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9/3/2026 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, P+15ACall 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.
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9/1/2026 0 Comments Call to Worship, P+15AGather 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! 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. 8/26/2026 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, P+14ACall 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. 8/25/2026 0 Comments Call to Worship, P+14AWelcome 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. 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. 8/20/2026 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, P+13ACall 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. 8/19/2026 0 Comments Call to Worship, P+13AWelcome, 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. 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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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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