Worship Words

This Prayer of Confession uses Sunday’s Gospel reading, Luke 9: 51-62, for inspiration. 

God, You know there are days when we see others not following you and we want them to be punished. We see people spreading hate and fear and know this isn’t your way. We see people mistreating each other and we are angry. We understand why James and John asked, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” And we know just like Jesus rebuked the disciples, you would tell us this is not your way. Forgive us for wanting to repay hate with hate and violence with violence.

God, we promised to follow you. And yet, so many other things pull at our time and attention. We will follow you as soon as our to do list is tackled, our house is clean enough for company, and we’ve cared for our family. Forgive us God, for not putting you first in our lives.

God, we ask that you give us righteous anger at the injustice in the world and that you help us to have our priorities in order, so we may follow you. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness

Let us always remember that our God is merciful and loving. God hears us when we call. May we find forgiveness and comfort in these words from Psalm 16: 11 “God, you show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Amen.

Sabbath is a practice, ritual, and way of life I have preached and lived throughout my ministry. I owe a huge thank you to my husband for his recent observation that I was working everyday and not observing Sabbath. Thanks to that friendly reminder Sabbath is part of my life again. For me, Sabbath is a clock-free day of rest and renewal. I pray. I read. I gaze out the window or take a long walk. I write. I say no to things and work I can do on other days. I take my time drinking my cups of tea. I reconnect with loved ones and enjoy silence. I remember that God rested and I can too.

On this Sabbath I pray you have Sabbath as part of your life and if not, that you make time for it. Although it is hard to start, I find that I accomplish more on weeks I take Sabbath than on weeks I do not. So try it! And remember to be kind to yourself and flexible as you seek to orient your time as God imagined.

Pray with me.

Creator of All, As you created you saw it was good and you were pleased with your work, and so you took a day to rest. You have commanded us to do the same. God, it is so hard in our busy world to stop. It feels like we are already behind and so we must keep going or we’ll never catch up. (Take a deep breath and have a moment of silence). Loving God, you show us another way. A way that reminds us we are not you and the world can keep going without us. You show us that we were created for work and rest, to be creative and use our gifts, and to stop regularly. Gracious God, Sabbath reminds us to be present-here and now. Sabbath reminds us that most things can wait. Sabbath reminds us to focus on our relationship with you. Faithful God, Bless our Sabbath. May it ring with laughter and silence. Fill us with your peace and give us rest. Amen.

A Prayer for Ordinary Time
God, I appreciate the extra effort and energy we pour into our holy days. I love when the sanctuary is fuller than usual. I love the banners and flowers and special music. And, God, I love ordinary days like today. Days when we bring our best to worship you in the regular part of the church years. Days like today remind me how much of our life is spent in ordinary time. We go to work. We go to school. We wish it was the weekend or vacation or any day but today. God, give us the courage to live in the now. Help us to live into the ordinary days of our lives and of the church year. Remind us again that this day is a gift from you in all its ordinariness. For this day, we give you thanks, Gracious God, because you gave us another day to love you and to love each other. On this ordinary day in ordinary time, we will worship you, Loving God. Amen.

This prayer was published on liturgy link on May 18, 2016.

It is useless to get up early
and stay up late in order to earn a living.
God takes care of God’s own, even while they sleep. -Psalm 127:2

I love sleep. I believe sleep is God’s gift to us. While we sleep, our bodies can renew, relax, and recharge. When I don’t get enough sleep, I am not at my best. (This is probably the understatement of the year!) Last week, I had to set my alarm for 2:15am to catch a flight. I’m sure other people were just getting to sleep at the time I needed to wake up. Changing time zones and sleeping in a strange bed always throw me off. All of these changes to my schedule has me thinking about sleep. So today’s prayer is a prayer for sleep for all of us who need more sleep!

God of All Hours,

You created Sabbath, and you created sleep. You beg us to slow down and rest. You urge us to shut off the lights, crawl under the covers, and stop worrying. Today we pray for sleep for all who need it. We pray for safety and your protection for those who have nowhere safe to lay their heads. We pray for sleep for the children and babies who refuse to nap or go to sleep at night. We pray for those in hospitals who want to rest and can’t due to tests and noise. We pray for those who work overnights and must try to sleep during the day. We pray for each other knowing that if we could all get a good night of sleep the world would be a more cheerful place tomorrow. God, grant us rest! Amen.

Sermon from April 10, 2014

Preached at Christ Congregational Church

Are We Listening?

John 21:1-19

The Psalm for this week is Psalm 148. This responsive reading of the Psalm features the words of the Psalm in italics and my words in regular font. I enjoy the process of rewriting Scripture while remaining faithful to its roots. Using different words to express the same ideas is one way to keep Scripture fresh and new for us. This practice can give you insight into how you see God and how others have seen God throughout time. Why not do a little rewriting of a psalm yourself this week? I’d love to see your results.

All-Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise God in the heights!

One-All who are faithful, Praise God! All who try to love God offer your praises!

All-Praise God, sun and moon; praise God, all you shining stars!

One-Let all praise the name of the Lord, for at God’s command all were created.

All-Praise God all creatures small and big who live in the oceans and waters.

One-Fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling God’s command!

All-Hills, valleys, and mountains, fruit and flowering trees, weeds and vines.

One-Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

All-People with power and people with no power, all are God’s children.

One-All ages and all people are God’s children.

All-Let all praise the name of the Lord, for God’s name alone is exalted; God’s glory is above earth and heaven.