Liturgy 4-30-2017

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

As we draw near to a season
that means change for many of our lives

we have gathered to worship
the One who makes all things new

as chapters close
as rhythms begin to change
as summer approaches

we seek all the same to be
more fully formed in the way of Christ

Spirit of Life, who raised
Jesus from the grave 

raise us also
and train our eyes
to find Your beauty
all around us

Amen.

Scripture

Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17

I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication,
because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.

The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me;
I came to grief and sorrow.
Then I called upon the Name of the Lord:
"O Lord, I pray you, save my life."

How shall I repay the Lord
for all the good things he has done for me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call upon the Name of the Lord.

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his servants.

O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the child of your handmaid;
you have freed me from my bonds.
I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call upon the Name of the Lord.

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the Lord's house,
in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!

Matthew 13:1-9, 31-32, 44-46

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.  Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.  And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.  

 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Graduate Litany

Graduates, as you continue
your journeys beyond this season
remember the vision God has for You

to do justice
to love mercy
and to walk humbly
with our God

as you enter into offices, labs, hospitals,
job sites, schools, and wherever
else you find yourselves,
remember the vocation that permeates all others

to be more fully formed
in the way of Christ

and as you leave this community called ubc,
know that you carry us with you,
and remember the challenge we have carried together

to love God
embrace beauty
and live life to the fullest

Amen.

Setlist 4-30-2017

This week was the third Sunday of Easter, and our songs were gathered around the theme of....Easter.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find recordings from Sunday morning of a few of them, and below the recordings, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

Death In His Grave by John Mark McMillan

How Great Thou Art

Because He Lives by Bill and Gloria Gaither

Inbreaking by Jameson McGregor

Amazing Grace by Citizens & Saints

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

Death In His Grave: We sang this song to narrate again the defeat of death that we observe in this season.  

How Great Thou Art: This song gives us language to situate the death and resurrection of Jesus within a broader observation of God's grandeur.  The song begins with an observation of the wonders God has made throughout the cosmos, and goes on to observe the trajectory of God's making all things new.  In the chorus, it offers us a chance to practice channeling this wonder into praise of God.

Because He Lives:  This song takes a few swings at articulating the ways in which the Resurrection shapes the way we engage life now--particularly life's uncertain elements.  It offers us the chance to pull the thread between Jesus' breaking through one of the more absolute elements of finite existence (death), and any anxieties we might have about life.  Put differently, the Event of the resurrection calls into question what we think we know about how the world works, and gives us reason to hold the stubborn hope that God is actively working to redeem every broken part of creation.  This connection is easy to pay lip service to, but really living as though it were true is a life project. 

Inbreaking: I've been working on this song for a couple of months.  For the first few weeks, I had a handful of lines, but had no idea what they meant.  As I kept working at it, I started to see Easter themes emerging.  Taken all together, this is a song about the Risen Lord raising us also, both as individuals and as the Body of Christ.  It's not squarely focused on the events of Easter, but it is intimately concerned with the role that Eastertide plays in the life of the Church year.

Amazing Grace: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Amazing Grace then: The Resurrection is a transformative act of grace that has implications for the whole of creation.  It is a Yes to life and the created world. This song talks about the implications of the Resurrection for our lives, and we sang it to rehearse speaking the truth about God's ongoing redemption project in our midst.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.

-JM

Setlist 4-23-2017

This week was the second Sunday of Easter, and our songs were gathered around the theme of....Easter.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find recordings from Sunday morning of a few of them, and below the recordings, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

Heart Won't Stop by John Mark and Sarah McMillan

Amazing Grace by Citizens & Saints

Rise Up by Bifrost Arts

Noise by Jameson McGregor

Mystery by Jameson McGregor (adapted from Charlie Hall)

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

Heart Won't Stop: In Easter, we find that there are no barriers that God is not willing to cross to set things right with us.  The refrain of "Your heart won't stop coming after me" is about more than just a vague notion of the Love of God, but rather speaks to the redemptive force of the Love of God.  This season offers us an opportunity to consider the work that God is doing in creation, and the God is drawing us into in our own lives.

Amazing Grace: The Resurrection is a transformative act of grace that has implications for the whole of creation.  It is a Yes to life and the created world. This song talks about the implications of the Resurrection for our lives, and we sang it to rehearse speaking the truth about God's ongoing redemption project in our midst.

Rise Up: This song takes up the resurrection theme from a different angle; namely, that of the implications of the Resurrection for justice in the world.  Christ took up the cause of the oppressed (became oppressed), entered the depths of suffering and death, and in rising again, offers a distinct kind of hope that cycles of violence and oppression are not locked into the tracks they appear to be.  Christ's rising offers hope that the lowly to can rise.  The chorus of the song can be looked at in two ways: a plea for God to rise up to defend the cause of the oppressed, and a call to one another, as the body of Christ, to rise up to defend the cause of the oppressed. We sang this song to begin to broaden our understanding of who Jesus is as the Risen One, and who we are called to be as resurrection people.

Noise: This song is about God painting death and resurrection onto our lives by entering into our suffering and drawing us through it.  

Mystery:  We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Mystery then:  This is a protest song.  And Easter is a protest day.  In the Resurrection of Jesus, we have the defeat of death, yes, but we also have an empire and religious institution put to shame as their supposedly final assertion of power over the trouble-maker Jesus doesn't work.  If the power that corrupt systems of oppression carry is falsified, these systems cannot hope to stand for long.  So, the formula Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again is multi-valent, and one of those valences is of the raised-fist variety.  This was true then, and it is true now.  

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.

-JM

Liturgy 4-16-2017

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 bear witness
to the story that changes every story

when the women came to mourn
they found their Hope raised anew

we have gathered to speak again
the wonder that echoes off the edge of time

Christ has died
But death could not hold him
God set a Light in the darkness
And the darkness did not overcome it

Christ is Risen

He is Risen indeed
and now the reign of death
has fallen to Resurrection

Amen

Scripture

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his mercy endures for ever.
Let Israel now proclaim,
"His mercy endures for ever."

The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.
There is a sound of exultation and victory
in the tents of the righteous:
"The right hand of the Lord has triumphed!
the right hand of the Lord is exalted!
the right hand of the Lord has triumphed!"

I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me sorely,
but he did not hand me over to death.
Open for me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter them;
I will offer thanks to the Lord.

"This is the gate of the Lord;
he who is righteous may enter."

I will give thanks to you, for you answered me
and have become my salvation.
The same stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
On this day the Lord has acted;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Matthew 28:1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”

So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was written by Jacob Robinson and myself:

Christ has died.  Christ is Risen.  Christ will come again.

God, we embrace this Yes that you have spoken into the world.

This word of hope that echoes off the edge of time.
This counterpoint to every word of death, oppression, and temporal power.

This word of affirmation to all things good and beautiful
This counterpoint to self-interest and control

This word of abundance
This counterpoint to all things driven by scarcity and fear.

And in embracing this Yes, we pray that you would make us into resurrection people.  People who carry your Yes in us, breathing life into death, hope into anguish, and peace into violence.

We ask this of you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Risen One, by the power of the Spirit of Life.

Amen.

Setlist 4-16-2017

Yesterday was Easter Sunday, and our songs were gathered with the death and Resurrection of Jesus in mind.  Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, you can find recordings from Sunday morning of a few of them, and below the recordings, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

In the Night by Andrew Peterson

Death In His Grave by John Mark McMillan

Mystery by Jameson McGregor (adapted from Charlie Hall)

Hope by Jameson McGregor

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

Doxology

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

In the Night: We will be adding a piece to this song every week of Lent.  It traces a thread of struggle through the biblical narrative, ultimately building a case to hold hope in the midst of immense darkness.  We recorded a live version of this song last year, which you can download for free here.  

Death In His Grave: This song narrates the death and Resurrection of Jesus, and underscores the outcome of this Event: the death of death.  It also captures the reality-altering implications of this event for humans that Paul likens to Jesus being a second Adam.  We sang this song to step into this narrative in a more deliberate way and experience it anew.

Mystery: This is a protest song.  And Easter is a protest day.  In the Resurrection of Jesus, we have the defeat of death, yes, but we also have an empire and religious institution put to shame as their supposedly final assertion of power over the trouble-maker Jesus doesn't work.  If the power that corrupt systems of oppression carry is falsified, these systems cannot hope to stand for long.  So, the formula Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again is multi-valent, and one of those valences is of the raised-fist variety.  This was true then, and it is true now.  

Hope: This song uses the image from John of God setting a light in the darkness that the darkness did not overcome as a reference point for present hope (and interprets this image to refer to the Resurrection).  In the Resurrection, we see in action what we have hoped to be true: that God is present and active in brokenness, and is in the habit of making all things new.  And when we look back on our own lives in the moments most marred by pain, we find that they too evolved into something like broken pieces coming back together.  So when those pain-marred moments are our present moments, we can look back on the Resurrection and the resurrections we have experienced for the hope that God will raise us up again.

Wayward Ones: We sing this song every time we take communion to remind ourselves of a couple of things.  First, we are a broken people--though we are seeking to become more like Jesus, we often fail at this.  Second, Christ has given Himself for us despite our brokenness.  We take communion to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, even though we did not, and do not, deserve it.

Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.

-JM

Liturgy 4-9-2017

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

Today, we gather alongside the rabble who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem

Proclaiming, “Blessed is the One
who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Blessed is the One Whose power is made perfect in weakness

Who draws victory out of defeat
hope out of pain
And life out of death.

Lord Christ, who emptied Yourself for our sake,

Teach us to wear our weakness as You wore Yours
So that we can be more fully formed into your image.

Amen.

Scripture

Psalm 31:9-16

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
my eye is consumed with sorrow,
and also my throat and my belly.
For my life is wasted with grief,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails me because of affliction,
and my bones are consumed.

I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors,
a dismay to those of my acquaintance;
when they see me in the street they avoid me.
I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am as useless as a broken pot.

For I have heard the whispering of the crowd;
fear is all around;
they put their heads together against me;
they plot to take my life.

But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.
I have said, "You are my God.
My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.

Make your face to shine upon your servant,
and in your loving-kindness save me.”

Philippians 2:5-11

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited, 

but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave, 
being born in human likeness. 

And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death-- 
even death on a cross. 

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name, 

so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend, 
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father.

Setlist 4-9-2017

This week was the final week of Lent (Palm Sunday), 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. Below the songs, you can find recordings from Sunday morning of a few of them, and below the recordings, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

In the Night by Andrew Peterson

Here Is Our King by David Crowder* Band

Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher

Anthem by Leonard Cohen

Up on a Mountain by The Welcome Wagon

Be Thou My Vision

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

In the Night: We will be adding a piece to this song every week of Lent.  It traces a thread of struggle through the biblical narrative, ultimately building a case to hold hope in the midst of immense darkness.  We recorded a live version of this song last year, which you can download for free here.  

Here Is Our King: We sang this song to engage the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem.  As the people who gathered to welcome him in, our assumptions about who Jesus is and what Jesus is about to do are questionable.  We can say that we understand that Jesus is going to grasp victory through defeat, glory through humility, etc., but there is still something in us that clings to a Jesus whose power looks like whatever sort of conquering images are engrained in us.  We are people who, even though we know how the story of Jesus' death turns out still have to force ourselves to slow down and engage the weight of the suffering and darkness that precedes the Resurrection.  And as a result, we rob ourselves of any hope of grasping the profundity of that Event.

Lord, I Need You: We sang this song for two reasons.  The first is the same reason that we have been singing it during some of the other weeks of Lent: to remind ourselves that the transformation that we are reckoning with is work that the Spirit is doing in us, and to rehearse offering this confession so that we can find these words in the moments we need them the most.  The second is related to the call that is presented as Jesus enters Jerusalem: will we ride with him?  Will we walk the path that he is on?  Will we follow him to the place that not even he wants to go?  If we have any hope of saying yes to any of these, we will need the aid of God.

Anthem: This is a Leonard Cohen song.  Which means it is multi-valent, dense, and profound.  We sang it at the end of Lent because we are exiting a season in which we know that we are not capable of making a perfect offering out of our lives, whether through being burt out by our lenten practices, our on again/off again relationship to our lenten practices, or our failure to even develop and attempt a lenten practice.  Lent leaves a crack in any sense of self-righteousness that we have accumulated over the past year, and makes way for the Light of Easter.  This is something I talked about in the newsletter on Friday (you can read that here), which I suppose also led to this song showing up yesterday.

Up on a Mountain: This song jumps ahead to Thursday night in the narrative of Holy Week, where we find Jesus having a breakdown in the garden of Gethsemane.  In his loneliness and his fear, we find that we are not alone--that the Christ has entered into the depths of the human condition (with more depths to come on Friday and Saturday), and has met us there.  

Be Thou My Vision:  During Lent, we depart from our typical singing of the Doxology to close our time together.  As we wander the wilderness of Lent, learning more about who we are and what we are for, we carry these words on our tongues, time and again asking God to be our vision, wisdom, and security.

-JM

Liturgy 4-2-2017

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

Lord of mercy,
we have gathered to be formed in the way of Christ

to become more fully
who we were made to be

spread a balm over our eyes
that we may see people like You do

 lay coals on our tongues
that we may speak truly

replace our hearts of stone
with hearts that feel

and renew our minds
with the imaginative power of Your Spirit

Amen

Scripture

Psalm 130

Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice;
let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.
If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss,
O Lord, who could stand?

For there is forgiveness with you;
therefore you shall be feared.
I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for the Lord;
in the Lord’s word is my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord,
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, wait for the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy;
With the Lord there is plenteous redemption,
and the Lord shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

John 9:1-12

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.”

He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”

They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was from An Iona Prayer Book (p.53):

Guide and Friend
of every seeking heart,
you take upon yourself
all that burdens our lives:
our days of doubt,
our divided hearts,
our physical weakness
and that fear of the future
which is often our companion.
And you transfigure them,
freeing us of all that weighs us down.
Lord of the perplexed,
enable us today to rediscover
your amazing truth--
that in your strength
we truly can begin to walk anew
with lightened step and clearer vision,
moving from the shadows
into the clear flowing waters
of your healing, gentle grace.
Amen.

Setlist 4-2-2017

This week was the fifth week of Lent, 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. Below the songs, you can find recordings from Sunday morning of a few of them, and below the recordings, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment at the bottom of this page or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.

Songs:

In the Night by Andrew Peterson

Deliver Me by David Crowder* Band

There's A Wideness in God's Mercy by Jameson McGregor (adapted from F. Faber)

At the Gate by Electrofolk Revival (performed by Emily Hass)

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

Be Thou My Vision

How They Fit In:

There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme. 

In the Night: We will be adding a piece to this song every week of Lent.  It traces a thread of struggle through the biblical narrative, ultimately building a case to hold hope in the midst of immense darkness.  We recorded a live version of this song last year, which you can download for free here.  

Deliver Me: As we draw near to Easter, this song voices the longing that is going to be addressed in the Resurrection.  In the resurrection, our deepest existential anguish is confronted and shattered.  But standing before this moment in our journey through the Christian story, the weight of tragedy, the madness of the world, our own fears, and our own tendency to be driven by scarcity, presses in all around us, and we begin to wear thin from holding on to the hope that this Jesus we have been coming to know is who we think he is.  

There's A Wideness in God's Mercy: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about There's A Wideness In God's Mercy then: This song speaks a word of mercy into our desert of Lent.  Even as we take time to notice our sin and to lean more deliberately into transformation, we sang this song to remind ourselves that the ever-wide mercy and ever-broad love of God wholly embraces us.

At the Gate:  I asked Emily what drew her to this song.  This is what she said: I forget that eternity is something to look forward to.  This song refreshes my understanding.

Wayward Ones: We sing this song every time we take communion to remind ourselves of a couple of things.  First, we are a broken people--though we are seeking to become more like Jesus, we often fail at this.  Second, Christ has given Himself for us despite our brokenness.  We take communion to remember the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, even though we did not, and do not, deserve it.

Be Thou My Vision:  During Lent, we depart from our typical singing of the Doxology to close our time together.  As we wander the wilderness of Lent, learning more about who we are and what we are for, we carry these words on our tongues, time and again asking God to be our vision, wisdom, and security.

-JM