Author: SusannahDB

Ash Wednesday

Based on Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17

 

One-What does God ask of us?

All-God wants us to turn back to the One who created us and who loves us.

 

One-How do we turn back to God?

All-We let our hearts break for the things that break God’s heart. We admit our wrongdoing and are merciful to ourselves and each other.

 

One-How will God respond?

All-Our God will love us, forgive us, and offer us more opportunities to love and forgive ourselves and each other.

 

One-You know of God’s compassion and mercy. Now what will you do?

All-We will live as God’s forgiven children always seeking to forgive each other and ourselves.

As I read the passage of the Transfiguration for this Sunday, these words from Becca Stevens kept running through my head.

“The story of the transfiguration reminds us that before, during, and after their retreat, the disciples were the same, they just became more themselves. Part of the point of that story is to remind us that heaven is no more in the mountains than it is in the valleys. Retreats can be the bridge between having our heads in the clouds and our feet on the ground walking toward justice. We can be inspired on the mountain, but all inspiration fades without action, no matter how vivid the dream” (174).

She begs us to hear today’s story while holding together inspiration and action. Today’s worship words are a prayer for inspiration and action whatever that might look like in your life. May we follow where the Spirit of the Living God is leading us.

 

God, We are often like Peter. When we are somewhere that we feel your presence we want to stay there. We want to build a home or pull up a chair and stay put. No need to move because we are in the presence of God. Yet you remind that while Jesus spent time in prayer and retreated away from others, he always came back to do the work he was called to do. So, God, we need your help. Once we carve out the time for retreat, we are pretty good at searching for you and finding you. It is the coming back and using what we have learned that is more difficult. So give us strength to act. Inspire us to action so that what we learn can be shared with us. Give us courage to share your love in our daily lives. Open our eyes when we aren’t on retreat to injustice to loneliness to need in the lives of others and in our own lives. We know that you are always present in our lives, Gracious God, and with your help we will be open to seeing you in everyone we meet. Amen.

This is me enjoying the beauty of God’s creation on a brisk day at one of the beach retreats taken by the St. Giles’ Youth.

When we hear a familiar text being read in worship, we may recite it along with the reader or we may tune out because we’ve heard it so many times. By utilizing two readers for this most familiar passage and adding reflections by the second reader, you’ll catch the attention of the congregation and help everyone listen with new ears.

I’d suggest having only one person stand up to read the Scripture. The second reader should have access to a microphone and be out of sight. He or she may even move around during the reading and say the last line while standing by reader one.

The words of Scripture are said by reader one and are in italics.

 

A Litany expanding on 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

 

One-If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Two-There are days when i am so busy with all that must be done that I spend too much time making noise and not enough time loving others.

One-And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Two-There are days when I know all the answers and am too busy knowing everything to love anyone.

One-If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Two-There are days when I share from what I have with others only to get rid of my abundance and not because I love anyone.

One-Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Two-And then there are days like today where I hear these words and I remember.

One-Love never ends.

Two-Love never ends.

One-But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Two-Love never ends.

One-And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Two-Love never ends.

 

The pictures are the hard work of the youth and the adults who love them of St. Giles Presbyterian Church at their Spring Beach Retreat from May 2014. Although their sand art was soon erased by the waves, always remember that you are loved.

I am scheduled to preach on Sunday. My plan was to weave together stories of past mission trips and the importance of youth ministry with 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31 and Luke 4: 14-21. I say my plan because there is a huge blizzard heading for us this weekend. And I might have spent too much time watching the weather forecast and planning for when we’ll reschedule the weekend plans, and not enough time finishing my sermon. While my sermon may not be complete, I do have a plan for talking with the children on Sunday (or whenever this actually happens).

To help the children understand that we are all necessary parts of the body of Christ, I purchased some blank puzzles and will bring some of my favorite markers so they can sign or draw on the puzzle. We’ll take the puzzle apart and then put it back together to show how we come together as individuals to create the body of Christ together.

Here’s how it might work out-

Welcome. Today, I’m going to ask each of you to take a marker and sign your name or draw a small picture on this puzzle. And now that everyone has done that, I’m going to take our puzzle apart and together we’ll put it back together.

What would happen if one of the pieces decided it didn’t want to be in the puzzle? The puzzle would have an empty space and wouldn’t be complete.

Our first Scripture for this morning talked about how we need all our different body parts and we might think that some are more important than others and yet we need them all. The writer of Corinthians said we are the body of Christ and we all need to bring our gifts and work together to do the work God calls us to do in the world.

So all the puzzle pieces are important and all of you are important as we live as Christ’s disciples sharing his love with everyone in the world.

Let’s pray together. Repeat after me-

God, We thank you for each one of us and the gifts you gave us. Help us to love ourselves, each other, and all your children. Amen.

I love celebrating birthdays. Each of us needs a reminder that we are special and a beloved child of God. Birthdays are a time to give thanks for everyone who has supported us on our journeys and look with hope to what can happen in the next year.

A Birthday Prayer

Faithful God,

Thank you for surrounding me with people who love me and walk with me on this journey.

Thank you for the opportunities you give me to share my gifts and love with others.

Thank you for another year of life. in the midst of my joy, I pause to remember all those who are no longer with us. As I celebrate this year, I remember and give thanks for my family and friends who have died and now live with you.

Thank you for another trip around the sun. Thank you for the gift of another 525,600 minutes.

As I blow out my candles, I say thank you God for the gift of life. Amen.

I am always looking for new ways for my youth to engage their faith. My favorite ideas don’t require many supplies or much preparation and can be adapted for any age. And, I recently found a way to engage Scripture that uses Sharpies. What’s not to love?

 

This idea is not my own. Credit for this idea is given to Adam at pomomusings.com. I was so inspired by this idea that I needed to share it because you’ll want to add it to your worship life too. It could work well for individual meditation, with a small group, or even in worship on a Sunday morning.

 

Supplies Needed-

Black Sharpies for everyone. Ideally one fine point and one broad point.

Newspaper to put under your work to keep everything clean.

Prints out of the Scripture.

 

Depending on the space you are using, you might line the tables with newspaper or hand each person a piece of newspaper. The newspaper is only there to keep the Sharpie from transfering onto something you don’t want it on.

 

When everyone has a handout of the Scripture, shapies, and newspaper under their work, begin with an explanation like this-

We are going to be exploring a piece of Scripture today. We’ll read the passage together aloud (or you can ask for volunteers to read it verse by verse). And then we’ll read it silently to ourselves. What words or phrases jump out at you? Circle them or draw a box around them. Read it again to yourself. Do more words or phrases speak to you? If so, circle or draw a box around them. After you’ve found the words that have caught your attention, take the thick Sharpie and black out the remaining words. Read the words that are remaining. Offer them as a silent prayer. When others have finished, ask for volunteers to read their words out loud.

It has been suggested that this method of engaging Scripture is much like lectio divina with paper and markers. I used this way of praying and diving into Scripture as a devotion to start a meeting recently. Everyone participated and expressed their surprise at how it opened their eyes to what God might be saying to each one of them. So, why not give this a try? If you want, you can share what Scripture you used and what God was saying to you.