March 15, 2020
/Thanks for joining us for this week’s Home Worship! We invite you to use the liturgy below to enter into worship. If you’ve gathered with a group, you can take turns reading and praying so that everyone has a chance to help lead us in worship. At the beginning of the service you will be invited to light a candle together. If you’d like to do this, please have one ready!
“The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.”
GATHERED BY GOD
Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth, Amen.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
You are invited to light a candle as you read the following:
“Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
-John 8:12; John 1:5
INVITATION TO WORSHIP
“But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
-Isaiah 43:1-3a
PRAYER FOR RENEWAL
Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, and direct what we shall be, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
PROMISE OF GRACE
“I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.
Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.”
-Isaiah 43:15-21
CHRIST’S NEW LIFE
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
-Matthew 22:37-40
LISTENING TO GOD
RESPONDING TO GOD
DISCUSSION
Take a few moments to discuss together what you just heard. What was challenging, troubling, or helpful? What would you like to take away?
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Please take a moment to share prayer requests with one another, and then spend a few minutes in prayer for one another, our community, and the world. Close with the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
SENT WITH GOD’S BLESSING
“May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up his presence to you
and give you his peace,
Now and always, Amen.
-Numbers 6:24-26
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