Gathering Music
“Every Praise”
“God Has Work for Us to Do”
Call to Prayer
Hayoung Kang
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.
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,
mountains made low but the lowly are lifted.
Come out, come out of your well to do places,
come, meet Jesus in the struggling spaces.
Rejoice! The kin-dom of God is upon us,
come out the wilderness and follow Jesus!
Scripture
Psalm 22:1-24 (NRSV)
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
8 “Commit your cause to the Lord; let the Lord deliver—
let God rescue the one in whom God delights!”
9 Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
10 On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog!
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise God!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify the Holy One;
stand in awe of God, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For the Lord did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
God did not hide God’s face from me,
but heard when I cried out.
Sung Response
“La Lucha”
Reflection
Dr. Chris Boesel
Sung Response
“I Need You to Survive”
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
Dr. Chris Boesel
Sending Forth
“What Does the Lord Require?”
Spring 2019 PREP Courses
BBCL 522: The Social Teachings of the Gospel of Luke
Facility: Northern State Prison
Instructor: Dr. Stephen Moore
Course Description:
What does the Gospel of Luke have to say about poverty? About wealth? About the
good community? About how to live out the Christian calling under empire? About how
women should relate to men and vice versa? Luke has highly distinctive things to say on all of these topics.
RLSC 540: Spirituality and Social Change Leadership: Fannie Lou Hamer
Facility: Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women
Instructor: Dr. Traci West
Course Description:
This class will focus on the Christian spirituality and activist leadership of Fannie Lou Hamer. Based on her example, we will explore varied expressions of spirituality that inspire women’s social change leadership in opposing racism and poverty, and supporting women’s bodily integrity.
Worship Notes:
Call to Prayer by Kelsey Wallace
Prayers of the People: https://enfleshed.com/pages/miscellaneous-prayers
