This blog is a record of the call to worship, Scripture readings, and prayers from our Sunday liturgies. If you are interested in writing something for the liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Call to Worship
We have gathered to worship the Lord of everything
carrying our own everything with us:
the old and the new
the good and the bad
the exciting and the mundane
all of it.
seeking to be formed in the way of Christ
the Healer who takes
our wounds upon Himself
and to be transformed by the Holy Spirit
the Artist who paints hope
on torn canvases
and is making all things new
Amen
Scripture
Psalm 103:1-8
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless the Lord’s holy Name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all the Lord’s benefits.
The Lord forgives all your sins
and heals all your infirmities;
The Lord redeems your life from the grave
and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;
The Lord satisfies you with good things,
and your youth is renewed like an eagle's.
The Lord executes righteousness
and judgment for all who are oppressed.
The Lord made the Lord’s ways known to Moses
and the Lord’s works to the children of Israel.
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
Luke 13:10-17
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment."
When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day."
But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.
Prayer
This week's prayer was written by Sharyl Loeung:
Healing God,
Call us to stand upright
may we be bent no longer
May we not carry the worry of tomorrow
Reach down and deliver us from the depths
Look deep into our body, mind, our emotion
and call us to stand upright
Bring forth the good and beautiful because of your loving kindness
We long for your rest even while you work on this Sabbath day
Unbind us, call us to stand up right
that we may choose to walk in obedience
Amen.