A Service of Worship for September 27, 2020
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Join the community Zoom worship service at 10AM: login information is on the Online Gatherings page: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html
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 27, 2020only to watch it unfold and unfold and unfold through the ages. Joan Chittister Worship notes are included at the bottom of this page.
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Adult Education - TODAY, 9AM
Zoom link is available on the Online Gatherings page onour website: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html Full worship service video for September 27:
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Prelude
“Andante Grazioso" Call to Worship Opening Prayer In this uncertain time, When the past has fled, unasked, away, And there is nothing left to do but wait, God, shelter us. Be our surrounding darkness; Be our fertile soil Out of which hope springs In due time. In uncertain times, Help us to greet the dawn And labor on, love on, In faith awaiting your purpose Hid in you Waiting to be born In due time. Scripture Lesson: Matthew 21:23-32 Time for Children Call to Confession Unison Confession
Who is my neighbor? The one who needs me. This is true religion: to take care of those who are in need. And yet, we (you and I and the rest of the American church), are not known for our love. No - we are known for our judgmental, Close-minded, pretentious fears. This is our shame! My friends, we cannot continue only loving the ones who look like us, who talk like us, who believe what we believe, and act like we act. We must reach across the aisle with love for the very people we disagree with. Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. Let us live a life worthy of the life-giving love we have been given. Music “Spring Song,” Frank Bridge; Susan Wegner, cello; Patrick Parker, piano. Proclamation
Hymn “Awake, Awake to Love and Work” by Geoffrey Anketel Studdert Kennedy; the Covenant Singers. |
Prayer
God of Our Ancestors, You call us by your mercy and claim us with your truth. In these days of protest and pandemic, show us that you have made each of us in your image. Show us what it means that even now, your kingdom is breaking into the world. Even in these days, show us how to sing and praise and pray to you. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers. God of Our Present, We recognize that we are called to join you in the journey. Teach us how to follow you. Make yourself known to us. Make yourself known to those fighting and fleeing wildfires on the West Coast of the United States, as well as those who are living with the aftermath of devastating flames and red skies of smoke. Make yourself known to those grappling with COVID-19, whether they are at home or in hospital beds, prison cells or nursing homes, science labs or health institutes or non-profit organizations. We give you thanks for those within the African Union, New Zealand, and other regions where communities are collectively, compassionately working so well to contain and curtail the virus in their midst. We pray for guidance for those in the United States, India, Brazil, and Mexico, as they all grapple with severely high mortality rates. This week our heart breaks as the United States pass 200,000 dead. This week also we lift up the family and colleagues of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, after her death in Washington, DC, last week. Shower mercy upon all those who grieve. Be with us in our present moments. Reveal yourself in ways that we might taste and touch and see and hear and know, deep within our flesh and bones. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers. God of Descendants, Your story does not begin and end with us. You who loved our ancestors are also preparing the way for our children. Nurture the lives of all young people around the world who are living with the uncertainty of economic prospects, the stress of climate change, the unanswered questions around truths of human dignity. Bring forth in them a new energy for purpose-seeking, meaning-making, and community action, as they lead us forward into the future. God of Our Every Ending and Beginning, in your mercy, hear our prayers. Amen -adapted from: worldinprayer.org Invitation
Prayer of Dedication What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. Affirmation of Faith Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere, its temple, all space; its shrine, the good heart; its creed, all truth; its ritual, works of love; its profession of faith, divine living. Postlude “Andante Grazioso” from Songs Without Words; Felix Mendelssohn; Patrick Parker, piano. |
Worship Notes
The worship leader is Jim Wallace.
The Call to Worship is "Good Workers" by Gary Johnson.
The Opening Prayer is adapted from Touch Holiness, edited by Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi.
“Spring Song” is played by Susan Wegner, cello; Patrick Parker, piano.
The Unison Confession is from “An Open Letter To The American Church” by Jon Foreman.
“Awake, Awake, to Love and Work” is led by The Covenant Singers.
The Prayer of Dedication is James 2:14-17.
The Affirmation of Faith is by Theodore Parker, as reprinted in Rejoice Together: Prayers, Meditations, and Other Readings, edited by Helen Pickett.
The worship leader is Jim Wallace.
The Call to Worship is "Good Workers" by Gary Johnson.
The Opening Prayer is adapted from Touch Holiness, edited by Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi.
“Spring Song” is played by Susan Wegner, cello; Patrick Parker, piano.
The Unison Confession is from “An Open Letter To The American Church” by Jon Foreman.
“Awake, Awake, to Love and Work” is led by The Covenant Singers.
The Prayer of Dedication is James 2:14-17.
The Affirmation of Faith is by Theodore Parker, as reprinted in Rejoice Together: Prayers, Meditations, and Other Readings, edited by Helen Pickett.
More About Selected Authors from Today:
Sister Joan D. Chittister, O.S.B., is an American Benedictine nun, theologian, author, and speaker. She has served as Benedictine prioress and Benedictine federation president, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women.
Gary Johnson draws on his experiences as a film and video writer and producer, a politician, a meeting planner, and a farmer. He has been a poet and a photographer throughout his life.
Theodore Parker was born August 24, 1810 in Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S. and died May 10, 1860 in Florence, Italy. He was an American Unitarian theologian, pastor, scholar, and social reformer who was active in the antislavery movement.
Sister Joan D. Chittister, O.S.B., is an American Benedictine nun, theologian, author, and speaker. She has served as Benedictine prioress and Benedictine federation president, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women.
Gary Johnson draws on his experiences as a film and video writer and producer, a politician, a meeting planner, and a farmer. He has been a poet and a photographer throughout his life.
Theodore Parker was born August 24, 1810 in Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S. and died May 10, 1860 in Florence, Italy. He was an American Unitarian theologian, pastor, scholar, and social reformer who was active in the antislavery movement.
Announcements
Sundays, September 27, we will be conducting worship a little different on these days. Please log into Zoom at 10:00 AM 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 [email protected].
Sunday schedule for September 27:
9:00 - Adult Education with Zoom
10:00 - Worship together with Zoom
11:00 - Transition from worship to coffee time with Zoom
Sundays, September 27, we will be conducting worship a little different on these days. Please log into Zoom at 10:00 AM 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 [email protected].
Sunday schedule for September 27:
9:00 - Adult Education with Zoom
10:00 - Worship together with Zoom
11:00 - Transition from worship to coffee time with Zoom
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