Liturgy 1-26-2020

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

we have gathered to worship the Eternal One 

the Maker of all things,
whose boundless love endures boundlessly 

to participate in the story of God and the people of God
with our songs, our prayers, and our listening

bringing with us the full complexity of our lives

hoping the Spirit of God would form us more fully into the way of Christ

and draw us into God’s work 
of Beloved Community in the world. 

Amen

Scripture

Psalm 136 

O give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.

O give thanks to the God of gods,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
who alone does great wonders,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

who by understanding made the heavens,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
who spread out the earth on the waters,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

who made the great lights,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
the sun to rule over the day,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

who struck Egypt through their firstborn,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
and brought Israel out from among them,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
who divided the Red Sea in two,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

who led the people of the Lord through the wilderness,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
who struck down great kings,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
and killed famous kings,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
and Og, king of Bashan,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
and gave their land as a heritage,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

a heritage to the Lord’s servant Israel,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
It is the Lord who remembered us in our low estate,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

and rescued us from our foes,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;
who gives food to all flesh,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever;

O give thanks to the God of heaven,
for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.

Acts 16:6-10

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

Prayer

This week’s prayer was from An Iona Prayer Book (98):

Lord of Life
we celebrate your countless gifts,
in days and nights,
in rainbows and rain,
in touch, dream and smile,
in partners who love,
in kids who cuddle,
in grannies who listen,
in friends who care,
in dogs that lick,
in hands that sew,
in food on the table;
yet above all,
in your coming among us,
walking our roads,
calling our names,
enfolding our lives,
inviting us home.

Setlist 1-26-2020

This past Sunday was the third Sunday of Epiphany, and our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.   If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

Come Alive by ubcmusic

Be Thou My Vision

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go by ubcmusic (adapted from George Matheson)

Boundless Love by ubcmusic

The Word Is Yet Flesh by ubcmusic

Doxology

Liturgy 1-12-2020

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

we have gathered to worship the Living God

the One who created the heavens and stretched them out
Who spread out the earth and what comes from it

to enter the story of God— 

the story of bruised reeds, unbroken
of dim wicks unquenched
of justice being faithfully brought forward

and to find our own stories transformed by this Light

into vessels of God’s care 
for all of God’s creatures

 amen

Scripture

Isaiah 42:1-9

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.

Acts 10:34-43

Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 

You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 

He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” 

Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Prayer

This week’s prayer was from Jan Richardson:

May the path
that Christ walks
to bring justice
upon the earth,
to bring light
to those who sit
in darkness,
to bring out those
who live in bondage,
to bring new things
to all creation:

may this path
run through our life.
May we be
the road Christ takes.

Setlist 1-12-2020

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Epiphany, and our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.   If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

How Great Thou Art

Mystery by ubcmusic (adapted from Charlie Hall)

SMS [Shine] by David Crowder* Band

Where God Has Always Been by ubcmusic

Anthem by Leonard Cohen

Eternal Anchor by ubcmusic

Doxology

Liturgy 1-5-2020

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

we have gathered to worship the Eternal One 

the one who entered in humility our weakness,
who both created and restored human dignity 

to enter the story of God

with our songs, our prayers, and our listening 

that the Spirit might form our hearts and minds 
in the way of Christ

that we might relate to God, 
our neighbor, 
and our enemy, 
in the way of Christ

Amen 

Scripture

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; 
proclaim, give praise, and say,
"Save, O Lord, your people, 
the remnant of Israel." 

See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, 
among them the blind and the lame, those with child and
those in labor, together; 
a great company, they shall return here. 

With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations I will lead them back, 
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; 
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away; 
say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd a flock." 

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,|
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, 
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd; 
their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never languish again. 

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry. 
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 
I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, 
says the Lord.

Ephesians 1:3-14

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 

He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. 

With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 

In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 

In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." 

Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." 

Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. 

And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."

Prayer

This week’s prayer was from Howard Thurman (adjusted for plural language):

Grant that we may pass through
the coming year with faithful hearts.
There will be much to test us and
make weak our strength before the year ends.

In our confusion we shall often say the word that is not true and do the thing of which we are ashamed.

There will be errors in the mind
and great inaccuracies of judgment…
In seeking the light,
we shall again and again find ourselves
walking in the darkness.

We shall mistake our light for Your light
and we shall drink from the responsibility of the choice we make.

Nevertheless, grant that we may pass through the coming year with faithful hearts.

May we never give the approval of our heart to error, to falseness, to vanity, to sin.

Though our days be marked
with failures, stumblings, fallings,
let our spirits be free
so that You may take them
and redeem our moments
in all the ways our needs reveal.

Give us the quiet assurance
of Your Love and Presence.
Grant that we may pass through
the coming year with faithful hearts.

Setlist 1-5-2020

This past Sunday was the second Sunday of Christmastide, and our songs were gathered with this in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics.   If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

Amazing Grace by Citizens

Rise Up by Bifrost Arts

Eternal Anchor by ubcmusic

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

After the Dust Clears by Jameson McGregor

Noise by Jameson McGregor

Doxology