May 29, 2022
Below, you’ll find the song lyrics and scripture readings for the live stream on May 29th (in the order they are needed).
Come Thou Fount
come thou fount of every blessing
tune my heart to sing thy grace
streams of mercy, never ceasing
call for songs of loudest praise
teach me some melodious sonnet
sung by flaming tongues above
praise the mount, i’m fixed upon it
mount of thy redeeming love
here I raise my Ebenezer
hither by thine help i’ve come
and I hope by thy good pleasure
safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
wandering from the fold of god
he to rescue me from danger
interposed his precious blood
o to grace how great a debtor
daily i’m constrained to be
let thy goodness like a fetter
bind my wandering heart to thee
prone to wander, lord I feel it
prone to leave the god I love
here’s my heart, lord, take and seal it
seal it for thy courts above
Call to Worship
we have gathered to worship the Eternal One
the One who is near to the brokenhearted
who lifts up the downcast
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
turning our hearts and minds
toward god
by turning our hearts and minds
toward our neighbors
amen
Rise Up
for the lowly and forgotten
for the weary and distressed
for the refugee and orphan
and for all who are oppressed
for the stranger who is pleading
while insulted and despised
will you rise, will you rise?
rise up, rise up
the earth will fear the lord
when you avenge the poor
may your kingdom come
o rise up
see how Rachel, she is weeping
how she will not be consoled
and the children in our keeping
are their bodies bought and sold
and the watchman, he is sleeping
but do you see them with your eyes
will you rise, will you rise?
rise up, rise up
the earth will fear the lord
when you avenge the poor
may your kingdom come
o rise up
as your will is done in heaven
may it now be done below
may our daily bread be given
may your kingdom come and grow
lead us not into temptation
but deliver us, we cry
will you rise, will you rise
rise up, rise up
the earth will fear the lord
when you avenge the poor
and bear your holy arm
to keep them safe from harm
may your kingdom come
o rise up
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
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
unheard, unheard
while the powerful who reign dissolve into the grave
the eternal one will shade the ones they’ve cast away
until the coming of the day when all this is remade
praise be the lord of all who’ve nowhere to belong
the kingdom is drawing near
All My Hope Is In This
this I call to mind—all my hope is in this
each breath is a gift, a shelter in the stern of the ship
I heard you used to sleep while the storm it raged
while I can barely keep my feet amidst the slightest change
if I could touch the edge of your shirt would it help
ease the terror in my chest and bid my mind be still
and if I could not reach, but just called your name
would your eye fall upon me through the gloom
like the break of day
and if I could not speak, would you hear me still
my groans too deep for words would
you gather me up in your quilt
would you gather me up in your quilt?
this I call to mind as walls start closing in
your love’s like the wind
never starts and never ends, it only flows
whether whisper or din, return infinite
Old Testament Reading
Today’s Old Testament lectionary reading is Psalm 97:
The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him
and consumes his adversaries on every side.
His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples behold his glory.
All servants of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.
Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments, O God.
For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
You who love the Lord, hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
Light dawns for the righteous
and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!
New Testament Reading
Today’s New Testament reading, and Ericka’s sermon text, is John 17:20-26:
“I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”
Giving
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Waking Life
you’re a hammer blow to the barricade
that I 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 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 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 is wholly remade into a signal fire
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 armory
like the waking life, piercing sleep
like reality, reframing the dream
I don’t understand what is happening
but somethings changed in a place I cannot reach
and there’s this ache where I once kept my apathy
like there’s a depth to life 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