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, or if you have a concern about any aspect of our liturgy, please email jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Call to Worship
(contributed by Kerri Fisher)
we come to wrestle with the God who is over all and in all,
expansive and intimate
soother of wave-wild seas and restless hearts.
we come with the hope that though we may be wounded
though our sins may testify against us,
God is in our midst, pouring spirit upon flesh,
we trust, if only for this hour, that God will dwell in this place
and these people,
holding fast young and old, to our dreams and our visions,
believing that we will not leave the same as we arrived.
Amen
Scripture
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
Although our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, for your name's sake;
our apostasies indeed are many,
and we have sinned against you.
O hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler turning aside for the night?
Why should you be like someone confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not forsake us!
Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
Truly they have loved to wander,
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them,
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
Have you completely rejected Judah?
Does your heart loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
so that there is no healing for us?
We look for peace, but find no good;
for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.
We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
the iniquity of our ancestors,
for we have sinned against you.
Do not spurn us, for your name's sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
remember and do not break your covenant with us.
Can any idols of the nations bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not you, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
for it is you who do all this.
Luke 18:9-14
Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.'
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted."
Prayer
This week’s prayer was written by Kerri Fisher:
O God, if we have wandered, perhaps it is because we could not find you.
Not amidst the locusts nor the portents,
not in the desolate valley,
nor at the ends of the earth,
not even in our own bodies, brains, or behaviors.
We have looked for peace but found terror instead,
We have sought joy, but tasted bitterness on our lips,
We have coveted and compared and yes, we each have gone our own way,
But perhaps, oh God, our wanderings are our greatest acts of faith,
That if you are here, or there, anywhere or everywhere, then you will come and find us.
Amen