​A Service of Worship for
Reformation Sunday
October 25, 2020

“A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”    

 “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say."

“If you preach the gospel in all its aspects with the exception of the issues that deal specifically with your time, you are not preaching the Gospel at all.” 

Martin Luther
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
Today we will feature a talk by Mark P. Jones, Ph.D., fellow in political science at the Baker Institute and the Joseph D. Jamail Professor in the Department of Political Science at Rice University. Professor Jones is a frequent commentator in local, state, national and international media on government, politics and public policy.
​
The presentation will cover the race for the White House and battle for control of the U.S. Senate at the federal level. At the state level, the focus will be on the Democratic effort to flip the Texas House as well as what to watch at the congressional level, from the U.S. Senate contest to the most competitive U.S. House races. 
​
​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
“Air from Orchestral Suite No 3. D major BWV 1068 " by J. S. Bach; Patrick Parker, organ.

​Call to Worship

Opening Sentences
I wonder if we could take this day
for the prayer that it is
and give ourselves to it fully

our time, 
our energy, 
and our money

offered in the name
of what is really sacred to us.

Amen.

​Scripture Lesson: Psalm 90 and John 3:1-8

​Time for Children

Confession
Unison Confession
In times of struggle, God, 
you call us to give support;
in times of uncertainty,
you call us to offer a clear vision;
in times of despair,
you call us to speak a word of hope.

Bless the good in all we give,
and bless our gifts of money, 
that they may bring closer your dream
of justice and peace.  
Amen.
​
Music
"Meditation" composed by Frank Bridge; Susan Wegner, cello; Patrick Parker, piano.

​Proclamation

Hymn
​"O Christ the Great Foundation" Words by Timothy Tingfang Lew, translated by Frank W. Price; Tune; Aurelia; led by Patrick Parker, organ and the Covenant Singers. 
Prayer
Most holy, gracious, great, all loving and ever-present God, hear our prayers:
 
For those who have known too much unexpected death.
For the children who in a matter of days experienced more than any one should in years.
 
Hear our prayers for those whose world has been graphically, and in some ways grotesquely, changed by the death and infection of a germ and the failure of government that caters to those addicted to greed.
 
May we who know justice and compassion. May we repent for those who have let the viruses racism, lust for power, and lies make a difficult situation worse.
May those who have gone along with the lies just to please narcissism break free and tell the truth.
 
May we who can simply change our schedules to meet the challenge of COVID-19 remember those whose entire lives are totally turned upside down and disrupted.
 
May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable because of the wounds and fissures of racism and entrenched poverty.
 
May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who own no home of their own and must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
 
May we who can stay in and care for our children when their schools closed remember those who have no options at all.
 
May we who are not essential workers remember those doctors, nurses, janitors, deliverers and others whose names have changed from service workers to essential workers.
 
May we repent for and challenge the powers that refuse to give essential workers the essential things they need to be protected from this lethal virus.
 
May we beg forgiveness for being a nation that does not provide health care as a human right. Help us own our social sickness of greed, call sin what it is, and turn from its wicked ways to become the healers you call us to be.
 
May we who are losing our margin in the tumult of this economic market remember those who have no margin at all.
 
As business owners, governors and a president, force low wage workers to make a decision between staying home to live or going to work and risking death, loose the power of the Holy Ghost to bring to remembrance that which you said:
 
If you get rid of unfair practices,
   quit blaming victims,
   quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
   and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
   your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
(Isaiah 58)
 
Remind us in this moment you are calling on us to choose the society you desire, which cares for the least of these.
​
As fear grips our country,
Let us choose love, justice, grace and truth.
 
In the midst of misery, by your Spirit inspire us to yet believe in miracles. During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of Our God to our neighbors.
 
Strengthen us, O God. Use us, O God. Save us, O God. For we know that you are a very present help in the time of trouble. Amen.
 
- Bishop William J. Barber I
​​
​Invitation 

​Call to Stewardship
For more information on the 2021 operating budget you can see our Treasurer’s video at the bottom of this worship page or on the Financial Documents page of the Member Area. 
​​
​Prayer of Dedication 
Source of all being,
we turn to You as did our people in ancient days.
They beheld You in the stars,
they felt You in their hearts,
they sought You in their lives.

Now their quest is ours.
Help us, O God, to see the wonder of being.
Give us courage to search for truth.
Teach us the path to a better life.
So shall we, by our lives and labors,
bring nearer to realization the great hope
inherited from ages past, 
for a world transformed by liberty, justice, and peace.

​Doxology

​Affirmation of Faith
​As every reader knows,
the Gospels are overwhelmingly concerned 
with the conduct of human life,
of life in the human commonwealth.
Jesus is asking his followers to see that the way
to a more abundant life is the way of love.

We are to love one another,
and this love is to be more comprehensive 
than our love for family and friends and tribe and nation. This is to be a practical love;
it is to be practiced; here and now.
Love evidently is not just a feeling but is indistinguishable from the willingness to help,
to be useful to one another.

The way of love is indistinguishable,
moreover, from the way of freedom. 
We don’t need much imagination to imagine 
that to be free of hatred, of enmity, of the endless and hopeless effort to oppose violence with violence, 
​would be to have life more abundantly.

Benediction

Postlude
“Chaconne in F Minor” by Johann Pachelbel; 
Patrick Parker, organ.
Worship Notes

The worship leader is Brooke Longoria.

Our guest proclaimer today is the Rev. Dr. James Forbes. He is the Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church, an interdenominational church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. He was the first African American minister to lead this multicultural congregation, and served it for 18 years. We join with other Alliance of Baptists churches around our country in hearing from Rev. Dr. Forbes this morning.

The Call to Worship is “An Invitation to Reformation” written by Rev. Aretha R. Flucker, who is the Director of Community and Spiritual Life at Brite Divinity School and serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance. Laura and Aretha have served together on an Alliance committee.
The Opening Sentences are by Jeremy Rutledge.
​
The Unison Confession is from Worship for All Seasons, edited by Thomas Harding.

“Meditation” is played by Susan Wegner, cello; Patrick Parker, organ. 

“O Christ the Great Foundation” is led by The Covenant Singers, Patrick Parker, organ

The Prayer of Dedication is from Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayer Book, the 1975 Prayer Book of the Central Conference of Reformed Rabbis.

The Affirmation of Faith is adapted from “Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Christ’s Teachings About Love, Compassion, and Forgiveness” by Wendell Berry. Wendell Berry is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. He calls himself an eccentric Christian.

The picture in the photo at the top of the page was drawn by the Longoria family.

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
2021 Operating Budget Presentation - Kristy Kyle, Treasurer
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