Prelude – One Bread
Words for Meditation – Psalm 8:3-5
3 When I look up at your skies,
at what your fingers made—
the moon and the stars
that you set firmly in place—
4 what are human beings
that you think about them;
what are human beings
that you pay attention to them?
5 You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
crowning them with glory and grandeur.
Introit – How Majestic is Your Name
Opening Prayer – God of Chaos
God of holy chaos, you don’t protect us from getting swept up into relationships and systems and experiences that are messy, but you do promise us that you will be found in the midst of them. Help us to remember that when the world was aching, you drew nearer, putting on flesh. It was through that enfleshed reality of love, that you transformed our world. Relationship with you is not an escape – it is the hope and courage we need to dive right into the mess of things. You, O God, are enfleshed in our beautiful but aching earth, in our work for a just society, and in our efforts to love and be loved. May our prayer life be invitations into that life with you. Thanks be.
– Rev. M Barclay, enfleshed
Opening Hymn – Holy, Holy Holy
Special Music – Because He Lives
Closing Hymn – Come, Thou Almighty King
Benediction – For the Brave Ones
“Like a bear robbed of her cubs”
God devours what is wicked and unjust.
For the fierce mamas,
and the badass besties,
the partners who champion,
and the lion-hearted kiddos…
Thanks be!
They are the ones who rush in,
when others retreat;
the ones who won’t desert the vulnerable
when evil towers over.
They rise up
against the mean,
the intolerant,
the cold.
They laugh in the face of the haughty,
and reveal the insecurity of the hateful.
Their gift is their courage.
Their anger like a fire –
Love ablaze that protects.
Divine manifestations of justice
are glimpsed in their care.
To the ones who shelter,
who guardian,
who brave for the rest of us…
thank you.
– Rev. M Barclay, enfleshed
Benediction Response – Sent Out in Jesus’ Name
Postlude – Rain Down
Words for Pondering: Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord because he hears
my requests for mercy.
2 I’ll call out to him as long as I live,
because he listens closely to me.