July 25, 2021
Below, you’ll find the song lyrics and scripture readings for the live stream on July 25th (in the order they are needed).
Word and Scar
hold my breath until my chest caves in
try to balance out the weight
turn it over ‘til my mind collapses
find the ground that doesn’t shake
i’ve got no problem with impossible
at least when it is what it seems
it’s not that I don’t believe
it’s that I don’t know what it means
Living God, in word and scar
lay your wounds alongside ours
and speak the peace of death-made-time
how every dawn is born of night
taking time to try and find some space
it’s kind of hard to find a place to be
i’ve been living from memory
but someone’s tearing up the streets
i’ve got no problem with difficult
when it’s on a shelf that I can reach
it’s not that I don’t believe
it’s that right now its hard to breathe
Living God, in word and scar
lay your wounds alongside ours
and speak the peace of death-made-time
how every dawn is born of night
O Word-Made-Scar
O Void-Made-Star
come like a vine
to intertwine
these ribs and spines
like the Braid of Time
Call to Worship
we have gathered to worship
the Living God
the One who upholds all who are falling
who raises up all who are bowed down
to enter the story of God
and find our own stories reimagined
as the Spirit transforms our hearts and minds
that we might learn to love God
to love our neighbor
and to love ourselves
in the way of Christ
Amen
Wandering
like lightning springing off the ground
you’ve drawn our eyes through the tempest we’ve called home
we made towers to be electrically tame
but you were the power that pulsed in our heartbeats
you were the power that pulsed in our heartbeats
you are faithful in our wandering
you are faithful though we go our own way
what kind of love is this, that even selfish fools can live in it?
like fire rolling through the hay
you’ve cut us off at the edge of letting go
we made torches to go deeper in the dark
but you were the light all along we thought we made
you were the light all along we thought we made
you are faithful in our wandering
you are faithful, though we go our own way
what kind of love is this, that even selfish fools can live in it?
o what love, o what grace
ever changing, you somehow stay the same
though we try to keep you tame
you’ve called us your accomplices
even when we keep running away
you are faithful in our wandering
you are faithful, though we go our own way
what kind of love is this, that even selfish fools can live in it?
Your Love Is Strong
dear Heavenly Father, you always amaze me
let your kingdom come in my world
and in my life
you give me the food I need to live through the day
and forgive me as I forgive the people who’ve wronged me
lead me far from temptation
deliver me from the evil one
I look out the window, the birds are composing
and not a note is out of tune or out of place
I walk through the meadow and stare at the flowers
better dressed than any girl on her wedding day
so why do I worry?
why do I fear?
god knows what I need
you know what I need
your love is
your love is
your love is strong
the kingdom of the heavens is now advancing
invade my heart, invade this broken town
the kingdom of the heavens is buried treasure
would you sell yourself to buy the one you’ve found
two things you told me:
that you are strong
and you love me
yeah, you love me
your love is
your love is
your love is strong
our god in heaven
hallowed be thy name above all names
your kingdom come, your will be done
on Earth as it is in heaven
give us today our daily bread
forgive us weary sinners
keep us far from our vices
and deliver us from these prisons
The World Is Yours
blessed are the withered ones out starving for a peace
whose taste they’ve never known
blessed are the ones who bear the shame of never quite
becoming who they’d hoped that they would be
blessed are the ones who wake and plead
that their whole life this far was just a dream
blessed are you
the world is yours
blessed are the bloodshot midnight mourners in the hall
their whole world standing still
blessed are the bloodshot midnight mourners in the park
no one speaks their names
blessed are the ones who know the sting
of the phantom limb embrace of love, removed
blessed are you
the world is yours
blessed are the ones who cast their mercy to the wind
now it goes where it goes
blessed are the ones who nurse a pain that’s not their own
the meek amongst the wolves
blessed are you when the knife is in your back
and they’re calling for your head
to finally shut you up
and blot out what you said
about the way the scales are rigged
that’s how it’s always been
just know you’re neither crazy, nor alone
so lift up your head
the world is turning upside down
and as the tables turn you’ll find
you never left the ground
behold, the Great Inversion
like a tide that lifts wrecked boats
is risen from the heart of one
who’ll never let you go
Old Testament Reading
Today’s Old Testament reading, and Craig’s sermon text, is 2 Samuel 11:1-15
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”
New Testament Reading
Today’s New Testament reading is John 6:1-14:
Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”
Giving
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Where God Has Always Been
praise be the lord of all
with their backs against the wall
hands above their heads and eyes
lifted up to that impossible line
where the hill meets the sky
who wonder if the distance is
a trick of the earth, or a trick of the mind
and if help will arrive
before they slip away
praise be the lord of all
who wrestle until dawn
who wear their scars like names, yet find
heaven and earth strangely aligned
like water in the sour wine
hidden in plain sight
for god is now where god has always been
bunkered down with those in the ditch
raising fountains from the cracking dirt
and raising a feast for the hollow unheard
while the powerful who reign dissolve into the grave
the Eternal One will shade the ones they cast away
until the coming of the day when all this is remade
praise be the lord of all who’ve nowhere to belong
for the kingdom is drawing near
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
Amen