June 20, 2021

Below, you’ll find the song lyrics and scripture readings for the live stream on June 20th (in the order they are needed).

All Creatures

all creatures of our god and king
lift up your voice and with us sing
o praise him, alleluia
thou burning sun with golden beam
thou silver moon with softer gleam
o praise him, o praise him
alleluia, alleluia, alleuia

thou rushing wind that art so strong
ye clouds that sail in heaven along
o praise him alleluia
thou rising moon in praise rejoice
ye lights of evening find a voice
o praise him, o praise him
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

let all things their creator bless
and worship him in humbleness
o praise him, alleluia
praise, praise the father, praise the son
and praise the spirit three in one
o praise him, o praise him
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship
the Eternal One

our Steady Ground and Anchor
in whom we are known and named

to enter the story of God

and find our own stories reimagined

as the Spirit of God forms our hearts and minds

that our ordinary lives
might carry the peace of christ

Amen

Waking Life

you’re a hammer blow to the barricade
that i’ve built up in my mind to separate
that which I hold with warm embrace
from that which I have reduced to an empty phrase

you’re a falling blade to the knot i’ve tied
to secure a heavy shade over my eyes
and as if I had never tasted light
a stabbing pain slowly gives way to a truer sight

you’re the waking life, piercing sleep
reality, reframing the dream
as I rise, I don’t recognize my speech
find a garden shed where I once kept my armory

you’re an ember thrown from a funeral pyre
that infiltrates the cavalcade of an outrage choir
through the withered aisles of my fevered mind
now that hollow rage slowly gives way to a signal fire

you’re the waking life, piercing sleep
reality, reframing the dream
as I rise, I don’t recognize my speech
find a garden shed where I once kept my armory
like the waking life, piercing sleep
like reality, reframing the dream
I don’t understand what is happening
but something’s changed in a place I cannot reach
there’s this ache where I once kept my apathy
like there’s a depth to life and breath in everything

What the Dry Years Took Away

eternal, uncreated
who traced the frame
before there was a frame
and never did forget it
though the shape
was mired along the way
would you now yet speak it?
reassert the vision of the Name
write it on our longing
like a pillar of fire and cloud, the same

with urgency and grace
would you restore
what the dry years took away?

o god of life
may your mercy shine
upon the painted world
with power, benign
and raise our hearts to sing
like the moon-pull to the tide
’til every riven thing
is found whole yet in plain sight

out here in the distance
among the fences
we build around our dreams
there’s a numbing of the senses
abject indifference
and ubiquitous fatique
so would you now yet speak it
holy beacon
the vision of the name
write it on our longing
like a pillar of fire and cloud, the same

with urgency and grace
would you restore
what the dry years took away

o god of life
may your mercy shine
upon the painted world
with power, benign
and raise our hearts to sing
like the moon-pull to the tide
’til every riven thing
is found whole yet in plain sight

Just the Same

these unlearned ideas keep clawing their way
out of the years that i’ve tried to contain
like absolute love, wrapped in cycles of shame
but yours is the breathing and never the cage

or the self worth in knowing the right words to say
holding too tightly to idolized claims
when faced with dissension, my jaw starts to shake
but yours is the whisper and seldom the rage

the fragile confession, like glass within clay
the nervous gymnastics when the thread starts to fray
avoiding the question for fear you might break
but yours is the movement beyond the frame

is this passing time or passing faith?
a different version or different place
o, it never quite ends, never starts to take shape
but you’re in the wind and the cloud just the same

you’re in the wind and cloud just the same

Old Testament Reading

Today’s Old Testament reading, and Josh’s sermon text, is Job 38:1-11:

The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Gird up your loins like a man,
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?

On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone

when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

"Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb?—

when I made the clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,

and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,

and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?"

New Testament Reading

Today’s New Testament reading, and Josh’s sermon text, is Mark 4:35-41:

When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Giving

UBC relies on the generosity of the community. If you are a in place that you are able to give of your time, talent, and resources to UBC we would be grateful. If you want to make a financial contribution, the easiest way to do so is through our church center app.

Look to the Hills

I lift my eyes to the hills
to remind myself
this isn’t all there is
I lift my eyes to the hills
and wait for help
to appear

my help is from the lord
who breaks past walls
and fortress doors
my shade in sun
and shield from sword
yes, my help is from the lord

so I look to the hills
and I know the score:
the mountains fall
the shadows, they soar
and every rough line
is impeccably placed
as valleys rise
forgetting their place
I look to the hills
and I know what i’m for
and know my help
is going before

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise God, all creatures here below
Praise God above, ye heavenly hosts
Praise Timeless, Son, and Holy Ghost
Amen.

Benediction

As we approach this week

May we love God
Embrace Beauty
and Live Life to the fullest