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1/28/2026 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, E4A Call to Confession
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9) Leader: Come, let us worship the God whose wisdom confounds the world. People: We come, trusting not in human strength, but in the grace of God. Prayer of Confession Holy and merciful God, you have revealed your wisdom in ways we do not expect, yet we confess that we still seek what the world calls powerful, impressive, and wise. We place our confidence in human strength, we admire influence, success, and certainty, and we are drawn to voices that promise control rather than transformation. We confess that we boast in our own understanding, our accomplishments, our affiliations, and even our righteousness-- forgetting that everything we are and have comes from you. Forgive us for dismissing the way of the cross when it appears weak, slow, or foolish to us. Reorient our hearts toward Christ, who is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. Strip away our pride, and teach us again to trust in your grace alone. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Amen. Assurance of God's Grace ... God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in[a] the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31) 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.
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1/27/2026 0 Comments Call to Worship, E4A Gather in, you wise ones.
Gather in, you scholars. Gather in, you debaters of this age! Come hear the Good News which proclaims the reign of Love as the most powerful of all powers and the most wise of all wisdom. Come among the hopeful and be renewed by their strength in God who keeps God's Word. Let us worship God together!  Micah 6:1-8 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah%206%3A1-8&version=NRSVUE
Psalm 15 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2015&version=NRSVUE 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%201%3A18-31&version=NRSVUE Matthew 5:1-12 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205%3A1-12&version=NRSVUE The focus passage for A Place of Grace this week is 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. All liturgy will be based on this passage. What in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 inspires or encourages you? Share your thoughts here: www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1322553113247272&set=a.549399683895956. 1/22/2026 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, E3A Call to Confession
I appeal to you, siblings, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1) Let us present ourselves to God with all our shortcomings and failures and seek God's mercy: Prayer of Confession You call us to unity, God, but we are intentionally and persistently divisive, mostly among our siblings in Christ, in whose name we are called to serve together. You call us to follow Jesus, but we make idols of leaders and devote ourselves to false prophets and to those who perpetuate this divisiveness in an all-out effort to confuse and destroy your kin-dom. You set an example for us to serve one another as Christ selflessly served, putting others ahead of ourselves, but we systematically seek to undermine the teachings of Christ, the law of Love, and the commandment to love our neighbors through slander and prejudice and persecution and violence. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers for forgiveness. We deserve to be judged by the same measure we judge. We deserve to be treated as we treat your people. We deserve your wrath. Yet you continue to shower your grace on us and to call us to new life according to the Holy Spirit at work among us. Transform our hearts, O God, and lead us ever forward in humility, that we might learn from our mistakes before we destroy what you called good. Assurance of God's Grace For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15 And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for the one who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) 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. 1/20/2026 0 Comments Call to Worship, E3A Come, you baptized,
you who belong to the family of God, with all your different theologies and doctrines, and gather together in the name of the One who calls for unity of mind and purpose. Come and lay down your differences, and embrace diversity of thought, celebrate oneness in Spirt. Come and worship God! Isaiah 9:1-4 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%209%3A1-4&version=NRSVUE
Psalm 27:1, 4-9 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2027%3A1%2C%204-9&version=NRSVUE 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%201%3A10-18&version=NRSVUE Matthew 4:12-23 www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%204%3A12-23&version=NRSVUE The focus passage for A Place of Grace this week is 1 Corinthians 1:10-18. All liturgy will be based on this passage. What in 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 inspires or encourages you? Share your thoughts here: www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1316657657170151&set=a.549399683895956. 1/17/2026 0 Comments Pastoral Prayer, E2A Faithful God,
we give you thanks for the grace you have given us in Christ Jesus-- grace that meets us before we ask, grace that holds us when we falter, grace that calls us together as your people. You have enriched us in many ways: in gifts we recognize, and in gifts still unfolding among us. Yet we confess that it is easy to forget that all we have comes from you. So we pause now to give thanks-- for voices raised in prayer, for hands ready to serve, for communities shaped by love rather than fear. We pray for your church, O God, called into fellowship with your Son. Where we are divided, draw us back to what unites us. Where we are weary, renew us with your sustaining grace. Where we are confident in ourselves, remind us that our hope rests not in our strength but in your faithfulness. We lift before you those in need of your care: those whose bodies ache, those whose minds are overwhelmed, those whose hearts are heavy with grief or uncertainty. Sustain them, O God, and surround them with signs of your presence through caring neighbors and steady love. We pray for a world hungry for hope. When the noise of fear and conflict grows loud, help us remember that you are the one who will strengthen us to the end. Make us a people shaped by patience, truth spoken in love, and trust in the work you are still completing among us. As we wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, keep us grounded in grace, open to wonder, and faithful in love. We offer these prayers in confidence, not because we are worthy, but because you are faithful. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. **Photo Credit goes to Bonnie Edwards, who also created the nature mandala pictured here. <3 1/15/2026 0 Comments Playlist, E2A1/14/2026 0 Comments January 14th, 2026 Call to Confession
Hear the promise given to God’s people: “Let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” — Hebrews 4:16 Trusting that mercy awaits us, let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy: Prayer of Confession Faithful God, you have called us into the fellowship of your Son, and you have promised to sustain us to the end. Yet when we look at the world—and at our own lives-- we confess that we do not live as people grounded in that promise. We are quick to react and slow to listen. We take sides before we seek wisdom. We let fear shape our words, and outrage form our communities, forgetting that we belong first and always to you. You have enriched us in speech and knowledge, but we use our voices to wound rather than heal. You have given us every spiritual gift, yet we hoard grace instead of sharing it freely. In a world aching for hope, we confess how easily we mirror the divisions we see around us. Forgive us, O God, for trusting our certainty more than your faithfulness, for placing our confidence in leaders, systems, and headlines instead of in your steady, sustaining grace. Return us to the truth that we lack nothing in Christ. Re-center us in the fellowship to which we are called. Make us a people shaped not by fear of the future, but by trust in the God who holds it. We confess our sin, and we wait for your mercy, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Assurance of God's Grace Hear what the Spirit says to the church: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) In Christ, grace meets us where we are and carries us forward. 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. 1/13/2026 0 Comments Call to Worship, E2A Come, all who are called to be saints!
Come, you in every place who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Grace and peace to you. Come and be strengthened as you wait for the revelation of Christ in the world. Let us worship God, who is faithful! |
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Julie participated in the 25th Seminar for Certified Zentangle(R) Teacher Training in June, 2019, trained by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. In addition to creating art as a personal spiritual practice, Julie also incorporates the Zentangle(R) method in Prayer Art Retreats in a variety of contexts, including church groups, friend gatherings, and at a local art gallery. Check out the Upcoming Events page for a calendar of events, or use the Contact Us page to inquire about scheduling an event with your group!
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