Liturgy 5-6-2019

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 Risen Christ

to enter the story of God and the people of God

and find our own stories changed

seeking the Spirit of God
to form us into Resurrection people

that we might reflect the light of Christ
in our ordinary lives

amen

Scripture

Psalm 30

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.

O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger is but for a moment;
his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

As for me, I said in my prosperity,
“I shall never be moved.”
By your favor, O Lord,
you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
I was dismayed.

To you, O Lord, I cried,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
“What profit is there in my death,
if I go down to the Pit?

Will the dust praise you?
Will it tell of your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my helper!”

You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken off my sackcloth
and clothed me with joy,
so that my soul may praise you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Acts 9:1-20

Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He asked, "Who are you, Lord?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." He answered, "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight."

But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."

So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."

Setlist 5-6-2019

This past Sunday was the third Sunday of Eastertide, 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 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:

Wild One by Jameson McGregor

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

Death In His Grave by John Mark McMillan

Inbreaking by Jameson McGregor

Pulse by ubcmusic

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. 

Wild One: We sang this song to celebrate God’s not being bound by our expectations of who God is.

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

Death In His Grave: We sang this song to rehearse the death and Resurrection of Christ.

Inbreaking: This song is a petition for the Slaughtered Lamb to work Resurrection in our midst.

Pulse: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week’s songs. This is what we said about Pulse then: This song is a petition for the Spirit to work Resurrection in our hearts and form us in the way of Christ.

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

Liturgy 4-28-2019

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 whom death could not contain

to enter into the story of God and the people of God

and find our own stories there

that we might learn to love our neighbor as our self

and to join in the work of Resurrection
in our ordinary lives

Amen

Scripture

Psalm 118:14-29

The Lord is my strength and my might;
   the Lord has become my salvation.

There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
   the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
   the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”

I shall not die, but I shall live,
   and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
   but did not give me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness,
   that I may enter through them
   and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord;
   the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
   and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected
   has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
   it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made;
   let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
   O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
   We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
   and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
   up to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
   you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good,
   for the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe."

Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Setlist 4-28-2019

This past Sunday was the second Sunday of Eastertide, 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 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:

Hope by Jameson McGregor

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

Pulse by ubcmusic

Eternal Anchor by Jameson McGregor

Mystery by ubcmusic (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. 

Hope: This song proclaims the hope of Easter, that the Living God is working to redeem the entire cosmos.

All Creatures of Our God and King: We sang this song to join our voices to all of creation in celebrating God as our Creator, Sustainer, and Re-Creator.

Pulse: This song is a petition for the Spirit to work Resurrection in our hearts and form us in the way of Christ.

Eternal Anchor: This song is about the Living God’s saving love for God’s creatures, and God’s making all things new.

Mystery: We sang this song to celebrate the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

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

Liturgy 5-13-2018

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.

Mother's Day Intro

The following is a reading with which we began our liturgy. The majority of this reading is an adaptation of a text written by Amy Young.  You can find her original post here.

As you likely know, today is Mother’s Day.  

We acknowledge Mother’s Day in our liturgy because motherhood is a metaphor that can tell us something about who God is—namely, the One who has birthed us and who comes alongside us as we grow, nurturing us, guiding us toward maturity, and sustaining us along the way.  

It is no secret that Mother’s Day can be a day of complex emotions, both
joyous and sorrowful, and so:

To those who gave birth this year to your first child—we celebrate with  you.

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you.

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the
badge of food stains – we appreciate you.

To those who step-parent - we walk with you on these complex paths

To those who are single mothers -- we have deep respect and
admiration for you.

To those who have lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst.

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions,
running away, or any othercircumstance—we mourn with you.

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you.

To those who are foster moms -- we appreciate you, and we thank you.

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve
and rejoice with you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we
celebrate with you.

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your
children – we sit with you.

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you.

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we
acknowledge you and we will walk with you.

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own
children - we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be.

To those who placed children up for adoption – we join you in holding that child in your heart.

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and
surprising – we anticipate with you.

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Call to Worship

we have gathered to worship the Creator

the One Who gave birth
to all of creation, and has numbered
every hair on our heads

to be formed by the Wisdom of God,

the One Who gathers the vulnerable
like a hen gathers her children
under her wings

through the power of the Spirit,

the One Who greets
every newborn creature
with the kiss of life
and is raising the world
from death to glory

amen.

Scripture

Psalm 1

Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on the Lord’s law they meditate day and night.

They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.

In all that they do, they prosper.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

John 17:6-19

You have entrusted Me with these men who have come out of this corrupt world order. I have told them about Your nature and declared Your name to them, and they have held on to Your words and understood that these words, like everything else You have given Me, come from You.

It is true that these men You gave Me have received the words that come from You and not only understood them but also believed that You sent Me. I am now making an appeal to You on their behalf.

This request is not for the entire world; it is for those whom You have given to Me because they are Yours. Yours and Mine, Mine and Yours, for all that are Mine are Yours. Through them I have been glorified.

I will no longer be physically present in this world, but they will remain in this world. As I return to be with You, holy Father, remain with them through Your name, the name You have given Me. May they be one even as We are one.

While I was physically present with them, I protected them through Your name. I watched over them closely; and only one was lost, the one the Scriptures said was the son of destruction. Now I am returning to You. I am speaking this prayer here in the created cosmos alongside friends and foes so that in hearing it they might be consumed with joy.

I have given them Your word; and the world has despised them because they are not products of the world, in the same way that I am not a product of the corrupt world order. Do not take them out of this world; protect them from the evil one.

Like Me, they are not products of the corrupt world order. Immerse them in the truth, the truth Your voice speaks. In the same way You sent Me into this world, I am sending them. It is entirely for their benefit that I have set Myself apart so that they may be set apart by truth.

Prayer

God, who is both Father and Mother to us all, we thank you for the gift of another day of life, and for the ability to share this gift in community.  

We thank you for every good gift that you’ve given us, and today we are thankful for the gift of every kind of mother in our midst, and every kind of mother that you have given us in our own lives. 

We ask that every joy we associate with our experiences with motherhood would teach us about the way you love us.  

And we ask that every pain we associate with our experiences with motherhood would not overwhelm us, but that we might bear it together, and You with us.

Amen

Setlist 5-13-2018

This past Sunday was both Mother's Day and the seventh Sunday of Eastertide.  Our songs were gathered with this convergence 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

Hope by Jameson McGregor

There by Jameson McGregor

Mother by Jameson McGregor

Future/Past by John Mark McMillan

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: This song offered us language to begin our time together by proclaiming the grandeur of God through observing what God has made and what God has done in the world.

Hope: This song looks at the mini-Resurrections that God has spread across creation in order to look ahead to the re-Creation of all things.

There: This song is a proclamation of God's being set apart from every source of anxiety, and offers us an Anchor to still ourselves in the turmoil of the world at the moment.

Mother: This song was born out of a desire to enter into the tradition found threaded through Deuteronomy, Hosea, Isaiah, and Jesus, of using maternal metaphors to speak of God.  Put differently, it uses the lens of motherhood as a way to speak of the way that God cares for and loves us.

Future/Past: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Future/Past then: We sang this song to celebrate the self-giving love that God invites us into.

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 5-6-2018

Yesterday was the sixth Sunday of Eastertide, and our songs were gathered with that 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:

Amazing Grace by Citizens and Saints

Wayward Ones by The Gladsome Light

Future/Past by John Mark McMillan

It Is Well

Light and Flame by Jameson McGregor

Heart Won't Stop by John Mark and Sarah McMillan

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. 

Amazing Grace: This song offered us language to begin our gathering proclaiming the grace of God that infuses our lives with vitality.

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.

Future/Past: We sang this song to celebrate the self-giving love that God invites us into.

It Is Well: This song offers us language to proclaim an anchor of worth and meaning outside of any given terrible thing we experience, and to look ahead to the re-Creation of all things.

Light and Flame: This song is about the inner identity conflicts that all humans experience and raises the question of whether resurrection is something we go looking for, or something that happens to us.

Heart Won't Stop:  We sang this song to look over our shoulder at the songs from two weeks ago (since last week was Children's Sunday).  This is what we said about Heart Won't Stop then: We sang this song to articulate and celebrate what Easter shows us about how far God is willing to go to set things right with 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 4-29-2018

Yesterday was both the fifth Sunday of Eastertide and Children's Sunday.  Our songs were gathered with these things 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:

Jesus Loves Me

Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher

Fall Afresh by Jeremy Riddle

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

All the Poor and Powerless by All Sons & Daughters

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. 

Jesus Loves Me: The littlest of our little ones began our gathering by offering us this theological gut-punch that proclaims the truth of Divine Love, God's strength in weakness, and our connection to the Word of God in Christ that is mediated through the Bible.

Lord, I Need You: We sang this song to speak of our dependence upon God in our journey to being formed more fully in the way of the Resurrected Christ.

Fall Afresh: We offered this song as a petition for the Spirit to reinvigorate our hearts and help us to seek to know God more fully.

There's A Wideness in God's Mercy: We sang this song to offer ourselves a critique of the limits we place on the love of God, and to celebrate God's generous mercy.

All the Poor and Powerless: This song reminds us that God stands with the poor and powerless, and offers us a challenge to proclaim the Gospel: God's freedom for the captive, vindication of the oppressed, and weaving together of history to raise the lowly from the depths.

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 4-22-2018

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 made all things

the One who is making all things new

to enter the story of God and the people of God

and find our own stories transformed

to learn to see our neighbors as God does

that we might learn to love as God does

Amen.

Scripture

Psalm 23

The Eternal is my shepherd, cares for me always.
The Eternal provides me rest in rich, green fields
   beside streams of refreshing water,
  soothes my fears;

The Eternal makes me whole again,
   steering me off worn, hard paths
   to roads where truth and righteousness echo the Name.

Even in the unending shadows of death’s darkness,
   I am not overcome by fear.
Because You are with me in those dark moments,
   near with Your protection and guidance,
   I am comforted.

You spread out a table before me,
   provisions in the midst of attack from my enemies;
You care for all my needs, anointing my head with soothing, fragrant oil,
   filling my cup again and again with Your grace.

Certainly Your faithful protection and loving provision will pursue me
   where I go, always, everywhere.
I will always be with the Eternal,
   in Your house forever.

John 10:11-18

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Prayer

This week's prayer was written by Maggie Griffin:

God,

We are especially grateful that you’ve given us each other. 

You gift us communities and places in which we are able to be ourselves and become ourselves.  

You use us to craft stories, plays, and melodies that point us to humanity’s many conditions, so we can better understand your people. 

You use us to teach others about art and nature, sparking awe and wonder about Your creation. 

You use us to create children’s programming to share your message of radical inclusivity, radical empathy, radical humility, and radical love. 

You use us, each in our own way, with different passions, skills and talents to offer one another a better, broader, brighter picture of your character.

You use us to offer community to each other at our loneliest; to show us grace when we can’t look ourselves in the mirror; to remind us of our part in the gospel when we’ve written ourselves out; to challenge each other when we become complacent; to sit with each other in doubt and grief and to celebrate with each other in times of joy and redemption.

God, today we are particularly grateful for the gift of the individuals who are soon graduating.  Thank you for the ways in which their presence, passion, and talents have formed our community. 

Amen.

Setlist 4-22-2018

Yesterday was the fourth Sunday of Eastertide, and our songs were gathered with that 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

House of God Forever by Jon Foreman

Death In His Grave by John Mark McMillan

Shadow by Jameson McGregor

Pulse 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. 

Heart Won't Stop: We sang this song to articulate and celebrate what Easter shows us about how far God is willing to go to set things right with us.

House of God Forever: We sang this song to echo Psalm 23, which was one of yesterday's readings, celebrating God's care for us.

Death In His Grave: This song allows us to rehearse again the Resurrection story as we go through the Easter season, emphasizing both the suffering of Jesus and the victory of Jesus over death.

Shadow: This song is about the difficulty of being formed in the way of Christ.

Pulse: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Pulse then: We sang this song to acknowledge the interconnectivity of Creation and to draw ourselves toward loving our neighbors as ourselves.

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 4-15-2018

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 Risen Lord

Boundless Love, Embodied

to be drawn into God’s story

and find our own stories transformed

to bear the marks of the Risen Christ

that our lives might embody
the hope of Resurrection

amen.

Scripture

Psalm 4

Answer my prayers, O True God, the righteous, who makes me right.
    I was hopelessly surrounded, and You rescued me.
Once again hear me; hide me in Your favor;
    bring victory in defeat and hope in hopelessness.

How long will you sons of Adam steal my dignity, reduce my glory to shame?
    Why pine for the fruitless and dream a delusion?

Understand this: The Eternal One treats as special those like the Eternal.
    The Eternal will answer my prayers and save me.

Think long; think hard. When you are angry, don’t let it carry you into sin.
    When night comes, in calm be silent.

From this day forward, offer to God the right sacrifice from a heart made right by God.
    Entrust yourself to the Eternal.

Crowds of disheartened people ask, “Who can show us what is good?”
    Let Your brilliant face shine upon us, O Eternal One, that we may know the undeniable  
    answer.

You have filled me with joy, and happiness has risen in my heart, great delight and unrivaled    
     joy,
    even more than when bread abounds and wine flows freely.

Tonight I will sleep securely on a bed of peace
    because I trust You, You alone, O Eternal One, will keep me safe.

Luke 24:36b-48

Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. 

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Prayer

This week's prayer was from The Iona Community Worship Book:

O God,
Early in the morning,
When the world was young,
You made life in all its beauty and terror;
You gave birth to all that we know.

Hallowed be Your Name

Early in the morning,
When the world least expected it,
A new born child crying in a cradle
Announced that You had come among us,
That you were one of us.

Hallowed be Your Name

Early in the morning,
Surrounded by self-interested religious leaders,
Anxious statesmen
And silent friends,
You accepted the penalty for doing good,
For being God:
You shouldered and suffered the cross.

Hallowed be Your Name

Early in the morning,
A voice in a guarded graveyard
And footsteps in the dew
Proved that You had risen,
That You had come back
To those and for those
Who had forgotten, denied and destroyed You.

O God, bring new life,
Where we are worn and tired,
New love,
Where we have turned hard hearted
Forgiveness,
Where we have wounded,
And the Joy and freedom of Your Holy Spirit
Where we are the prisoners of ourselves.

Amen

Setlist 4-15-2018

Yesterday was the third Sunday of Eastertide, and our songs were gathered with that 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:

All Creatures of Our God and King

Noise by Jameson McGregor

Pulse by Jameson McGregor

Because He Lives by Bill and Gloria Gaither

Heart With No Companion by Leonard Cohen

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

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. 

All Creatures of Our God and King: We sang this song to find language to worship the Creator, Sustainer, and now re-Creator of all that is.

Noise: We sang this song to voice Christ's redemption in our stories, his entering into our condition and rewriting it.

Pulse: We sang this song to acknowledge the interconnectivity of Creation and to draw ourselves toward loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Because He Lives: We sang this song to speak of the everyday hope that the Resurrection offers us--not merely a hope that it will all shake out in the end, but that the the Kingdom is breaking in in glimpses even now.

Heart With No Companion: This song is a meditation on the implications of the Resurrected Christ; specifically, the hope that reaches every kind of despair.

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 sang about There's A Wideness in God's Mercy then: We sang this song to celebrate God's mercy and to remind ourselves that any view we hold about God's rigid wrath says more about us than it does God.

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 4-8-2018

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 Creator and Sustainer of all that is

the Lord of Resurrection,
making all things new

seeking to be drawn into God’s story

and to draw God’s story into our own

to be drawn together in one heart and soul,
clothed in the extraordinary grace of God

that our lives might be reflections
of Resurrection hope.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scripture

Psalm 133

How good and pleasant it is
   when brothers and sisters live together in peace!
It is like the finest oils poured on the head,
   sweet-smelling oils flowing down to cover the beard,

Flowing down the beard of Aaron,
   flowing down the collar of his robe.
It is like the gentle rain of Mount Hermon
   that falls on the hills of Zion.

Yes, from this place, the Eternal spoke the command,
   from there the Eternal gave the Eternal’s blessing—life forever.

Acts 4:32-35

During those days, the entire community of believers was deeply united in heart and soul to such an extent that they stopped claiming private ownership of their possessions. Instead, they held everything in common.

The apostles with great power gave their eyewitness reports of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Everyone was surrounded by an extraordinary grace.

Not a single person in the community was in need because those who had been affluent sold their houses or lands and brought the proceeds to the emissaries of the Lord.

They then distributed the funds to individuals according to their needs.

Prayer

This week's prayer was written and read by Tylor Standley:

God of all we know and, more importantly, all that we do not know, 

We come to continue the two-thousand-year celebration of the resurrection of your son. Some of us as doubters, and some with unshakeable faith. We ask for your patience when our doubt gives way to despair, and for your forgiveness when our certainty gives way to zealous intolerance.

We come to listen to stories of the signs you performed in the presence of your disciples, signs that point us toward the cloud of unknowing, and the clarity that comes when we enter there--signs that reveal the mystery that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who gives life.

Sometimes, it is frustrating that we can only read of these signs from disciples who were there—disciples who heard, who saw with their eyes, who looked at and touched with their hands the revelation of the Word of Life. Easter was so long ago.

And yet, Easter is not over, for we are your Resurrection People and you are revealed by our togetherness. So, we gather not just to hear about signs, we gather to make them. We gather, because by doing so we see your body with our eyes, we look at and touch with our hands. 

Let those of us who have believed be of one heart and soul, let us share all things in common. And through our unity with one another, let us be unified with you. Let us be children of love and peace.

Amen.

Setlist 4-8-2018

Yesterday was the second Sunday of Eastertide, and our songs were gathered with that 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:

Crown Him With Many Crowns

Amazing Grace by Citizens & Saints

There's A Wideness in God's Mercy by Jameson McGregor

Murdered Son by John Mark McMillan

Inbreaking 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. 

Crown Him With Many Crowns: We sang this song to orient our attention toward Jesus as the Risen Lord, whose power is made perfect in weakness and whose reign is underscored by nonviolence and love.

Amazing Grace: As we enter Resurrection season, this song offers us language to articulate the sustaining presence of God's grace through the deaths and resurrections we experience in the course of life.

There's A Wideness In God's Mercy: We sang this song to celebrate God's mercy and to remind ourselves that any view we hold about God's rigid wrath says more about us than it does God.

Murdered Son: This song speaks to the death of Jesus as it relates to our own deaths; namely that Christ has grabbed us and raises us with him.

Inbreaking: This song is a plea for the Slaughtered Lamb to raise hope out of brokenness and draw us into the Resurrection life.

Mystery: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Mystery then: We sang this song to proclaim Jesus' rise from death at the hands of political and religious oppressors, and raised this as a challenge for us to rise to the aid of the oppressed.

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 5-28-2017

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 worship the Lord of all

to sing, pray, listen, and reflect

in this, we hope to be formed more fully in the way of Christ

to be transformed into people
who extend the love of God to all of Creation

and to realign our desires with the Kingdom of God

so that our lives might reflect our true citizenship

Amen.

Scripture

Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36

May the True God rise up and show Godself;
    may those who are united against God be dispersed,
    while the people who hate God run away at the sight of God.
As smoke disappears when it is blown by the wind,
    may You blow away Your enemies forever.
As wax melts in the presence of fire,
    may the wicked heart melt away in God’s presence.
But may those who are righteous rejoice
    in the presence of the True God—so may they be glad and rejoice.
    Yes, let them celebrate with joy!

Sing songs of praise to the name that belongs to the True God!
    Let your voices ring out in songs of praise to the One who rides through the deserted           places.
God’s name is the Eternal;
    celebrate in God’s glorious presence.

The True God who inhabits sacred space
    is a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.
God makes a home for those who are alone.
    God frees the prisoners and leads them to prosper.
Yet those who rebel against God live in the barren land without God’s blessings and                 prosperity.

O True God, when You led Your enslaved people from Egypt,
    when You journeyed with us through the wilderness,
The whole world trembled! The sky poured down rain
    at the power of Your presence; even Mount Sinai trembled in Your presence,
    the presence of the True God, the God of Israel.
You sent a heavy downpour to soak the ground, O True God.
    You refreshed the land—the land Your people would inherit—when it was parched                 and dry.
Your covenant people made their homes in the land,
    and because You are so good, You provided for those crushed by poverty, O True God.

To the One who rides high up beyond the heavens, which have been since ancient times,
    watch and listen. The Voice speaks, and it is powerful and strong.
Attribute power to the one True God;
    Whose royal splendor is evident over Israel,
    and Whose power courses through the clouds.
O True God, You are awesome from the holy place where You dwell.
    The True God of Israel
    grants strength and power to God’s people.

Blessed be our God!

Acts 1:6-14

When the apostles had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.

They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Setlist 5-14-2017

This week was the fourth 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:

Come Thou Fount

Fall Afresh by Jeremy Riddle

There by Jameson McGregor

Heart With No Companion by Leonard Cohen

Pulse 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. 

Come Thou Fount: We sang this song to give voice to our gratitude for God's activity in our lives thus far, and to graft the Resurrection into that list of wonders.  It is an exercise in looking back to inform our looking forward--to examine who God has been to inform our expectations of who God will be.

Fall Afresh: This song is a petition for the Spirit that brought Jesus through death into Life to dwell among us and renew the whole of ourselves.

There: This song gives voice to God's transcendence over/above any anxieties we face in life. We sang it to enhance the idea that we have been carrying about God's immanence in the midst of our pain in the suffering of Jesus.  The Resurrection is a marriage of the immanence of Jesus and the transcendence of God, a Yes that crashes through the No of pain and death.

Heart With No Companion: This song imagines the implications of the vast and shattered love of God.  It is both wide reaching, and acquainted with pain, and thus is able to find us in the midst of our own pain.  The chorus focuses on an oft-overlooked kind of pain that arises out of unmet expectations or a disconnect between passion and circumstance.

Pulse: We sang this song to look over our shoulder at last week's songs.  This is what we said about Pulse then: This song speaks to the effect of the Resurrection on life in the world.  The Resurrection is driven by the transformative power that spreads through the entire cosmos, the Spirit of God.  And this same transformative power is working to raise what is dead in 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

Liturgy 5-7-2017

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 worship the Risen Lord

the One who came
that we might have life 

seeking to be formed into resurrection people

those who know that life
is most definitely a gift 

and who look to the Spirit
to shape us into better stewards of this gift

as a living thanks to the Giver.

amen

Scripture

Psalm 23

The Eternal is my shepherd, cares for me always.
The Eternal provides me rest in rich, green fields
   beside streams of refreshing water.

The Eternal soothes my fears;
The Eternal makes me whole again,
   steering me off worn, hard paths
   to roads where truth and righteousness echo the Name.

Even in the unending shadows of death’s darkness,
   I am not overcome by fear.
Because You are with me in those dark moments,
   near with Your protection and guidance,
   I am comforted.

You spread out a table before me,
   provisions in the midst of attack from my enemies;
You care for all my needs, anointing my head with soothing, fragrant oil,
   filling my cup again and again with Your grace.

Certainly Your faithful protection and loving provision will pursue me
   where I go, always, everywhere.
I will always be with the Eternal,
   in Your house forever.

John 10:1-10

 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate.

Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Prayer

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

Amen.