Worship September 20, 2020

A Service of Worship for September 20, 2020

Join the community Zoom worship service at 10AM: login information is on the Online Gatherings page: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html

A Service of Worship for September 20, 2020

The quality of human life on our planet
is nothing more than the sum total
of our daily interactions with one another.
Each time we help,
and each time we harm,
we have a dramatic impact on our world.
Because we are human,
some of our interactions will go wrong,
and then we will hurt or be hurt,
or both.
It is the nature of being human,
and it is unavoidable.
Forgiveness is the way we set those interactions right.
It is the way mend tears in the social fabric.
It is the way we stop our human community from unraveling.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Worship notes are included at the bottom of this page.

Worship Order

With this link you can make a donation to Covenant through PayPal or a credit card.

Adult Education - TODAY, 9AM
Bob Tucker will lead Adult Education with his talk titled: Saved. Again. And Again. Aspects of human sexuality misused does pop up in the news. More recently — Jeffrey Epstein’s island, human trafficking in Houston, revenge porn, and the sexual abuse of children in the Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptists churches and the Boy Scouts. For adults, one poll discovered that at least 75% of respondents said that infidelity was “always wrong.” So have we changed that much? Yet, for the most part, our society ignores what is happening and reflects the hushed attitude of the Victorian era.
Zoom links and materials are available on the Online Gatherings page on our website: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html

Quarterly Business Meeting 9-20-2020

Full worship service video for September 20:

Prelude
“Prelude No 2” by George Gershwin; Charlotte Bowers, piano.

Call to Worship

Opening Sentences
We do not need to wait many decades
to realize reconciliation and forgiveness.
We need a wake-up call now
in order not to allow hatred
to overwhelm our hearts.

Scripture Lesson: Exodus 14:10-15:21 & Matthew 18:21-35

Time for Children

Call to Confession

Unison Confession
To all that is sacred
We confess--
  our readiness to celebrate what sets us apart,
  and our reticence to acknowledge what we share with others.
We admit--
  being content with what makes us comfortable,
  and being afraid of what calls us to change.
We own up to--
  our attentiveness to the faults and hypocrisies of others,
  and our avoidance of our own weaknesses and shortcomings.
We ask for--
  the grace of forgiveness,
  and the courage to change.
Amen

Music
“God, Watching Over Israel,” Felix Mendelssohn; The Covenant Singers; David Lee conducting 11/10/2109.

Proclamation

Hymn
“What Does the Lord Require” by Albert F. Bayly; the Covenant Singers; Patrick Parker, Organ.

Prayer
O God of love,
Grant to your faithful ones the grace
To represent you effectively in our
Discordant world.

Give us courage enough
To put our lives on the line
In communicating truth and hope
To people all around us,

Wherever they may be found.
Where there is injustice,
May we diagnose its cause
And discover its cure.

Where there is bigotry and hatred,
Teach us to love and how to encourage others to love.

Where there is poverty,
Help us to share our wealth
That comes from your benevolence.

Where there is war and violence,
May we be peacemakers that help to lead those in conflict into
Lasting peace.

Help us, O God, to become
What you have called us and
Empowered us to become.

Where there is night,
May we become the rays
Of your sun that banish the gloom of lonely lives.

When we are besieged by disaster,
May our faith be anchored in your grace.

God, You are here in our world.
Your presence is reflected
In your creation that surrounds us.

But there are those
Who do not feel your concern
Or acknowledge your love.

Forbid, O God,
That we be deaf to the cries of the poor and indifferent to their needs.

May we identify With those who are oppressed
And help us to bear the burden
Of those who endure continuous suffering.

May we hear your voice of lovingkindness and may your loving touch be extended
through us, your faithful ones who are in this world to make known your all-inclusive love.
Amen

Adaptation of Psalm 72, by Arville Earl, High Point, N.C. published in the Alliance of Baptists “Prayers with the People"

Invitation

Prayer of Dedication
I dream a world where human
No other will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every human is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head,
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all humankind.

Affirmation of Faith
Justice is the social form of compassion.
As the social form of compassion,
justice is about politics,
not in the modern sense of electoral politics,
but in the sense suggested by the root of the English word.
It comes from the Greek word polis,
which means “city.”
Politics is about the shape and shaping,
the structure and the structuring of the city,
and by extension,
of human communities more generally,
ranging from the family to society as a whole.
As such, justice is the political form of compassion,
the social form of love.

Benediction

Postlude
“Andante” from Piano Sonata No. 16 in C Major, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Patrick Parker, piano.

Worship Notes

The worship leader is Linda Phenix.

The prelude is played by Charlotte Bowman Bowers, piano.

The Call to Worship is by Brad Aaron Modlin from “What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade.”

The Opening Sentences are by Thich Nhat Hanh.

“What Does the Lord Require” is led by The Covenant Singers.

The Unison Confession is by Jay Leach.

“God Watching Over Israel” by The Covenant Singers is from November 11, 2019.

The Prayer of Dedication is “I Dream A World”, a poem by Langston Hughes.

The Affirmation of Faith is by Marcus Borg.

Announcements

Sundays, September 20 and 27, we will be conducting worship a little different on these days. Please log into Zoom at 10:00 AM those two Sundays to worship together. When worship ends we will transition directly to coffee time using Zoom. For coffee time will use Zoom breakout rooms for small group discussions. While we hope to see you in worship these two Sundays, you will still be able to access the worship website at any time to watch individual videos of each element of worship or the whole worship service video. We will not have facebook coffee time these two Sundays. Zoom details will be on the Online Gatherings page: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html. This link will also be provided in the Sunday email and on the worship page. A password will be required. If you need help with your password, please email office@covenanthouston.org.

Sunday schedule for September 20 and 27:
9:00 - Adult Education with Zoom
10:00 - Worship together with Zoom
11:00 - Transition from worship to coffee time with Zoom