Gathering Music

“Gather Us In” vs. 1 & 3 TFWS #2236

Here in this place new light is streaming, now is the darkness vanished away, see in this space our fears and our dreamings, brought here to you in the light of this day.

Gather us in the lost and forsaken, gather us in the blind and the lame; call to us now, and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name. 

Here we will take the wine and the water, here we will take the bread of new birth, here you shall call your sons and your daughters, call us anew to be salt for the earth. 

Give us to drink the wine of compassion, give us to eat the bread that is you; nourish us well, and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true. 

Call to Prayer

One: Come bearing your joy and let us magnify it together. Come bearing your fear and let us find comfort in one another. Come bearing your hunger and let us share the bread of life. Let us seek truth, with faith, on this journey; let us build a world where “last” and “first” have no place. May we dance. May we shelter. May we dream.

Confession

One:
The season of advent is upon us. During this season of cosmic hope and expectation, we confess our complacency to you, O God. As storms plague this earth, as governments fail their most vulnerable citizens, and relationships are broken we slip further and further away. Kindle your flame within us God. Stoke the embers of our sleeping hope into the flames of a waking faith. Let us be bridge builders, pain bearers, change makers. May we carry your light into the the most broken corners of this world. In this already and not yet, may we be beacons of hope and transformation in a weak and weary world.

All:
Even in the windswept wilderness of our lives, you are there. There is no place too dark or too broken, you heal all. Ever present and ever loving, you make all new. Amen.

Song

“Kum Ba Yah” vs. 1, 3, 4

(Verse 1)
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Oh, Lord, kum ba yah!

(Verse 3)
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Oh, Lord, kum ba yah!

(Verse 4)
Someone needs you, Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone needs you, Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone needs you, Lord. Kum ba yah.
Oh, Lord, kum ba yah!

“Reality Rides the Current” 

from Jacob the Baker by Noah benShea

Song

“Kum Ba Yah” vs. 1, 3

(Verse 1)
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Oh, Lord, kum ba yah!

(Verse 3)
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Oh, Lord, kum ba yah!

“Utopia” 

by Wislawa Szymborska

Island where all becomes clear.

Solid ground beneath your feet.

The only roads are those that offer access.

Bushes bend beneath the weight of proofs.

The Tree of Valid Supposition grows here
with branches disentangled since time immemorial.

The Tree of Understanding, dazzlingly straight and simple,
sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It.

The thicker the woods, the vaster the vista:
the Valley of Obviously.

If any doubts arise, the wind dispels them instantly.

Echoes stir unsummoned
and eagerly explain all the secrets of the worlds.

On the right a cave where Meaning lies.

On the left the Lake of Deep Conviction.
Truth breaks from the bottom and bobs to the surface.

Unshakable Confidence towers over the valley.
Its peak offers an excellent view of the Essence of Things.

For all its charms, the island is uninhabited,
and the faint footprints scattered on its beaches
turn without exception to the sea.

As if all you can do here is leave
and plunge, never to return, into the depths.

Into unfathomable life.

Silent Reflection

Song

“Kum Ba Yah” vs. 1, 3, 4

(Verse 1)
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah.
Oh, Lord, kum ba yah!

(Verse 3)
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone’s crying, my Lord. Kum ba yah.
Oh, Lord, kum ba yah!

(Verse 4)
Someone needs you, Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone needs you, Lord. Kum ba yah.
Someone needs you, Lord. Kum ba yah.
Oh, Lord, kum ba yah!

Prayer of the Day

One:
God, set your Word in us,
like a seed that needs time and darkness to grow,
like a song we can’t get out of our heads,
like a conversation with a good friend.
May what we have read and heard today
surprise us with encouragement
at just the right moment,
comfort us when we feel alone.
When we are distracted by all that clutters our lives—
yesterday’s party,
today’s argument,
tomorrow’s test—
and the struggles that crowd our hearts—
worry for sick loved ones,
uncertainty about our future,
anxiety about global tragedies—
speak to us with your still, small voice,
whisper hope into our lives,
murmur gladness into our hearts,
mutter love into our souls. Amen.

Blessing 

May you dismantle the walls that keep you from the truth. May you never lose your sense of wonder. Go in peace and with hope.

Sending

“Send Out in Jesus’ Name” TFWS #2184

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Worship Notes:

Prayer of the Day: adapted from the PC(U.S.A.)’s UKirk Resource

Poem: By Wislawa Szymborska. From “A large number”, 1976. Translated by S. Baranczak & C. Cavanagh