Liturgy 8-26-2018

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 One who is near to the brokenhearted,

the One who saves those whose spirits are crushed

to enter into the story of God

and find our own stories changed

to be formed more fully by the Spirit of God into the way of Christ

that we might carry the love of God within us
and learn to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God

Amen

Scripture

Jeremiah 29:1-8

These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

It said: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream

Ephesians 6:10-20

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Prayer

This week's prayer was written by Brianna Childs:

A Prayer for Transition

Our good and gracious God,

In times when the future is so unsure, please be our sureness.

In times when we feel like we cannot go on, please be the solid rock on which we stand.

In times when the lies from fear make us doubt, please be our truth.

In times when our feelings are a roller coaster or we don't even know how to feel, please be our unwavering constant. 

In times when we fail, please give us mercy.

In times when we compare those failures to the successes of those around us, please be our identity.

In times when we begin to rely on our own plans and successes, please be our humility. 

In times when the heartbreak makes it hard to go on living, please be our comfort.

In times when a new birth brings infinite possibilities, please be our deepest joy.

In times of separation from loved ones, please be our connector.

In times when we have to say goodbye, please be our peace. 

In times when we Your plans come together perfectly, please receive every ounce of glory.

In times when we experience rejection and have nowhere to turn, please be our refuge.

In times when we follow You blindly, please be the lamp to our feet and the light to our path. 

In times when we wait for direction, please grant us patience.

In times when we do become impatient, please be our contentment.

In times when we yearn for more, whether in this life or in eternity with You, please be our all-consuming satisfaction.

In times of transition, thank you for being the God of it all.

Amen.

Setlist 8-26-2018

Yesterday was the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost.  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 a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. 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

Be Thou My Vision

Rise Up by Bifrost Arts

Anthem by Leonard Cohen

How Great Thou Art

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: We sang this song to begin our time together by directing our attention to God's incessant pursuit of the redemption of God's creatures.

Be Thou My Vision: This song is a petition for God to reframe our sense of vision, wisdom, security, and hope; to give us an overall different lens through which to view the world and our place in it.

Rise Up: This song is a prayer for the trampled of the world, that God would rise to their defense and strike down the systems that attack them, and implicitly that God would form us into people who rise to their defense as well.

Anthem: This is a song about the Light of God entering our world through broken places, and offers us a different way to see ourselves in this broken world.

How Great Thou Art: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about How Great Thou Art then: We sang this song to begin our time together by acknowledging the glory of God in creation, what God has done in Christ, and the ongoing redemption of all creation.

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 8-19-2018

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

to direct our attention to the One in whom we live
and move and have our being

to step into God’s story

and find our own stories reimagined

and to seek the Spirit of God

to form us in the way of Christ
and awaken us to the Kingdom of God in our midst

Amen.

Scripture

Exodus 12:1-4, 5-10, 11-14

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.

They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.

This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

John 6:51-58

Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was for teachers and students as they enter another year of education, and it was written by Allison Figley:

Father,

A prayer for education in the current broken state of society seems an overwhelming task. The statistics that label schools as a direct pipeline to prisons are simultaneously undeniable and heartbreaking. Students who are homeless, hungry, abused, or parentless enter classrooms seeking respite from the hand they have been dealt, and we expect them to focus on such seemingly trivial matters as grammar, algebra, and standardized tests. For teachers, administrators, counselors, parents, and students alike, the reality is daunting and seemingly insurmountable. It is unfortunately no surprise that over 1.2 million high school students drop out each year in the US alone, equating to 1 student every 26 seconds.

However discouraging the statistics may be, Lord, help those of us who serve as educators to remember 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

On those days that that “one kid” in our class is disruptive and refuses to participate, remind us that the same student might not know where he is sleeping that night, and give us patience and gentleness.

When a student talks back and is sent to the office on a daily basis, remind us of the student from the past just like her who apologized three years later for the way she behaved, and give us peace and understanding.

When the student who struggles daily but works so hard finally experiences a “light bulb” moment, give us the sense of mind to celebrate with him in the moment, sharing our joy with love and kindness rather than quickly moving on for lack of time.

As Galatians 6:9 charges us,

9 Let us not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

Father, we pray that all who have been called to the mission of education, no matter their title, would remember these words. Though we may not always glimpse the harvest from the seeds we have sown in the moment, the blessing will come if we don’t give up and do everything in love as 1st Corinthians 16:14 implores us. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

As a church, Father, remind us to pray often for both educators and students, to build them up and encourage them on their respective journeys. And as a new school year begins, let us all remember what Nelson Mandela claimed: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” In a world that needs a drastic change for the better, we as educators pray for the courage, faith, hope, and love to be the catalyst for this change. To be the light in the darkness that so many students desperately seek. And we pray, as in Ephesians 3:16-19, “...that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

We love you, Lord, and praise you for the gift and privilege of education. May we all be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God both this school year and always.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Setlist 8-19-2018

Yesterday was the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost.  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 a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. 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:

How Great Thou Art

All Creatures of Our God and King by David Crowder* Band

Amazing Grace by Citizens

Inbreaking 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. 

How Great Thou Art: We sang this song to begin our time together by acknowledging the glory of God in creation, what God has done in Christ, and the ongoing redemption of all creation.

All Creatures of Our God and King: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about All Creatures of Our God and King then: We sang this song to join our voices with the whole of creation acknowledging the grandeur of what God has made.

Amazing Grace: This song offers us language to express the work of God's grace in our lives, and challenges us to be present to the ongoing work of God in who we are becoming.

Inbreaking: This song is a plea for God to break into the chaos of our lives and raise up the Kingdom in our midst.

Wayward Ones: This song invites us to remember the self-giving love of Christ as we participate in communion.

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 8-12-2018

Yesterday was the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.  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 a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. 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:

Mystery by ubcmusic (adapted from Charlie Hall)

All Creatures of Our God and King by David Crowder* Band

Pulse by Jameson McGregor

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go by ubcmusic (adapted from Ascend the Hill)

Waking Life by Jameson McGregor

Noise by Jameson McGregor

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. 

Mystery: We sang this song to begin our time together proclaiming the death and Resurrection of Jesus, clinging to the sanity and victory of Jesus over the powers and principalities of the world.

All Creatures of Our God and King: We sang this song to join our voices with the whole of creation acknowledging the grandeur of what God has made.

Pulse: We sang this song to petition the Spirit of God to reawaken us to our interconnectivity with all of God's creation.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: This song is a plea for God to hold us in the midst of struggle, while also confessing our hope that the love of God has a grip that not even death can break.

Waking Life: This song is about God breaking through the categories that we construct to organize people we perceive to be different from us, replacing our need to fight with a desire to reconcile.

Noise: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Noise then: This song acknowledges the wide gap between what it is to be God and what it is to be us, and proclaims that in spite of this gap, God has moved toward us.

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 8-5-2018

Yesterday was the eleventh Sunday after Pentecost.  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 a brief example of one way you might think of these songs. 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:

Noise by Jameson McGregor

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

Fall Afresh by Jeremy Riddle

Just the Same by Jameson McGregor

There by Jameson McGregor

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. 

Noise: This song acknowledges the wide gap between what it is to be God and what it is to be us, and proclaims that in spite of this gap, God has moved toward us.

Wayward Ones:  This is our communion hymn, and it contemplates Christ's self-giving love that is displayed and remembered in the eucharist.

Fall Afresh: This song offered us language to seek a rekindling of the Spirit in our lives, reorienting our attention toward God and the Kingdom of God in the world.

Just the Same: This song is about the versions of faith that we evolve through over time, how, for better or worse they never really leave us, and it grasps for some sort of security in the midst of this.

There:  This song looks to God as an Anchor within the chaos of life.

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

-JM