader is Patricia Martin.

The Call to Worship is by Jeremy Rutledge.

The guest proclaimer is Bill Martin.

The Opening Sentences are from Martin Luther King’s sermon, “The Drum Major Instinct,” in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by James Washington.

The Unison Confession is from An Improbable Gift of Blessing: Prayers and Affirmations to Nurture the Spirit, edited by Maren C. Tirabassi and Joan Jordan Grant.

“Set Me as a Seal” sung by The Covenant Singers, Fran Avera, directing; from April 29, 2019.

The Prayer of Dedication is from Worship for All Seasons.

The Affirmation of Faith is by Oscar Romero, assassinated archbishop of El Salvador.

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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