April 24, 2022
Below, you’ll find the song lyrics and scripture readings for the live stream on April 24th (in the order they are needed).
Chariot
swing like a chariot at the trumpet call
when we’re all unsaved
swing like a wrecking ball
like the heart of god, what a mystery
filled with the wedding feast for the snakes and bees
with the angel teeth
swing like a chariot
come and marry us to the blushing circus king
and dance like elephants as he comes to us
through a fiery golden ring
with a violin and a song to sing
as he brings for us our wings
now he’s one of us, plays the tambourine
breaks the bread for us and sings
but will he wait for us, will you stay for us
will you grace us everything
you’re a wrecking ball with a heart of gold
we will wait for it to swing
like a chariot, swing it low for us
come and carry us away
and we will become a happy ending
fire, come and carry us
make us shine or make us rust
tell us that you care for us
we need to hear a word for us
let your body stand with us
or let our ribs return to dust
chariot, you’ll swing for us
but do you think that you can carry all of us?
so we will become a happy ending
Call to Worship
we have gathered to worship the Living God
the one in whom life is ever-new
by whom beauty is ever-born
to enter the story of God
and find our own stories reimagined
that the Spirit of God might form us in the way of Christ
that we might cherish our neighbors
as God does
amen
Every Tree
God is our refuge and strength
and ever-present help in time of need
sure as the ground beneath all being
the comfort of the eternal’s within your reach
for every tree has its root in the stream
God comes prowling like a theif
through the windows of time
to the terrace of your grief
to rid your sorrow of its sting
though it might take a while
there’s a dawn within your reach
for every tree has its root in the stream
so clap your hands and stomp your feet
lift up your voice like the breakers from the deep
to sing of our slaughtered/standing king
by whom death is a vapor and life is a diamond ring
and every tree has its root in the stream
Because He Lives
God send god’s son, they called him Jesus
he came to love, heal, and forgive
he lived and died to buy my pardon
an empty grave is there to prove my savior lives
because he lives I can face tomorrow
because he lives all fear is gone
because I know he holds the future
and life is worth the living, just because he lives
how sweet to hold a newborn baby
and feel the pride and joy she brings
but greater still the calm assurance
this child can face uncertain days because he lives
because he lives I can face tomorrow
because he lives all fear is gone
because I know he holds the future
and life is worth the living, just because he lives
and then one day i’ll cross the river
i’ll fight life’s final war with pain
but then as death gives way to victory
I'll see the lights of glory and i’ll know he lives
because he lives I can face tomorrow
because he lives all fear is gone
because I know he holds the future
and life is worth the living, just because he lives
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
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 from night
taking time to try and find some space
its kind of hard to find a place to be
i’ve been living from memory
but they keep tearing up the streets
I've got no problem with difficult
when its on a shelf that I can reach
no, 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 from night
o word-made-scar
o void-made-star
come like a vine
to intertwine
these ribs and spines
like the braid of time
Old Testament Reading
Today’s Old Testament lectionary reading is Psalm 118:14-29:
The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
New Testament Reading
Today’s New Testament lectionary reading is John 20:19-31:
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Giving
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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
and 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
and as I rise, I don’t recognize my speech
find a garden shed where I once kept my apathy
you’re an ember thrown from a funeral pyre
that infiltrates the cavalcade of an outrage choir
in the withered aisles of my fevered mind
and now that hollow rage is wholly remade into 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 apathy
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 live and breath in everything
Doxology
praise god from whom all blessings flow
praise god all creatures here below
praise god above ye heavenly host
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