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.

Liturgy 5-14-2017

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.

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 withyou.

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 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 other circumstance—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 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 commend you for
your selflessness and remember how you hold 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 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 31:1-5, 15-16

In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
Incline your ear to me;
make haste to deliver me.
 
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe,
for you are my crag and my stronghold;
for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.
 
Take me out of the net that they
have secretly set for me,
for you are my tower of strength.
Into your hands I commend my spirit,
for you have redeemed me,
O Lord, O God of truth.
 
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."

John 14:1-14

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.”
 
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 
 
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
 
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.
 
Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
 

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.

Setlist 5-7-2017

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:

Chariot by Page France

Pulse by Jameson McGregor

How Great Thou Art

Pain 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. 

Chariot: The chorus of this song captures a central theme of the Easter season: we will become a happy ending.  In this simple phrase, we find the core implication of the Resurrection.  The Love of God is unhindered on a fundamental level, even by death.  God's Yes overwhelms any No that might come before it.  

Pulse: 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.  

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: 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.

Pain: In the death and Resurrection of Jesus, we find that God is able to bear the weight of our suffering and somehow paint life on the other side. This Event offers us a picture of what God can make of our own pain, and it stands as an image of Hope.  The chorus of this song,

but the God of the Lighter Load
can take the weight of the pain we hold
until the sting becomes about much more than the pain
it's the place
that we dwell in a  Living Hope
the architecture of the ones who know
that, in the end, healing comes like the day:
from the night

is not suggesting that God takes our pain away, but instead enters into our pain and is carrying out the work of transformational healing.  This Hope hinges on the image of the Resurrection, on the fact that Jesus's suffering was not miraculously alleviated or cut short, but rather was the first part of a broader story that transcended the suffering itself.  

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