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Where Life and Worship Intersect

8/31/2022 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession

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Call to Confession

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy:

Prayer of Confession
​
Holy God,
Forgive our unholiness.
We have loved the world
more than we have loved you.
We have given into the desires of the flesh
and to the lust of our eyes
and to pride in our possessions.
When we calculated the cost of discipleship, Lord,
we found it to be too high.
How are we to live in conflict with those we love?
How are we to give up everything we possess,
including our inherent power
and authority?
How are we to live as servants, God?
These are the questions we ask when we know
the real questions are 
"Where do you want us to go, Lord?"
and "What do you need us to do?"
Transform our hearts, we pray,
into the hearts of devoted disciples
whose earnest desire is to serve you above
ourselves.
Teach us how to love as we have been loved,
to let go of the world's pretend riches
in order to open our arms to kin-dom treasures
only accessible through the wonder of love.

Assurance of God's Grace


In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:7-8) 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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8/30/2022 0 Comments

Call to Worship, P+13C

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The doors are flung open
for disciples
and for those who want to be disciples
and for those who are fearful
of the cost of discipleship
but are still curious
about what it means
to follow Christ.
Come and listen and learn.
Calculate the cost,
and decide.
Come and worship the Lord your God.
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8/26/2022 0 Comments

Prayers of the People, P+12C

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You are holy, God of Majesty,
and worthy of glory, and honor, and praise!
In gratitude and wonder, we lift our hearts before you.
Be present, we pray, with host and guest
at every table
in every time and place,
and breathe new life into their fellowship
as humility gives way to meaningful exchange.
Be present, we pray, with those invited to the banquet
and those who are excluded
because of their limitations
or their race
or gender
or their cultural background
or their orientation,
or their lack of authority
and power.
Breathe new life into their community
that all may be welcomed equally
in Christ's name.
Be present, we pray, as both host and honored guest,
and season the conversations 
with kindness and with love,
that all may be nourished, redeemed, and empowered
​as only you can do. 
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8/25/2022 0 Comments

Playlist, P+12C

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Here I Am, Lord
What Wondrous Love is This?
Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness
Come Down, O Love Divine
Lord God, Your Love has Called Us Here
The Church of Christ in Every Age
As We Gather at Your Table
Our Cities Cry to You, O God
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8/24/2022 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, P+12C

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Call to Confession

Pride goes before destruction
    and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18) Let us confess our sin before the Lord and seek God's mercy:

Prayer of Confession

You know what they say
about those who assume, 
right God?
Well ... we've done that.
We've assumed.
We've assumed power.
We've assumed authority.
We've assumed greatness.
We've assumed it by birthright,
by race,
by gender,
by socio-economic class.
We've even assumed it 
because we bear your name.
Look where it has gotten us:
angry, divided, broken, at war.
Forgive us, O God.
Even Jesus, who being in the very nature of God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be used to his own advantage,
but rather ... took on the nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
Who are we that we should make ourselves
judge and jury, 
prophet, priest, and royalty?
Humble our hearts, Lord,
even if it hurts, 
and remind us what servanthood means,
that we might live according to your example.

​
Assurance of God's Grace

For God so loved the world that God sent God's only Son that all who believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17) 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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8/23/2022 0 Comments

Call to Worship, P+12C

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Come to the banquet!
ALL are invited!
Come, and sit at the Table
with your siblings in Christ
of all races and cultures,
of different gender identifications,
of a variety of belief systems
and physical abilities
and mental health variances,
of a number of socio-economic
circumstances
and degrees of power.
The last shall be first,
and the first, last,
and all will be welcome
​in the courts of the Lord.

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8/18/2022 0 Comments

Playlist, P+11C

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Jesus Calls Us O'er the Tumult
I Danced in the Morning
Will You Come and Follow Me
O Christ, the Healer, We Have Come
Healer of Our Ev'ry Ill
Woman in the Night​
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8/17/2022 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, P+11C

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Call to Confession

 So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:28) Let us confess our hypocrisy before God and seek God's mercy:

Prayer of Confession

Rule-breaking Healer,
heal us of our Pharisaical adherence
to the letter of the law
and our absolute disdain 
for the spirit of it. 
We stand with fingers pointed
in condemnation
of those who are seeking 
to care for your people,
to do the very things you call us to do
with love and with grace,
and we blast them for their gall
at loving outside the lines,
at healing on the Sabbath,
at providing care that may not be perfect
but is better than nothing.
Curiously, we find excuses for the times
when we are rule-breakers ourselves
and for far less noble intentions.
Forgive us, we pray,
and open our hearts to a new way
of being. 
Help us to stand up for what is loving
and compassionate 
and kind
with the same degree of passion
that we stand up for
what serves our own interests.

Assurance of God's Grace

God has promised that when we confess our sin, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sin, removing it as far as the east is from the west and remembering it no more. 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.
0 Comments

8/16/2022 0 Comments

Call to Worship, P+11C

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You who are seeking
to learn from the Master --
open, curious, eager, or in need --
come, and sit before the Lord.

You who are bent over
under the weight of your pain --
physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual --
come, and stand before the Lord.

You religious leaders,
endowed with authority --
humble, faithful, hopeful, or misguided --
come, and state your case before the Lord.

God is ready to listen,
to teach,
to heal,
and to redirect.
Let us worship our God with shouts of praise!

0 Comments

8/12/2022 0 Comments

Prayers of the People, P+10C

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Oh, Beloved,
Watchtower of the vineyard,
Grape Grower
and Vine,
you have loved your people 
with a great love,
tending us attentively,
and nurturing our growth.
Continue to build the hedge
around your people, we pray,
that we might not be devoured
by ravenous animals
seeking to satisfy their own 
needs.
Shore up the walls that 
protect your most vulnerable children
from being trampled 
by those whose greed
and lust for power
are devastating.
Prune us, we pray,
and hoe around our roots aggressively
to remove the weeds that grow up
in our midst
and choke out your word.
Send refreshing rain
upon those who are wilting from the heat
of fires that blaze out of control
among those who rage,
bent on destruction --
some of them doing so
in your holy name.
Grant us strength to endure
and wait with us until the fruit we produce
is full and rich
that the glory may go to you
in every good thing we produce. 
in Jesus' name we pray.
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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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