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Where Life and Worship Intersect

11/29/2019 0 Comments

Prayers of the People, Advent 1, Year A

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​Where are you, O Lord?
We are busy making lives for ourselves,
eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
having children and growing old,
and we have forgotten to keep watch.
Is the time for your return near?
The wait for your reign has become
interminable,
and we are drunk with self-perceived power.
Humble our hearts, we pray,
and open our eyes to your presence in our midst.
Help us to hear your instruction
to worship you in spirit and in truth,
to love you with all our hearts and minds and souls
and strength,
to love our neighbor as ourselves,
to love our enemy,
to honor our parents,
to welcome the stranger
and care for the orphan
and widow,
to visit the imprisoned
and secure justice for the oppressed
and heal the sick,
and help us to follow
that we might not only be ready,
but might also help to usher in your rule
on earth as it is in heaven.
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11/27/2019 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, Advent 1, Year A

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Call to Confession

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:20) Let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy.

Prayer of Confession, A1A

When are you coming, Lord?
We want to mark the calendar.
We want to schedule the appointment.
Knowing when will allows us to get our affairs in order.
Don't get in a rush, God.
We are still busy holding grudges
and wallowing in self-pity,
busy behaving badly
and judging others doing the same
in different ways.
Forgive us, O God.
Forgive our failure to be ready at all times,
to live lives worthy of our calling,
to reflect your love and light to all around us.
Grant us courage to restructure our living
in the example of Jesus,
who taught us to live in grace and gratitude.

Assurance of God's Grace

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready. (Rev. 19:7) In the name of 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 day~
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11/26/2019 0 Comments

Call to Worship, Advent 1, Year A

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​Awaken!
You who have fallen asleep, awaken!
The time for watching
and preparing
is upon us:
Our Lord is coming!
Thanks be to God!
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11/22/2019 0 Comments

Prayers of the People, Christ the King Sunday, Year C

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​Ruler of all,
your people long for the day
when mercy reigns,
when children everywhere learn peacemaking
instead of war,
when the redemption won for us
out of your great love
is lived in every moment
of our lives.
As citizens of the kingdom of Heaven,
we are ordained in baptism
to live out the call to serve you
with all our resources:
time, talents,
energy, intelligence, imagination,
and love ...
for the manifestation of the common good.
Teach us to be the people you have called us to be.
Lead us according to your faithful example
into faithfulness as well.
Stir in our hearts a desire
to welcome as we have been welcomed,
to nurture as we have been nurtured,
to challenge as we have been challenged,
to comfort as we have been comforted,
and to re-member as we have been re-membered
into the Body of Christ.
As we give thanks for your reign from the cross,
and celebrate your reign in our midst through the Holy Spirit,
we also look forward to your coming reign on earth
with hearts that are filled with hope.
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11/20/2019 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, Christ the King Sunday, Year C

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Call to Confession
All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy.
 
Prayer of Confession, Christ the King Sunday, Year C
 
Watch out! You said, O God.
Watch out!
You warned those who scattered your sheep
and drove them away.
You warned those who did not attend
to the needs of your lambs.
You warned us there would be consequences.
Still we have not heeded your warning.
Instead, we have sought to do exactly
what you warned us not to do,
we have divided ourselves: us against them;
We have constructed barriers to keep the other out.
We are not whom you have called us to be.
Forgive us, we pray.
Teach us to shepherd your people
with mercy and compassion.
Teach us to live the kind of justice
that creates a world where no one needs to fear
or dread harm,
Where your people live together in harmony
And safety,
And peace.
 
Assurance of God's Grace
God kept God’s promise to raise up a righteous descendant from David’s line, and he has become our Righteousness. 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 day~
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11/19/2019 0 Comments

Call to Worship, Christ the King Sunday, Year C

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​The days are surely coming ...
surely coming
when God will raise up a righteous Branch
who will deal wisely ...
who will execute justice ...
justice!
and righteousness!
and wisdom!
And the sheep shall no longer fear
or be dismayed
or go missing.
Praise be to God!
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11/13/2019 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, P23C

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Call to Confession

But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. (Malachi 3:2) Let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy.

Prayer of Confession, P23C

Do not look at us, O God!
For if you look, you will see our arrogance.
You will see our sense of entitlement.
You will see our indignation
and our anger
and our self-righteousness.
You will see that we carry all of it openly ...
flaunting it frequently ...
because we have not yet learned what it means
to be a people of grace.
Forgive us, we pray,
though we hardly deserve it.
Look past our grandstanding to our fears
and teach us to love others
the way you love us,
unconditionally.
Teach us to truly love others
the way we long to love ourselves ...
with compassion
and with kindness.

Assurance of God's Grace

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) 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 day~
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11/12/2019 0 Comments

Call to Worship, P23C

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The Day of the Lord is coming,
has come.
The sun of righteousness will rise,
has risen,
with healing in his wings.
This yet to be/already is dichotomy
is life in the kingdom
for those who revere God's name.

Let us gather,
leaping for joy like calves from the stall,
and worship our God
with joy and thanksgiving!
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11/6/2019 0 Comments

Prayer of Confession, P22C

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Call to Confession

Let us hear what God the Lord will speak, for God will speak peace to God's people, to God's saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely God's salvation is near to those who fear God, that glory may dwell in our land. (Psalm 85:8-9)

Prayer of Confession, P22C

Cast us not away from your presence, O God,
and take not your Holy Spirit from us.
We long for the days of glory,
when your house was filled to overflowing
with your people
singing your praise,
but we, ourselves, do not enter your courts
with thanksgiving
or your gates with praise.
We do not lead the company of gatherers
to worship.
We do not celebrate Sabbath.
Forgive our hypocrisy, O God.
Inspire in us a desire to work for your kingdom come
and not just give it lip service.
Take away our fear of change
and of holy transformation.
Restore to us the joy of your salvation,
and uphold us with a willing spirit,
that the glory of your house may be restored
according to your promise,
and we may participate in it according to your will.


Assurance of God's Grace

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) 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 day~
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11/5/2019 0 Comments

Call to Worship, P22C

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​Come, you who remember,
who remember when God's house
was a place of glory.
Come, you who long
to see God's glory
fill God's house
again.
Come, in the strength of the Lord.
Come with the power of the Spirit.
Come, prepared to work.
but do not fear,
for God is with you.
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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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