Gathering Music

Kanisa Litagenjua

Kanisa litagenua, na kina nani 2x
Iyo!

Kanisa litagenua, na mimi na wewe 2x
Iyo!

Kanisa litagenua, na mama na papa 2x
Iyo!

Kanisa litagenua, na watoto 2x
Iyo!

Call to Prayer

Mark Miller

Come, Come, whoever you are!
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
Come.
This is not a caravan of despair.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve broken your vow
a thousand times, still come,
and yet come again!
– Rumi

Sung Evening Confession

“Come Out, Come Out”

Come out, come out of your comfortable spaces
Come meet Jesus in the difficult places

Have you not heard every valley’s exalted?
Mountain’s made low, but the lowly are lifted

Come out, come out of your well-to-do places
Come meet Jesus in the struggling spaces

Come out the kin-dom of God is upon us
Come out the wilderness and follow Jesus

First Reading

Alex Carney

Philippians 4:4-9

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Sung Response

“Wait for the Lord” by Mark Miller

Those who wait for the Lord
Shall renew their strength
They shall mount up with wings like eagles
They shall run, they shall run and not be weary
They shall walk, they shall walk, and not faint!

Second Reading

Brinna Kolitz

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
God does not faint or grow weary;
   God’s understanding is unsearchable.
29 God gives power to the faint,
   and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
   and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
   they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
   they shall walk and not faint.

Guided Meditation

Kelsey Wallace

Sung Response

“Wait for the Lord” by Mark Miller

Those who wait for the Lord
Shall renew their strength
They shall mount up with wings like eagles
They shall run, they shall run and not be weary
They shall walk, they shall walk, and not faint!

Prayers of the People

Kelsey Wallace

One: When so much of our world is groaning with injustice and destruction, we are
invited to turn to God and one another. We are not meant to carry the struggles of the world alone. And so, in a spirit of collective embrace, may we share together in prayer for all that troubles our hearts.

For all of the bodies in suffering – deprived of resources, withheld from care, or made into targets of violence.

Many: God, hear our prayers.

One: For all whose spirits are in despair – those who are facing loss or grief, those who are isolated, or those struggling to accept their own worth.

Many: God, hear our prayers.

One: For all of the ways power is wielded over communities and individuals – for those living under oppressive forces, for the temptation towards complicity with injustice, and for the ways the church sometimes uses you, o God, as a weapon rather than a tool for healing and liberation.

Many: God, hear our prayers.

One: Just as we are not meant to shoulder the world’s pain alone, we are equally invited to delight with one another in the joy that sustains us.

For the beauty that grows around us.

Many: God, we give you thanks!

One: For the gifts of shared meals and community and relationships that transform and sustain us.

Many: God, we give you thanks!

One: For art and music and stories and truths that foster love and connection.

Many: God, we give you thanks!

One: For every source of courage in the face of all that makes us afraid.

Many: God, we give you thanks!

One: For your presence within and around us, in our highs and lows, our hope and our despair, God, we give you thanks. Hear our prayers and deepen our willingness to show up with and for one another, sharing in each other’s burdens and working for one another’s protection and care.

Many: Amen.

Blessing

As we prepare to leave this place and go our separate ways remember that you are never alone. The God who made us and called us is with us still. So shroud yourself in peace, extend your hands in love, and keep hope ever before your eyes. Go with courage, go with strength, go with blessing. Amen.

Sending

Our God In heaven
Holy is your name
Your reign come
Your will done
On earth as in heaven

Give us today our daily bread
And help us forgive
As we have been forgiven
In the time of trial
Lead us into life
For yours is the kindom
And the power and the glory
For ever!

Our God In heaven
Holy is your name
Holy is your name.