6 October 2026 – Chapel – Drew Theo Chapel

Gathering Music

“Ubi Caritas”
Taizé, OneLicense #A-729109

Ubi caritas et amor,
ubi caritas, Deus ibi est.

Live in charity and steadfast love,
Live in charity God will dwell with you

Gathering Words

Nathan Shroyer

(Adapted from Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, The Pastor’s Workshop)

Leader: Holy One, grant us patience in the waiting
People: Raise us to be
Steadfast
Resilient
Persevering
Children of hope

Leader: New life takes time to root and grow and bear fruit
People: It takes trust and tending.
Give us vision to see beyond the now to the then.

Opening Song

“Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord”
Words & Music: Paul Joseph Baloche, OneLicense #A-729109

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You

To see You high and lifted up
Shinin’ in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You
I want to see You

To see You high and lifted up
Shinin’ in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy

Holy, holy, holy
We cry holy, holy, holy
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to see you

Scripture Reading

Philippians 3:4b-14

Praise Mapanda

4b If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. 13 Siblings, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.

Sermon

“Still Becoming”

Lerato Pitso

Musical Response

“God Has Work for Us to Do”
Words: Carl Daw Jr., Music: Mark Miller, OneLicense #A-729109

‘Til all the jails are empty
and all the bellies filled;
’til no one hurts or steals or lies,
and no more blood is spilled:

God has work for us to do,
God has work for us to do,
’til God’s will is done, and all things are made new,
God has work for us, work for us to do!

‘Til age and race and gender
no longer separate;
’til pulpit, press, and politics
are free of greed and hate:

God has work for us to do,
God has work for us to do,
’til God’s will is done, and all things are made new,
God has work for us, work for us to do!

By praying through our doing,
and singing though we fear,
by trusting that the seed we sow
will bring God’s harvest near:

God has work for us to do,
God has work for us to do,
’til God’s will is done, and all things are made new,
God has work for us, work for us to do!

Response to the Word

“A Litany for Becoming”

Ashley Black

From M. Jade Kaiser/enfleshed

One: To become is a life long process.
Nothing is constant,
not even the self.
We evolve in the midst of narratives meant only for some
and ways of being made narrow by fear and power.
We must, then, have the courage to listen to the truth of our own lives,
to the wisdom that comes from within—
responding without resistance or need to control,
but with welcome and curiosity.
This is what ensures our becoming is an unfolding
of our truest self.
This lifelong labor cannot be carried out alone. It requires help
from friends, and lovers, family, and creaturely companions
who bear witness to what makes us come alive.
And say to us, “Listen. Look. Feel. Pay attention to that.”
Many: This is loving and being loved.
One: Telling the stories.
Sharing in the memories.
Giving thanks for the relationships, understandings, and experiences past
that have shaped us to this day.
Many: This is loving and being loved.

One: Celebrating new beginnings that excite.
Holding risks together.
Leaning into unknowns with the promises of support and companionship.
Many: This is loving and being loved.

One: Listening to the future calling uniquely to each of us in the midst of all of life’s noise.
Helping one another find our place in the shared labor of collective life.
Supporting each other in what it is the world’s ache is asking from us.
Many: This is loving and being loved.

One: To say, for the first time,
“This is who I am.
This is the truth of my body.
This is what I know about myself.
This is my name and this is where my path is leading me.”
And to have it heard. Have it received. Have it affirmed.
And then,
to say it again,
and again,
as we change
and as the world changes,
and to have each proclamation greeted with an open-armed embrace:
Many: This is loving and being loved.

One: There is no me without you.
We shape one another.
The Sacred that birthed us
weaves our lives together
so that we can only find ourselves through shared becoming.
For my journey and all its winding ways.
For yours.
For all the saints who labored for what is,
all the kin whose lives made ours possible.
For all those yet to come for whom
living our truths today will mean breaking possibilities open for them tomorrow:
We pause. We give thanks. We acknowledge.
Many: This is loving and being loved.

Blessing

Lerato Pitso

Sending Song

“Siyahamba – We Are Marching”
South African hymn

We are marching in the light of God.
We are marching in the light of God.
We are marching in the light of God.
We are marching in the light of God.
We are marching, we are marching, ooh,
We are marching in the light of God.
We are marching, we are marching, ooh,
We are marching in the light of God.

Siyahamba, ekukanyen’ kwenkos’,
Siyahamba, ekukanyen’ kwenkos’,
Siyahamba, ekukanyen’ kwenkos’,
Siyahamba, ekukanyen’ kwenkos’,
Siyahamba, siyahamba, oh,
Siyahamba ekukanyen’ kwenkos’.
Siyahamba, siyahamba, oh,
Siyahamba ekukanyen’ kwenkos’.