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Where Life and Worship Intersect

3/31/2022 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, E5C

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Call to Confession

Jesus asked, "Why do you notice the speck that is in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" (Luke 6:41) Let us step up and acknowledge our sin before God and seek God's mercy.

Prayer of Confession

Sovereign God,
We are betrayers,
greedy,
and thinly disguising it
as righteous indignation.
We pretend
to care about the poor,
while we hoard resources
for ourselves,
justifying our behavior
with all sorts
of outlandish arguments,
only to prove ourselves
unworthy 
to be called your 
friends.
Forgive us, we pray.
Teach us what it means
to love our neighbor
extravagantly,
and to share what we have
generously
and in your name, 
that the world might understand
what it means to be your
​disciple.

​
Assurance of God's Grace

I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10b I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:9 and 10b) 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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3/30/2022 0 Comments

Call to Worship, E5C

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Come, you devoted,
you grateful,
you faithful friends.
Come to the Table.
Come, and bring 
your priceless gifts
of extravagant love.

Come, you questioning,
you hungry,
you terrified friends.
Come to the Table.
Come, because God
will meet you
with a priceless gift
of extravagant love.
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3/24/2022 0 Comments

Playlist, E4C

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Just As I Am, Without One Plea
Amazing Grace
Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling
There's A Wideness in God's Mercy
Now the Silence
God of the Sparrow
Come, You Sinners, Poor and Needy
What is the World Like When God's Will is Done?
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
The Lord's My Shepherd
Lord Jesus, Think on Me
Servant Song
The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Changes
God's Great Love is So Amazing
O Come Unto the Lord
There is Now a New Creation
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3/23/2022 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, L4C

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Call to Confession

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 
9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10) Let us then confess our sin, and seek God's mercy.

Prayer of Confession    (taken in part from Psalm 51)

Lord God,
we have sinned 
against Heaven
and before you;
we are no longer worthy 
to be called your children.
In greed and discontent, 
we have demanded 
that which is not yet ours to take
and squandered it
in foolishness.
We know our transgressions, Lord,
and our sin is ever before us.
Against you, you only,
have we sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence,
and blameless when you pass judgment.
Forgive us, we pray,
and lead us back to you
where we may express our deep love
and gratitude
for all we have received
and in mercy and compassion,
welcome your wayward children home
alongside you.


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 him who died and was raised for them. (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.​
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3/22/2022 0 Comments

Call to Worship, L4C

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Come, you parents 
and parent-figures,
who stand and watch,
waiting with open arms
for the children you love
to come home.
Come and find comfort
in the God-Parent
who is longing to embrace you
and welcome you 
with all-encompassing love.

Come, you wayward children
who have gone off searching
for more
only to find you had it all
before you left
on your journey.
Come and find the extravagant grace
of a God who does not hold
your waywardness 
against you.

Come, you faithful ones
who have stayed true to the path
and followed the rules,
who have shared in the inheritance
all along.
Come and join the celebration 
in a spirit of hospitality
and love.

Come, you neighbors and friends
for the feast has been prepared,
the Table set:
God is welcoming God's 
wayward
home!
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3/20/2022 0 Comments

Prayers of the People, L3C

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Holy Gardener,
Be present, we pray,
with all who are struggling,
whose branches do not bear fruit.
Continue to advocate for us,
to nurture and care for us,
to dig into the soil around us
and make room for us
to grow.
Be present, we pray,
through the church,
which also sometimes struggles
to bear fruit that is good and whole
and unaffected by society's 
changing climate.
Be present, we pray,
when others are impatient
and demanding
and critical,
and faithfully tend to our spirits
with loving kindness,
showing us how to do the same
for others.
You are the God of second chances.
Make us a people of mercy
for a world in need
​of hope.

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3/18/2022 0 Comments

2-Minute Sermons, L3C

Degrees of sin are a thing with Christians. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but ... not as much as someone ELSE. Seriously. We do that. And in this passage, Jesus is calling us out on it because apparently it was happening back then as well. (There is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)) We still haven't learned that sin is sin. Period. End of sentence. Murder is not worse than forsaking the Sabbath. Adultery is not worse than dishonoring your parents. Idol worship is not worse than coveting your neighbor's ass. And judging someone else's sin is just as sinful as their sin. Dang, I hate it when scriptures convict! 

Thankfully, God is the God of second chances. In Luke 13:1-9, Jesus lets us know that God is the gardener and not the vineyard owner. God continually advocates for us, nurtures us, feeds us, and gives us room to grow and bear fruit. One gets the feeling that were the same conversation to happen again the next year, God would once again advocate for more time. 

I don't remember exactly when I realized God was the gardener and not the vineyard owner in this parable. I feel certain that was acted out in the pastor of my childhood, Rev. John Seibert, affectionately known as Pastor Jack, who officiated our wedding thirty-six years ago and baptized our oldest child. I remember him as a gardener himself. But I think understanding that on an intellectual level came through Rev. Fred Wehrenberg, the pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ in Waterloo, who lovingly cared for the vineyard of which we were part of in the early years of our marriage and who baptized our daughter. 

But I think I've learned more about the God of second chances most from dear friends who have loved me in spite of my sinfulness, who have lovingly dug around my roots and faithfully fed me with scriptures and encouragement, and have advocated for more time for growth. I am grateful for those pastors and friends who have exhibited the steadfast and unconditional love of God in spite of my propensity for sin, who have helped me grow into a fruit-bearing tree that offers food for those who are hungry and shelter for those who are weary. I still have seasons when my fruit is not as nourishing as I'd like for it to be. Sometimes those seasons last longer than I wish they would, and I'm not proud of that. But I am thankful for God who shows up in a myriad of ways to set an example of what it looks like to show kindness and grace to myself and to others. 

I wonder where God is advocating for second chances in your life.
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3/17/2022 0 Comments

Playlist, E3C

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There's a Wideness in God's Mercy
Just As I Am, Without One Plea
Amazing Grace
My Hope is Built on Nothing Less
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3/16/2022 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, L3C

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Call to Confession

"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways," says the Lord God. "Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin." (Ezekiel 18:30) Our hope is in the God of second chances, therefore let us confess our sin and seek God's mercy!

Prayer of Confession

Lord God,
We are slow to recognize our own sin
and to repent of it
an turn toward you,
yet we are swift to judge the sin of others
and to weight it heavily
shaking our heads
in condemnation.
It is not even that we bear bad fruit
but that we bear no fruit
to nourish others
in the kin-dom of God.
Forgive us, we pray.
Nurture us with the tender care
of a patient gardener
and help us to blossom
according to the love you lavish on us,
we pray,
that we may provide shelter 
for the vulnerable 
and food for the hungry
and protection from the storm
as symbols of your unfailing love
in a weary world.

Assurance of God's Grace

God so loved the world that God sent God's only son into the world so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send God's son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17) Hear the Good News: In 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.
0 Comments

3/15/2022 0 Comments

Call to Worship, L3C

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Welcome, sinners!
This space is for you:
for healing
and hope,
for transformation
and proclamation,
for fertilization
and bearing fruit.
Our God is the God
of second chances.
Let us worship the Lord our God!
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    Author

    Julie served as a Commissioned Ruling Elder in a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation for thirteen years. She now absolutely delights in filling the pulpit for colleagues upon request, and looks forward to opportunities to do so. Her reformed perspective is sprinkled with humor and presented with authenticity, and she is open to creatively deconstructing worship as a means to helping congregants explore worship in transformational ways.

    Julie and her husband, Ray, are parents of three adult children, and grandparents of four energetic and imaginative little people. She is an introverted-with-enough-extrovert-balance-to-keep-her-social, perfectionistic-with-hopper-tendencies, time and goal-oriented, kaleidoscopic, and insatiably curious child of God.

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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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