<![CDATA[A Place of Grace - Point of Contact]]>

<![CDATA[A Place of Grace - Point of Contact]]>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 01:44:10 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Prayer of Confession, P+15A]]>Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:03:26 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/prayer-of-confession-p15a2968194

Call to Confession

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:10)
Let us confess the wrongs we have committed against our neighbor and seek God's mercy:

Prayer of Confession

Merciful God,
Jesus said that the greatest commandment
was to love you
and the second was to love our neighbor
as ourselves.
Paul reminded us that love
is the fulfilling of the law.
Yet we who continually claim to be about
law and order,
continually fail to keep the law of love.
We look at others with lust in our hearts.
We kill the spirits of those around us,
stealing their freedom
and their rightful voice
and their opportunities for wealth.
We covet what belongs to others,
including power and authority,
instead of earning trust
through respect, compassion,
and kindness.
Have mercy on us, we pray!
Remind us who we are
and whose we are.
Remind us of our commitment
to law and order,
and order our lives
according to the law of love.

Assurance of God's Grace

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27)
Hear the Good News: in the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God!

Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us also forgive one another.
The peace of Christ be with you.
Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter this week.

]]><![CDATA[Call to Worship, P+15A]]>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 13:22:49 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/call-to-worship-p15a6238277

Gather in, you who are waking up to the call of Christ
to love your neighbor.
Gather in, you who are already awake.
And gather in, you are wondering what wokeness is.
Gather in, and hear the words of the apostle Paul,
pleading with us to wake from our slumber
and put on an armor of light.
Let us worship God who has always been
actively attentive to systemic and social inequalities
and racial prejudice!

]]><![CDATA[Lectionary Scriptures for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A]]>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:26:48 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/lectionary-scriptures-for-the-15th-sunday-after-pentecost-year-a

Exodus 12:1-14 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2012%3A1-14&version=NRSVUE

Psalm 149 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20149&version=NRSVUE

Romans 13:8-14 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2013%3A8-14&version=NRSVUE

Matthew 18:15-20 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2018%3A15-20&version=NRSVUE

The focus passage for A Place of Grace this week is Romans 13:8-14. All liturgy will be based on this passage. What in Romans 13:8-14 inspires or encourages you? Share your thoughts here: www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1510189777816937&set=a.549399683895956.

]]><![CDATA[Playlist, P+14A]]>Thu, 27 Aug 2026 16:50:44 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/playlist-p14a3658172

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMOk_qiek0nA

]]><![CDATA[Prayer of Confession, P+14A]]>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 11:44:32 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/prayer-of-confession-p14a3178041

Call to Confession

Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 John 4:20-21) Let us earnetly confess our failure to love and seek God's forgiveness:

Prayer of Confession

Merciful God,
We have failed you at every turn.
We don't even pretend to love our neighbors anymore,
and we certainly do not honor each other's humanity.
We're incredibly self-righteous, God,
and we spout it on social media every chance we get.
We are more enthusiastic about judgment
than we are about service,
more selfish than generous,
more exclusive than welcoming.
We congregate in our corners with people who
look like us
and talk like us
and think like us
and live like us
so that our worlds become ever smaller
and less respectful.
We do not consider others equal, God.
We are quick to bash entire groups of people
who are different,
quick to "other" them,
quick to call them names
and to call for their banishment.
We do not follow Jesus' example of associating
with people who have no status,
but only choose to hobnob with
people who can build us up in the eyes of the world.
Forgive us, we pray.
We are so far from who you have called us to be
that we are not fit to be called children of God.
Hear our cries for mercy,
and transform our hearts,
that we might more fully embrace
the call of citizenship in the kin-dom of God.

Assurance of God's Grace

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand, and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2) Hear the Good News: in the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God! Let us live accordingly.

Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us also forgive one another.
The peace of Christ be with you.
Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter this week.

]]><![CDATA[Call to Worship, P+14A]]>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 13:07:59 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/call-to-worship-p14a7534040

Welcome you who are happy in your hope,
who stand your ground when you're in trouble,
and devote yourselves to prayer.
And welcome you who are searching for hope,
who feel like the ground is shifting beneath your feet,
and who don't remember how to pray.
God is present.
Let us worship God together.

*Photo and mandala creation credit goes to Bonnie Edwards, retired Church Educator.

]]><![CDATA[Lectionary Scriptures for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year A]]>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 18:46:31 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/lectionary-scriptures-for-the-fourteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-a

Exodus 3:1-15 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%203%3A1-15&version=CEB

Psalm 105;1-6, 23-26, 45b https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20105%3A1-6%2C%2023-26%2C%2045b&version=CEB

Romans 12:9-21 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012%3A9-21&version=CEB

Matthew 16:21-28 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2016%3A21-28&version=CEB

The focus passage for A Place of Grace this week is Romans 12:9-21. All liturgy will be based on this passage. What in Romans 12:9-21 inspires or encourages you? Share your thoughts here: www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1503902698445645&set=a.549399683895956.

]]><![CDATA[Prayer of Confession, P+13A]]>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 18:41:02 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/prayer-of-confession-p13a9642170

Call to Confession

Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth—do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:18-19)

God is still doing a new thing.
God is still making a way.
And God invites us to release all that keeps us
from becoming who we were created to be.

Trusting in the grace of God,
let us confess together:

Prayer of Confession

God of transformation,
you created us with gifts
and called us to use them.
But sometimes,
we would rather conform than stand apart.

We hide our gifts
when the world does not understand them.
We diminish ourselves
when others expect us to be something else.
We compare our gifts to those of others
and decide that ours are not enough.

Forgive us when we forget
that we belong to one another--
not because we are the same,
but because each of us has something to offer.

Renew our minds.
Transform our hearts.
Help us to discern what is good
and pleasing and whole.

Remind us who we are.
Remind us whose we are.
And give us the courage to be
exactly who you created us to be.

Assurance of God's Grace

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
God's mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Friends, hear the good news:
God has not given up on us.
God is still renewing us,
still transforming us,
still calling forth the gifts within us.

In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven,
beloved,
and free to become
all that God created us to be.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us also forgive one another.
The peace of Christ be with you.
Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter this week.

]]><![CDATA[Call to Worship, P+13A]]>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 13:42:41 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/call-to-worship-p13a7207469

Welcome, you non-conformers,
you transformed,
you discerners of truth!
Welcome, you members of the Body of Christ,
you prophets,
ministers,
teachers,
cheerleaders,
you philanthropists,
leaders,
and humanitarians!
Welcome you who know who you are ...
who you were created to be.
Come and be renewed for your journey
through a world that is hostile
to your kind.
God is here,
and you are welcome.

]]><![CDATA[Lectionary Scriptures for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A]]>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:26:06 GMThttps://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/point-of-contact/lectionary-scriptures-for-the-13th-sunday-after-pentecost-year-a3126734

Exodus 1:8-2:10  www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%201%3A8-2%3A10&version=NRSVUE

Psalm 124  www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20124&version=NRSVUE

Romans 12:1-8  www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012%3A1-8&version=NRSVUE

Matthew 16:13-20  www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2016%3A13-20&version=NRSVUE

The focus passage for A Place of Grace this week is Romans 12:1-8. All liturgy will be based on this passage. What in Romans 12:1-8 inspires or encourages you? Share your thoughts here: www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1497527135749868&set=a.549399683895956.

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