Tag: Year A

July 26, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 29.15-28. Jacob works seven years for Laban to marry Rachel. Laban tricks him and gives him Leah; Jacob works another seven years for Rachel.

Psalm 105. Praise God for God’s wonderful deeds.

Romans 8.26-39. We don’t know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes…. All things work for good …. God has predestined us to be loved, to be like Christ, to be glorious with love. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52. Parables of the mustard seed, the yeast, hidden treasure, the precious pearl, the great net. The householder brings out what is new and what is old.

Preaching Thoughts

Genesis
       We take the Bible so seriously that sometimes we forget that sometimes it has a rollicking good tale to tell. This is one. Sure, it’s about God continuing to provide… and it’s also about trickery. Jacob is a scheming, self-serving dude… but here’s a sweet side to him: his love for Rachel. Imagine working 14 years for something you really want.

Romans
      “We do not know hot to pray as we ought.” Paul really does believe in God’s grace. God saves us when we’re sinful, forgives us when we don’t deserve it, and prays for us when we can’t. Faith isn’t something we have but something we receive. God is not some far-off stranger requiring us to get their attention and justify ourselves to them. God is within us, and knows us better than we know ourselves. When we “don’t know what to pray” we’re just aware of what’s always true: we don’t really “know how” to pray at all. We’re not actually doing the praying. We’re just letting the Holy Spirit speak up. Real prayer is letting God pray in us. And listening.
      “Those who God foreknew God also predestined…” This passage is often used to justify some notion of predestination, as if God has already decided your life. Paul does not say God has predestined the events and trajectory of our lives; he says we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. And we are destined to be called, justified and glorified. There’s no plotting of our future here: this is not a predetermination of what we’ll do or what will happen to us, but of who we are. We’re God’s Beloved. That’s a given. Or, in Paul’s language, predestined.
       “Nothing can separate us from the love of God.” Here’s the Good News. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Nothing. Not even our own sin. (Remember Rom. 5.8: “Christ died for the ungodly.”) Faith is not earning that gift, but receiving it. Think of all the things we think, at one time or another, can separate us from God’s love. Go ahead, name them. And add them to the list of things that are not able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Matthew
      Jesus tells various parables about the Realm of God being valuable and fruitful treasures hidden among us. They are stories about seeking, finding, paying attention and honoring God’s presence.
     •Mustard seed. God’s grace is life-giving, not demanding; sheltering and welcoming, and seems to rise out of nothing. You can’t measure grace. The smallest and seemingly insignificant act of love may be huge in God’s realm. You are a mustard seed of God.
     • Yeast. The word for “three measures” of flour isn’t like three cups, but more like three bushels. God’s grace is invisible but has a huge impact. And a little bit affects the whole lump. Your little acts of love change the whole world. Musicians get this: In a choir if only one person changes the note they’re singing it changes the whole chord. (You can demonstrate that in your sermon with singers or handbells.)
      • Treasure. So often we’re looking for God in certain places when God actually is everywhere. Because of the treasure the whole field is valuable. Because God is everywhere and in everything, everything is blessed. God is present, even in evil situations. We’re invited to buy the whole field, to accept our whole lives, to love the whole world. And God buys the whole field of you because you hold the hidden treasure.
      •Pearl. Imagine what is worth the total of everything else in your life put together. What would you give up everything for? Imagine seeking God, loving God like that. I don’t think it means to abandon your life, friends, career, and all that. I think it means paying attention to what you most care about in your day to day (or year to year) life. What if that pearl is to be loving? Say you’re in an argument with a family member or co-worker. What’s the fine pearl you’re after? To win? To look smart? To be right? Or to love? What are the other less valuable things you have to give up to really love?
      •Great net. The realm of God is inclusive. Jesus welcomes everybody to the table. And God welcomes all of you, your whole self. You are not all good or bad. You are made up of fish of every kind. God gathers all of who you are, the fish of every kind that make up you, and sorts out what’s fruitful and what’s not. The fish that’s tossed out is not you, it’s your faults and foibles. God will sort out what’s valuable and what’s not. But God takes the whole package. Isn’t that how we love our friends? We take the whole netful, the good with the bad, and love them whole.
      •New and old. Paradox. Balance. Heritage and reform. Found and created. A tradition of transformation.

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: God, your love is a fine pearl:
All: beautiful, and perfect,
worth more than everything else.
Your grace is the treasure we seek:
lovely, and hidden in the field of our lives.
So we sell all we have and buy the field.
We leave all else aside and worship you,
shovels in hand, seeking your Word.

2.
Leader: Creator God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
Holy Spirit, you are the treasure that we seek.
And here you are, within and among us!
Spirit of love, we do not know how to worship as we ought.
But you live within us; you pray in us. You are the heart of our worship.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

3.
Leader: God of love, your grace is the mustard seed
that grows in us, that gives life and beauty.
All: Your love is the net that gathers us in in all our diversity.Christ, you are the treasure hidden in the field of our lives.
You are the fine pearl we seek.
Holy Spirit, you are the yeast that leavens us with love.
You are new and old, eternal and always coming anew.
In awe, in gratitude, in joy,we worship you.

4.
Leader: Loving God, we are yours; and we praise you.
All: Crucified and Risen Christ, we are made new, and we thank you.
Holy Spirit, we live by your power alone, and we serve you.
Holy God, we come to tell the story of your grace and to sing your praise.
We come to hear your love, and to sing you love.
We come to worship. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Loving God, you are the treasure within, the pearl we seek. In the grace of this morning we quiet our souls and open our hearts to your presence; we still our minds to listen for your Word. Speak your grace to us, and create us anew. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we do not know how to worship as we ought. But you are in every moment and in every place; and your Spirit in us helps us worship even now. Open the eyes of our hearts to be mindful of your presence and to allow you to live fully and powerfully in us, by the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, we confess that we give value to so many worthless things; yet the only treasure we truly have is your love. Forgive us for our idolatry and help us to turn our hearts to you alone. Give us the faith to love you with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. We pray in the spirit and the presence of Jesus, your Christ. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Loving One,
we do not know how to pray as we ought.
But the yeast of your love
lives in us, works in us,
leavens us with your grace.
You pray in us,
with sighs to deep for words,
and we listen.

Prayer of Confession

God, we do not know how to live as we ought.
But your Spirit intercedes for us,
with sighs too deep for words.
In your mercy forgive our sin,
heal our fear, and empower us
to change our habits
for the sake of love.
May your grace leaven our hearts. Amen.

Readings

1.
Matthew 13.31-33, 44-48 —a meditation

“The realm of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

         [Imagine God’s grace as a tiny seed in you, a tiny seed among all of us, growing great.
         Where do you see those seeds bearing fruit in your life?
         Where do you see it in this church?]

Jesus told them another parable: “The realm of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three bushels of flour until all of it was leavened.” Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; he told them nothing without a parable.

         [Imagine all of your life, even the plain, heavy parts, are leavened with God’s grace.
         What does that feel like? How does it change how you see those parts of your experience?]

Jesus said, “The realm of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in her joy she goes and sells all that she has and buys that field.”

         [Imagine buying the whole field of your life, and everything in it,
         because God’s love is hidden there. Your whole life, even the hard parts.

         What might you have to embrace to really own your life?
         What might you have to give up— to “sell all you have”—to fully possess your life?]

“Again,” Jesus said, “the realm of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

         [What is that one pearl of great price for you? What is the one thing you treasure the most?
         Are you willing to give up everything else for it? ]

Again, the realm of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.

         [When God’s grace enters your life it leads you to make new choices.
         What are the new things you are called to embrace?
         What are old things you need to let go of?]

2.
Romans 8.26-39 — a paraphrase

The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit prays in us with sighs too deep for words. And God, who knows everything in our hearts, understands, because the Spirit speaks for God’s holy people according to God’s desire for us.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God’s purpose. For God has chosen people from the beginning to share the image of the Only Begotten, so that Christ would be the firstborn in a large family. And when people are chosen they are called, and when they are called they are made right with God, and when they are made right with God they shine with God’s glory.

So then here’s what this means: If God is for us, who could be against us? God did not hold back the Only Begotten, but gave Christ up for all of us; so trust that God will also give us everything else. Who will bring any charge against God’s chosen ones? Since it is God who justifies, who has the power to condemn? Our judgment is in the hands of Christ Jesus, who died, and yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who is on our side.

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or poverty, or danger, or violence? As scripture says, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are looked on as if we are sheep to be slaughtered.” No! In all these things we are more than conquerors through the One who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus the Beloved.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

(Romans 8.26-39)
     God, we give you thanks, for you have called us according to your purpose. You have destined us to be conformed to the image of Christ, to be called, to be justified, to be glorified.
     Christ, we give you thanks, for you have died and been raised and intercede for us. You have given up everything for us, and justified our lives, so that no one may condemn. In you nothing can separate us from the love of God: not life or death, hardship or distress, persecution, poverty, danger, suffering or violence. No earthly powers or choices or anything else in Creation can separate is from God’s love in you.
     Holy Spirit, we give you thanks, for through you all things work for good to those who love God. We do not know how to live as we ought, but you intercede for us in ways deeper than words. You empower us to live as more than conquerors, through the love with which you love us. We love you, and we entrust ourselves to you. A,men.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Dear God, for all of the treasure that you have given us we thank you. Receive these gifts of our hearts. Through our giving, help us to treasure you alone, and to give of ourselves freely in love of you. Use our gifts to bear your blessing to the world, that all may know of the unsurpassed wonder of your grace. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

All of the Gifts I Have (Tune: Fairest Lord Jesus)

All of the gifts I have, all that is within me,
you give to me, O God, with care;
all of my prayers and skills, passions and energies
you grant to me to freely share.

Here are my hopes and dreams, attitudes and deepest loves,
all of the treasure to which I cling.
I will not hold them in, stilling my ardent song,
but serving you I’ll freely sing.

In all I keep or give, may I do my very best
in everything I say and do,
in harmony with you, only to love and bless,
with joy, to serve and honor you.

The Heart of Heaven (Original song)

There’s a heart in heaven that knows you,
and speaks your name in love from heaven’s throne,
that has laughed and labored here beside you,
and says, “I know your journey as my own.”

There are eyes in heaven that adore you,
and weep with joy at the beauty of your soul,
for they see the courage of your living,
and share your deepest yearnings to be whole.

There’s a tear in heaven that remembers,
there’s a deep, weary sigh that understands;
there are gentle, wounded hands that know the struggle
to do the work of God with human hands.

There’s a voice from heaven within you,
a spring of life-giving water flowing free.
Let it flow, let grace and peace shine in you
with heaven’s loveliness for all to see.

Oh, the heart of heaven is within you,
the universe embraces you in love,
for the humble One who walks beside you
is the One who rules the sun and stars above.


With Open Hands (Tune: The Water Is Wide)

O God, we come with open hands for grace we do not understand.
We simply take, and we are blessed that you receive us as your guest.

We open all our treasure stores in gratitude that freely pours
from open hearts that you have healed, so in our love, yours is revealed.

You open wide great heaven’s doors; your love includes, heals and restores.
We share your feast, and we are called with open arms to all the world.

August 2, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 32.22-31. Jacob wrestles with an angel and receives a new name, “Israel,” meaning “One who wrestles with God.”

Psalm 17. God, I call upon you. Guard me as the apple of your eye. Show your wondrous love. Deliver me from my enemies.

Romans 9. 1-5. God has given the Covenant through the Israelites.

Matthew 14. 13-21 Jesus feeds 5000 with a few fish.

Preaching Thoughts

Genesis
      Golly, everything with Jacob is a struggle. Now Jacob wrestles with… God? .. his life?…his own shadow self?… Yes, all of these, and maybe also his tendency to wrestle! He faces his urge to compete, to supplant. As his spiritual descendants this is who we are: we are Israel, we are people who wrestle with God, with others and with ourselves and our own ways. Faith does not necessarily come easily. It comes with struggle, questioning, even opposing. It comes with labor pains. Faith comes from the impasse of being unable to either overcome God or flee from God.
     In his encounter Jacob receives a new name, Israel, When we really wrestle with God, when we deeply engage all of ourselves, straining shoulder to shoulder, chest to chest with Love and its mystery and its demands and its paradoxes—it changes who we are. We walk away limping, reminded of our frailty, but blessed.
     “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” This is the cry of faith. Because all of our wrestling is with God, we know there is blessing in it. We just have to hang on till we receive it. What strength there is in facing all our struggles like that, whatever our trouble: “I will not let go until you bless me.” This doesn’t mean staying in a bad situation like an abusive relationship. It means not ignoring our pain, not dismissing or minimizing our struggles, not pretending “everything’s fine;” for our pain has something to teach us, our struggles have blessings hidden in them, even our failures impart wisdom.

Matthew
      Notice the story begins with Jesus seeking solitude. People find him, and so ends his solitude. (Ministry can be like that). Jesus responds with compassion. (Ministry should be like that, too.) But at the end of the day he goes back and gets that solitude time. (May your ministry be like that.)
     The disciples ask Jesus to send the people away, to outsource what is needed. But Jesus says, “No, you feed them.” How often do we look to God for miraculous intervention when the gifts are right here in our hands? How often do we complain about what we don’t have and overlook the miraculous power that is in the gifts that we do have?
     How to “explain” the miracle? Maybe it’s that people shared. Like stone soup: they actually had food with them, they just didn’t want others to see it….. Or maybe everybody ate a tiny bit, and that was enough… But maybe Jesus actually produced food for a crowd. Singers know this: when you’re all in tune, you produce another note, a “harmonic,” that no one is actually singing, but it’s there. Maybe Jesus was so in tune with God that his love, in harmony with God’s, produced a new thing that wasn’t there before.
     Notice who Jesus invites to communion: everybody. There are no prerequisites, none. Not believing or understanding or being old enough or membership. Just hunger. That’s how we come to God—and to the communion table. Jesus surely violated cleanliness laws, and caused everyone there to do so, by eating with sinners and the unclean. What matters is the feeding of the multitude, not the cleanliness of the individual.
     “There were about 5000 men, besides women and children.” Oh, yeah, right, women and children. But we still call it the feeding of the 5000. We still have trouble counting women and children, don’t we?

Call to Worship

1. (Genesis)
Leader: In our solitude, God, you accompany us.
All: In all our struggles, it is you we wrestle with.
Holy Mystery, seize us in your grace.
Bless us, and make us new. Amen.

2. (Matthew)
Leader: God of love, we come to you hungry for your Word.
All: With the loaves and fishes of our worship, feed us.
We come to you weary and in need of renewal.
With the loaves and fishes of your grace, heal us.
We come weary from the work of love and justice.
With the loaves and fishes of your Spirit, give us strength
for the work to come. Feed us, God, for we need you.

3.
Leader: God of love, you meet us in mystery.
All: Help us to bear your grace.
God of abundance, you meet us in our need.
Help us to bear your grace.
God of power, you pour your blessing into us.
Help us to bear your grace.
Help us to worship. Amen.

4.
Leader: Holy One, to you alone we come for wisdom.
All: Eternal God, to you alone we give our hearts.
As you fed the multitudes upon the mountain, feed us now with your Word.
As Christ made a small offering into a great miracle,
make our lives a part of your mighty acts of salvation. Amen.

5.
Leader: Creator God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
Christ, you took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to your followers.
Alleluia! Take us, bless us, break us, and give us to the world, in your name.
Come, Giver of Life, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of mystery and grace, Jacob knew you in blessing and in struggle, in daylight and in dreams. Jesus met you in hunger and in feasting, in solitude and in crowds. Our lives are dappled, light and dark, and we seek to know you in every moment. In our worship today, and in all our lives, may we know your presence and trust your grace in mystery as well as in clearness. In the arms of your wrestling angel, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

2.
God of love, crowds came to Jesus hungry for your Word. So we come to you. Take the loaves of our prayers and the fishes of our silence, and multiply them by your Spirit to feed us with your grace. Let us hear the voice of Jesus. Amen.

3.
Loving God, the mysteries of life confound us. The challenges of life engulf us. Yet you feed us abundantly with your grace. The angels we wrestle with bless us, and we are made new. We open our hearts to your Spirit as we worship. Feed us your grace, and empower us to bear the bread of life to others in the name of Christ. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Loving God,
our hearts are the little loaves and fishes
of your presence in us.
By the mystery of your Spirit in us,
multiply them. Feed us with your grace.
We are hungry. We are listening.

Readings

Psalm 17, a paraphrase

God, listen to me when I cry out to you.
         Hear the honest prayer of my heart.
Let me know how blessed I am.
          Show me where you see my beauty.
You know me inside out, even in the dark of night.
         Help me to be good through and through.
         May everything I say to reflect your love.
I could choose to live another way, but I will not.
         I will avoid the ways of violence.
Keep my feet on your path.
          Help me not to slip.
I call to you, God, knowing that you will answer.
         I pray, trusting you to hear.
It is a wonder how you show your love,
         how you protect those who seek safety in you,
         and shield them from hurtful things.
Keep me as the apple of your eye
         and hide me in the shadow of your wings.
Everywhere I look I will see you.
         Everywhere I am you will be with me.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
     God, we love you and we trust you. Holy Mystery, in our loneliness you accompany us. In our struggles you struggle with us. In our hunger you feed us. Limping from our encounter with you, we are blessed and made new. We give you thanks.
     Jesus Christ, we love you and we trust you. In our wondering you teach us. In our hunger you feed us. In our fear you empower us. In our dying you die with us; in your rising you rise with us. We will not let go of you, for you will bless us. We give you our thanks.
     Holy Spirit, in the sunless places in our lives, in the night of unseeing, you are the faithful presence. In our struggles you are our foe and our friend. In our inadequacy you are the miraculous power. Restored by your presence in us, we go forth to love. Alleluia.

2.
     We believe in God, Creator of all things, heavenly father and mother, of infinite love, wisdom and power, ruler of all that is and all that is to come, who is mystery, yet revealed.
     We follow Christ, God’s chosen one, who loved and served humbly, who gave his life for our redemption, and who was raised by God to new life. In his teaching, in his death and resurrection, and in his presence with us in all circumstances, he reveals God to us. He calls us to humbly follow him and obediently serve him for the sake of proclaiming God’s grace. We trust that he accompanies us and will help, guide, heal and defend us through all difficulty and suffering.
     We believe the Holy Spirit guides us, empowers us and sustains us as servants of God’s grace. We live as the body of Christ, in the power of forgiveness and the reality of resurrection, and the light of eternal life. Amen.

Eucharistic Prayer

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

——————   #1 ———————
God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

God of love, we sing your praise.
You create us, claim us, and continually set us free.
In all our difficulties you have been with us,
and our only struggle is the struggle to receive your grace.
When we are hungry you feed us,
and when much was demanded of us you empower us.
As Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes,
multiply your grace among us, that we may feast on your love.
In gratitude we sing your praise with all Creation.

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ,
who taught and healed,
who fed the hungry and included the outcast.
He showed us miracles of generosity, miracles of abundance,
and called us to do such works of love.
He was crucified and raised, and the leftovers never end.
He gave the loaves and fishes of his own life,
and from them you have multiplied life for all people.

     (The Blessing and Covenant) *

As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
In these gifts of food perform again a miracle of generosity;
multiply the loaves and fishes of your presence for us.
Multiply the loaves and fishes of your love in us,
that we may bear your grace to a hungry world,
in the name and the Spirit of Christ, for your joy and glory.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

———— ‹2 ——————

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

Holy Mystery, Infinite Love, we praise you.
Giver of all gifts, we thank you.
You fashion Creation like the finest bread,
and we feast upon it.
You pour out life like the best wine,
and we drink deeply of it.
You provide for us when we hunger,
and accompany us when we wander.
You confront all that oppresses us
with your grace, setting us free.
You continually work toward the wholeness of Creation,
healing, forgiving, nourishing and guiding us.
You command justice,
and call us to live toward a world of justice and peace.
You have given us the gift of Christ
and the gift of the Church, your community of grace.
Therefore we gather at your table,
with all your beloved, and all Creation, and sing your praise.

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
He fed the hungry, healed the broken, and gathered the outcast.
He has taken what we have offered and multiplied it
into grace, into miracle, into life.
And he calls us to feed our neighbors,
to be life for those who hunger.
He met the forces of oppression with gentleness and healing;
though they killed him his love prevailed.
He was crucified, but you raised him from the dead,
embodying your Covenant to be with us in love always.

… The Blessing and Covenant… *

As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:
            
            [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us,
that receiving the Body of Christ,
may we become again the Body of Christ,
taken by your Mystery,
blessed by your love,
broken by your grace,
and given, for the sake of the wholeness of the world.
Send us, God, in your love,
one with Jesus, one with all Creation,
in the name and the spirit and the company of Christ.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]

1.
Gracious God, we thank you for
the mystery that you give yourself to us /
this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.
You have graced our fear and despair with abundance and power. You have fed us with your love. Send us into the world to feed the hungry, trusting in your grace, going in the name of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we thank you for
the mystery that you give yourself to us /
this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.
As Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his beloved, so take us, bless us, break us, and give us to the world; that by your grace in us you may bless all the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

All that we hold in our hands (Original song)

What do we hold in our hearts?
The hopes of a hungering people,
longing for you, and for bread,
and to truly be free.
What can we do, who are small?
The power is not ours at all:
God, you have hidden such grace
here in our hands.

What do we hold in our hands?
Nothing we have is unworthy.
An everyday gift you can use
in miraculous ways.
All that we hold in our hands
you’ll use if we give it to you.
Use what we hold in our hands
for what you will do.

What do we hold in our hands?
In it you’ve hidden the wondrous,
fishes and loaves you can use
to feed thousands with love.
All that we hold in our hands
we give in the name of your Son:
more than we ask or imagine,
may your will be done.

What do we hold in our hands?
Grace is abundant, not lacking.
Look now and see what we have
and find power and life.
All that we hold in our hands,
all that we have or can do,
all that we are by your grace
we give now to you.



Five Loaves and Two Fish       (Original song)

Five loaves and two fish are enough
to offer the blessing of God.
Open your hands. See what you have.

The gifts that you have are enough
to shine with the glory of God.
Open your hands. See what you have.

The love that you have is enough
to offer the healing of God.
Open your hands. See what you have.

The courage you have is enough
to work for the justice of God.
Open your hands. See what you have.

Five loaves and two fish are enough
to offer the blessing of God.
Open your hands. See what you have.
See what you have. See what you have.


Story of Grace (Original song)

Chorus:
Though we can’t see at the time,
God is here in this place.
No matter the mountain we climb,
this is a story of grace.

Verses:
Jacob must wrestle his angel,
be brought to the end of his powers,
to know what our suffering teaches us:
the power that saves us is God’s, not ours.

Disciples are weary and overwhelmed
by crowds that need to be fed.
But Jesus welcomes them, trusting God,
who brings forth a miracle: boundless bread!

What are the angels you wrestle with?
Powerless fear, doubt or pain?
There in the struggle it’s God you meet,
blessing you, giving you life again.

We Feast On Your Love (Original Song)

Chorus: We drink from your presence.
We feast on your love.
This is the banquet we’ve been dreaming of. (Repeat.)

You gather us: no one’s unworthy,
and no one is “greatest” or “least.”
You multiply what we offer,
so multitudes may feast. — Chorus

We hunger and thirst for your spirit,
we open ourselves to your grace.
In flows the mercy you offer
in every time and place. — Chorus

We taste the sweet wine made from water,
our bread is your body you give.
“Drink of the water I give you,
so you may truly live.”

August 16, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 45. 1-15. Joseph, who has become a leader in Egypt, reveals himself to his brothers, who have come seeking famine relief.

Psalm 133. How good it is when we live in harmony with one another.

Romans 11. 1-2a, 29-32. God has not rejected the Jews, but has “imprisoned everyone in disobedience” so that God can be equally merciful to everyone.

Matthew 15. 21-28. A Canaanite (pagan) woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter. At first he rejects her as a Gentile, calling her a dog—a racial slur. But in response to her tenacious quest, he grants her request.

Preaching Thoughts

Genesis
      Joseph (and other scriptures like Ps. 105.17) says his being sold into slavery was God’s plan. People often say that certain painful events are “part of God’s plan.” Baloney. That idea is a relic of an immature faith.. Despite many biblical stories (e.g. God hardens Pharaoh’s heart…) God’s plan doesn’t include making hurtful things happen or making people do evil things. God’s plan is that we all live peaceably, that we have life and have it abundantly. (If God was planning for Israel’s rescue in Egypt God could have figured out a better way, no?) God doesn’t engage in clever strategizing and intervention to make certain things happen. (It takes some pastoral depth to wean people of this idea!) When we blame suffering or evil on God we minimize evil and injustice and avoid the deep pain of life, and keep people from either facing evil or receiving healing. God doesn’t make bad things happen, but God’s grace is present always, even in evil deeds and disasters. It’s not a “silver lining” to a particular event but a constant. God is always present and at work, creating, blessing, liberating. Sometimes we cooperate, sometimes not. But grace is a constant, like gravity. If you are traveling a difficult road, it’s not God’s choice. But even there God will accompany you, lead you, and bless you.

Romans
       Paul has asserted that we don’t need to be Jewish to be God’s people. So where does that leave the Jews? Paul affirms God’s Covenant with Israel: that God has chosen them, that through them all people on earth would be blessed (see Gen. 12.3, 28.14). Paul says the Jews are “disobedient” in not accepting Jesus as the Messiah, so that instead of simply becoming part of Judaism, belief in Jesus would spread to Gentiles and the whole world, eventually including Jews. Without attributing such clever strategy to God, we can affirm that Christians and Jews are equally in need of God, and equally beloved. We’ve been listening to the last few weeks in the lectionary about the sibling rivalry of Abraham’s descendants, and how messed up that is. Shouldn’t we end the sibling rivalry between Christians and Jews?

Matthew
       Maybe Jesus is testing the woman, hoping she’ll jump over the little fence he puts before her. . Maybe he’s repeating a racial slur, calling her a dog, in a knowing way, with a “woke” wink. Maybe he innocently thinks his ministry is to Jewish people, and not to pagans. But more likely, Jesus, having grown up in a culture that derided outsiders, has simply unknowingly taken on that inherent bias: that they are, in fact, less than human. Dogs. It’s not just that Gentiles aren’t included in his “congregation,” it’s that they are unworthy. Maybe he actually believes it’s not right to take bread from deserving people and give it to undeserving dogs. Until. She calls him on it. This uppity woman won’t take “no.” She engages him like a rabbi would, taking his words and playing with them, exposing his bias and putting it in a larger, more compassionate context—just as he does with his “you have heard it said but I say to you” sayings. It opens his eyes. She’s a human being, not a dog! Possibly regarding an unconscious bias, and definitely regarding his ministry among gentiles, he allows his mind to be changed. Maybe what makes Jesus “perfect” is not that he has no flaws but that he is growing.
       I wonder if the little girl ever knew how tenaciously, how boldly, how audaciously her mother sought her healing. And how many people without our knowing have prayed for us, advocated for us, provided for us?

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Holy God, earth beneath our feet—
All: Holy Word, hope in our darkness—
Holy Spirit, breath within the breath—
You intend only good, and make your light shine in all our darkness.
We praise you. We thank you. We worship you.

2.
Leader: God, Eternal Love, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, Living Word, we greet you!
Holy Spirit, we are one body by your grace.
Alleluia! It is not according to our worthiness
but by your grace that we are blessed.
Even the crumbs of grace that fall from your table
nourish our hearts and heal us. Alleluia!

3.
Leader: God of Love, we have come by many arduous roads
to this day in this place.
All: You have accompanied us.
We have needed you.
And you have provided, sometimes in ways we did not see.
Still we are in your house, members of your family.
Still we are loved. So we praise you. We thank you. We worship you.

4.
Leader: Generous God, we reach out to you.
All: Healing God, we plead with you.
Our doubts discourage us.
Voices of judgment wold turn us back.
But your grace prevails.
You feed us. You heal us. You bless us.
We thank you. We bless you. We worship you.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Spirit of Love, you come to us in many ways. Open our hearts to see you before us. Open our ears to hear your voice. Open our hearts to receive your love and to bear your love to all, in the name and the grace of Christ. Amen.

2.
God of Generosity and Miracles, we come to you, humbly begging for even the crumbs that fall from the Table of your Word. Bless us that we may hear what you are saying to us, and humbly and gladly receive your grace, so that we may bear it to others, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

3.
Holy One, you still the terror of our loneliness. You feed the famine of our hearts. You heal us even when we hear we are unworthy. Your grace is the gravity of our lives. We open our hearts to you, to hear and be shaped by your Word, in the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

4.
God of grace, God of mercy and justice, you have come to set us free from all that diminishes life, that enslaves our hearts, that imprisons our spirits, that constricts our love. Come to us and speak your liberating Word to us. Set us free and bring us on your Way through the Red Sea. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

God of infinite love,
the crumbs that fall
from the table of your grace
are enough for us.
Have mercy on us.
We trust in you.

Prayer of Confession

1.
Pastor: The grace of God be with you.
Congregation: And also with you.
Trusting in God’s tender mercy, let us confess our sin to God with one another.
God of love, help us to see ourselves honestly,
to see each moment we intend love,
and each moment we intend otherwise.
Trusting, by the grace of Christ, that you intend only love,
we offer ourselves to you:
receive us, forgive us, heal us, and perfect your love in us.
            [Silent prayer … The word of grace]

2.
… God of love, we give you our whole selves,
and invite your grace into all that is not whole,
that is not free, that is not loving.
Forgive us, heal us, and restore your Spirit in us.

Readings

A reflection on Psalm 133

Look, how good and pleasant it is
       when we live together in unity as siblings!
Rich and poor, native and foreign, insider and outsider in unity—
      like the champagne of a great celebration!
Deserving and undeserving, honored and condemned, loved and hated—
       like the best cake at a party.
Wise and foolish, right and wrong in unity—
      it is like morning dew shining on the mountain of God.
For there God has commanded blessing:
       blessing and life forever.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

Leader: God of love, you create us and claim us; you love us and guide us.
All: We praise you and we worship you.
Beloved Christ, you heal us and forgive us; you teach us and lead us.
We thank you and we follow you.
Holy Spirit, you unite us and transform us; you empower us and shine in us.
We open our heart to you and we live by your grace. Alleluia!

Eucharistic Prayer

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

God, we thank you, for you create us in your image,
claim us in love and continually set us free.
You work your grace in good times and bad,
and accompany us in familiar lands and strange places.
When we are lost you guide us,
and when we re in need you bless us.
Even the crumbs that fall from your table are enough for us,
and yet you bless us richly.
So we thank you, and praise you together with all Creation.

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ,
who taught and healed, who loved and forgave,
who included the outcast and blessed the alien.
No one was beyond the reach of his love.
By his death and resurrection he blessed us still.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
By your grace in us may we forgive all who have wronged us,
for they are our kin.
May no one be outside the bounds of our compassion,
that we may share this bread with all, without exception,
in the love of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) We have begged for crumbs and you have fed us with the bread of life. In gratitude we give you our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace, and use them according to your will. Send us O Love, knowing that no one is outside our care, no one is beyond our reach, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

Humbly, My God (Tune: Open My Eyes)

Open my eyes, O God of grace,
to see you here in every face,
you in the poor, the stranger, the foe,
bidding me learn and love and grow.
Humbly, my God, I look for you,
ready, with love, your will to do.
Open my eyes; illumine me, Spirit divine.

Open my ears to hear your voice
leading with grace in every choice.
You come in need that I cannot hide,
so that your love will be my guide.
Humbly, my God, I look for you,
ready, with love, your will to do.
Open my ears; illumine me, Spirit divine.

Open my heart to freely care,
your undefended love to share.
Open my arms; release all my fear;
and in my love you will appear.
Humbly, my God, I look for you,
ready, with love, your will to do.
Open my heart; illumine me, Spirit divine.

May 31, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Genesis 1.1-2.4. God as Creator, and as Spirit: in the beginning God’s Spirit brooded over the waters….

Psalm 8. How majestic is your name in all the earth! Yet what are humans that you are mindful of them?

2 Corinthians 13.11-13. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Matthew 28.16-20. Go make disciples of all nations… make disciples, teach and baptize in the name of Abba-God, Son and Holy Spirit.

Preaching Thoughts

        The image of the Trinity does not just describe three different jobs God has, but that God’s essence is in relationship; that God’s nature is beyond any one quality; that God exceeds all our understandings and categories. The Trinity is not a “doctrine” so much as an image. An icon. A koan. A mystery even. We diminish it when we turn it into a scientific formula. In fact what the “doctrine” of the Trinity means is that God can’t be turned into a doctrine.
         The Trinity is not a logical proposition you can either “agree” or “disagree” with. It’s an image, an icon, a symbol. It’s not two men and a bird; it’s about our three-dimensional experience of God. It’s a picture of God as Lover, Beloved and the Love that Flows Between—or Lover, Love, and Loveliness. It’s sort of like E=mc² in three dimensions. It’s an image of the whole world as a “thin place,” where the boundary is thin and porous between physical and spiritual, seen and unseen, finite and infinite.
        The Trinity is not mere division of labor, but an image of God’s
three-dimensionality. To be gender-neutral, we sometimes speak of God as “Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.” This does not mean that each “person” of the Trinity has their assigned task. All three persons are God—one God. One God does all these things. (John Wesley speaks of prevenient grace, justifying grace and sanctifying grace. They’re not three different kinds of grace, but three dimensions of grace.) Think of the Light and the Heat and the Wildness of Fire. We can speak of fire’s heat as a separate “person” of fire from its light, but it’s all one fire. And the fact that it’s a process and not an object, has everything to do with the radiation of its heat and its light. So it is with love. Love is the creating and organizing energy, the Unified Field (logos) of the universe. It’s infinite, eternal, unvarying, unconditional and absolute. And that very Love, the Big Bang of love, comes to us personally, in Jesus and in a million ways. And that same Infinite Love is in us whenever we love. When we speak of Father, Son and Spirit, we mean
the pre-existence of love, the receiving of love, and the embodying of love. It’s all one Love.
         God is Love. God is Mother, Heavenly Lover, source of all Being: “Father.” God’s love is infinite and eternal. When God’s love exists as pure energy we call it “Spirit.” When God’s love is embodied, made finite and mortal, we call it “Christ,” God’s energy appearing as matter, Word made flesh. Jesus fully embodied the Christ, or embodied love, of God. He was not just Jesus of Nazareth, he was Jesus of Christ. He was Christ appearing as Jesus. We too are finite instances of the infinite love of God, just as Jesus was. God’s spirit, which we see in him, is in all of us.
         The Trinity reminds us God is more than we think. It’s a way to keep our images of God slippery so we can’t have just one image. God is This and the Opposite of This and None of the above: God is infinite and also embodied; divine and also human; Father also Son, and also Mother.
       The Trinity is an image of God’s three-dimensionality. God is the Eternal Creator, Infinite Source, Reality Itself, Ground of Being, beyond all knowing or understanding. Yet God also comes to us in real, revealed, embodied form, in spoken Word, as God does in Jesus. And God also is within and among us, neither beyond us nor coming to us but arising from within us as Spirit: whenever we love—that’s God.
         The Trinity is an image of God as relationship. And it’s also an image of God as unity. Even though there seem to be three persons, they are One. And we’re part of that One. “I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (Jn. 14.20). And it’s an image of God as energy. With God one plus one equals three, because you also count the “plus.” God is the “proceeding” of Son from Father, and Spirit from both of them. (There’s a big controversy about whether the Spirit proceeds “from the Father” or “from the father and the Son.” The very nature of the Trinity is that they can’t be separated or distinguished. The Spirit proceeds from their relationship.) The Trinity is not a static organizational chart but an electric field, a living process, a loving flow, a divine dance. The Greek word for it is perichoresis (from peri, which means “around,” and chorein, which means “to give way” or “to make room”). The Trinity is God’s dancing-to-make-room-for-the-other.
         Strictly speaking the “Holy Trinity” isn’t biblical. Both 2 Corinthians 13 and Matthew 28 use what seems to be “Trinitarian” language; but the idea of the Trinity wasn’t developed until long after New Testament writings. However we can read the Trinity into those passages as well as other, right? Well, yes, in fact we can read the Trinity into everything. Which is the point: not that Genesis preaches the Trinity, but that we see the Trinity everywhere we look.

1 Corinthians
Beware of turning the Trinity into mere division of labor, as if God does love, Christ does grace and the Spirit does community. They all do all of it. (After all, they’re all God. They’re all Love.) Paul is just using a rhetorical flourish. He could just as rightly switched them around and said the grace of God, the love of the Spirit, and the community (or Body) of Christ.

Matthew
        Jesus says to make disciples. It doesn’t mean to make Christians. Jesus was not creating Christianity; he was revitalizing Judaism. He was teaching people to trust God and to love universally. Making disciples means leading people to imitate Jesus and rely more deeply on God’s grace and become more radically kind.
        Jesus says make disciples of all nations. This doesn’t mean to create “Christian nations.” Christian nationalism is directly against what Jesus taught. Jesus was not about creating political structures. “My ‘kingdom’ is not of this world.” To make disciples of all nations means to create faithful followers of Love throughout the world. Making disciples of all nations means leading people in every nation to be trusting, loving people— who shape their entire nations to be generous and loving. The energy for this (the Spirit) flows from the bottom up, not the top down: rather than a “Christian nation” that somehow enforces a particular belief system, Jesus imagines a whole nation shaped by generosity, kindness, and the embodiment of God’s grace.
       In the Lectionary the theme of our calling as disciples will continue for the next month. Jesus calls us to join him in healing, in witnessing for justice, in the work of the mending of the world. The pattern Jesus sets for us as disciples is not “believers” or even evangelists, but healers.

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Eternal God, infinite and invisible Lover: we are in awe.
All: Beyond us, beside us, within and among us, you are our life.
Christ, Beloved, Word made flesh, brother in the journey: we are in love.
Beyond us, beside us, within and among us, you are our life.
Holy Spirit, love of God breathing in us, making us one: we are in you.
Beyond us, beside us, within and among us, you are our life. Alleluia!

2.
Leader: O Great Mystery, Infinite Being: Praise!
All: O Living Love, Word Among Us: Thanks!
O Flame of Life, Spirit of Joy: Awe!
Father-Mother, Giver of Life, we worship you.
Son, Beloved, Chosen One, we adore you.
Spirit, Breath of Love, we open ourselves to you. Alleluia!

3.
Leader: Infinite God, Loving Mystery, Eternal Father, Life-Giving Mother:All: We worship you.
Christ, the Only Begotten, Son of God, Loving Brother, Eternal Word:
We love you and trust you.
Holy Spirit, Breath of Life, Energy of Love Within:
We open our hearts to your grace.
We wonder at your mystery.
We are grateful for your love.
We accept the life and grace you give us.
O Love beyond us, beside us, within us, we give ourselves to you.
Create us anew in you, teach us your way, and breathe us into the world. Amen.

4.
Leader: Abba, Jesu, Spirit, come.
All: Abba, Jesu, Spirit, come.
Great Holy Trinity, heavenly family, draw us to your table.
Great Holy Mystery, heavenly Love, hold us in your heart.
We worship you. We praise you. We open to you. Alleluia.

5.
Leader: Eternal God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
Holy Spirit, we are one body by your grace.
You are present, you are holy, and we worship you.
Glory be to you, O God of all Creation.
Thanks be to you, O Christ, for our salvation.
Eternal God, Holy Trinity, bless us as we worship.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Holy One, Loving Mystery,
we belong in you; we open ourselves to your presence.
We are your Beloved; we open ourselves to your Word.
We are vessels of your Spirit; we open ourselves to be made new in your grace.
Speak, for we are listening. Amen.

2.
Mystery of God, enfold us.
Body of Mercy, lay your hand upon us.
Breath of God, move in us.
Energy of Love, re-create us us.
Word of Truth, speak to us.
Fire of joy, burn in us.
We worship in gratitude and awe.

3.
O Holy Trinity, you open your arms to us and include us in your blessed community. Bless us, that we may enter you; feast with you, and be one with you; that you may live in us, for your sake and the sake of the world. Source of Life, Eternal Word and Spirit of Love, we worship you; Mother, Son and Holy Spirit, we listen for your Word. Amen.

4.
Eternal God, you are present with us, and you are speaking to us. We open the windows of our hearts, so that the light of your Word will stream in and make beautiful all that within us. Speak, for your people are listening. Amen.

5.
Calm our minds, God, and still our hearts.
Bring us to your table, to delight in your presence, and to feast on your Word.
Be with us in speaking and in silence, in understanding and in wonder,
in our time together and beyond. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Eternal One, you contain us.
Loving One, you come to us.
Life-Giving One, you empower us.
In your mystery we open ourselves;
in your presence we listen;
in your love we are ready.

Poetry

       God is also not a rock

but a certain dancing
color under the river
where the light and the water
and the flowing happen
movement mingling
a murmur of curves
indefinite
but certain

outlines surrender and
the stone flows
the color of fish
also where you do not see it
and where the fish is
there is only a ripple
a dapple a shadow
a light

making everything
even later and far away
ocher and purple and blue
and flowing.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
         We live in you, God, infinite and eternal Creator and Source of all: you made us and all Creation out of yourself, made us of love, and made us for love.
         We follow you, Christ, love of God made flesh, our brother and companion. In Jesus of Nazareth, in the Crucified and Risen One, you show us the invisible God; you walk beside us; you heal, forgive and call us. Teacher and Savior, you direct our lives.
         We live by your grace, Holy Spirit: Love flowing in us from your infinite heart to all the world. In our communion in you we are One, the Body of Christ, raised from death to eternal life. By your power in us we live lives of love and justice, healing and reconciliation. Mother, Son and Holy Spirit, we worship you; we follow you; we open ourselves to your grace. Amen.

2.
         We give our hearts to you, O Loving Mystery, Father and Mother, Creator of all that is and all that is to come, unseen yet present in every place and time.
         We love you and trust you, Jesus Christ our brother, embodied Love of God, our savior and our teacher. You enter our life; you share our journey, even our sufferings: you were crucified and raised again, so that sharing our human nature we may share your divine nature.
         We live by your grace, Holy Spirit, breath of God in us, emerging energy of love. You lead us to live lives of compassion, courage, justice and beauty. You make us one with each other and with all living things. You are our Breath, our Life, our Loving. Mother, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are yours. Alleluia and Amen.

3.
         We believe in God, the Holy Trinity. God is eternal Mystery, infinite and unknowable, who contains and transcends all, creator and ruler of all that is and that ever shall be.
         And God is love embodied in Christ, finite and vulnerable. We see the fullness of God’s love in Jesus, fully human and fully divine. We see God in his loving, his teaching, his gathering a community, in his dying and his rising.
         And God is Holy Spirit, alive in us, empowering us to love and to heal, to live lives of peace and justice, and to make of all nations disciples on the Way of God.
         Holy Triune God, all praise be yours, now and for eternity. Alleluia!

Eucharistic Prayer

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

Eternal God, we thank you for the universe you create.
We thank you for your presence in our lives.
We thank you for the gift of salvation.
We thank you for your will for justice,
and your liberation of the oppressed.
We thank you for the gift of Jesus.
Holy Mystery of Love, with all creation we sing your praise!

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ,
Word made flesh, love made real.
Conceived and led by your Spirit,
he taught and healed, fed the hungry, and honored the outcast.
Infinite love in mortal form, he was crucified;
but infinitely alive with the Spirit, he was raised.
He comes among us to renew your Covenant to be with us always in love.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
one in your grace, radiant with your love,
and empowered by your Spirit
for the sake of the healing of the world.
Mother and Father, Son, and Spirit,
we thank you and bless you.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) In gratitude, we give you our lives. Receive them with love, bless them with grace, and use them according to your will. Send us into the world, radiant with your mystery, alive with your Spirit, aflame with your love, to be your disciples and to make disciples of others. Be with us always, to the end of the age. Amen.

2.
Eternal One, enfold us in your mystery. Loving One, make us whole in your grace. Present One, empower us for lives of mercy and justice, in the name of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)


God Beyond, Within, Among (Tune: For the Beauty of the Earth)

Holy God, great Trinity, source of all things good and true,
Gracious, Blessed Mystery, now we come to worship you.
God beyond, within, among: hear us sing our thankful song.

God, Creator, Womb of Life, whose eternal love and power
gather Earth and bring forth light, re-create us in this hour.
God beyond, within, among: hear us sing our thankful song.
Christ, our, brother, meet us here; touch our wounded hearts and heal.

Word of God, made close and clear, in your grace your truth reveal.
God beyond, within, among: hear us sing our thankful song.
Holy Spirit, Breath within, Wind of Heaven, gentle Dove,
make us holy, save from sin, fill our hearts with perfect love.

God beyond, within, among: hear us sing our thankful song.
Blessed, Holy Trinity, in your image and your power
we are your community; re-create us in this hour.
Holy God, we worship you! Take our lives and make them new.


God Eternal, Holy Trinity (Tune: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus)

God Eternal, Holy Trinity, Father-Mother, Spirit, Son,
Gracious Mystery, Loving Family, you have baptized us as one.
Sharing life at your kitchen table, feeding us with generous grace,
send us now into the world, one with all the human race.

Christ, our Brother, Guide and Teacher, Savior, Healer, Living Word:
we are baptized in your dying, in your rising, love out-poured.
You have fed us with the outcast, raised us to new life in you;
send us now to love our neighbors, with your Presence in all we do.

Holy Spirit, Bright Companion, Breath of Life that lives in us,
we are baptized in your power, grace to share your love and peace.
Send us now as your living Body, radiant with your infinite grace.
Lead us, guide us, bless and sustain us. May our living be your praise!


God of Creation, Birthing us Daily (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

God of Creation, birthing us daily,
granting salvation, making things new,
thanks for your blessing gladly we give you,
freely confessing our love for you.

Healing, forgiving, Jesus you touch us.
Bless all our living; grant us delight.
Jesus our brother, help us live gently,
love one another, trust in God’s light.

Grant us our living, great Holy Spirit,
faithfully giving hearts made of praise:
baptized in glory, servants of Jesus,
living your story all of our days.

God our Creator, You Gather Us Here (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)

God our Creator, you gather us here,
you who release us from bondage and fear,
you who make all things, and make all things new,
gladly we sing our thanksgiving to you.

Light of the world, Christ, you healed the blind,
freed us from chains of oppression that bind,
died with our dying! Our life is in you:

Spirit, unite us, and make our hearts new.
Help us by grace to live lives that are true,
touch with your healing and see with your sight,
live in your pure love and shine with your light.

(Communion verse:)
Christ, by your Body and Blood, present here,
make of one Body your people so dear,
taken, blessed, broken and given, all free,
so all may have life, and abundantly.

Holy Mystery (Tune: Of the Father’s Love Begotten)

Holy Mystery, we worship you, Holy Three in One,
God beyond our understanding, Mother, Spirit and the Son,
Holy Love, Beloved, and the flowing Love between,
never ending or begun.

God, our infinite Creator, Source of all and ending too,
Holy Lover eternal, all around and in and through,
Love that flows in us, and in whom we all are one:
we find ourselves in you.

Infinite, eternal Love unseen, Love made flesh on earth,
Love that burns within our hearts, in whom all have infinite worth,
Mother, Son and Holy Spirit: we worship y0u in awe,
and receive new birth. Amen.


O Holy Trinity (Tune: Finlandia)

O Holy One, O Mystery beyond us,
we praise you, God, O Grace without a name.
Creator of the universe within you,
source of our life, Thou Infinite Divine,
unseen, unknown, we cannot frame or bind you,
only our wonder and our praise proclaim.

O Loving One, O Love who made the heavens,
you choose to come among us as our own,
the Living Word, in flesh revealed, Companion,
stranger and Friend, whose suff’ring is your throne.
Eternal Christ who humbly dies among us,
your tender mystery in love is known.

O Living One, O Grace who lives in our life,
we can’t contain you, but we can adore.
Spirit of Love beyond, beside, within us,
into our hearts your healing presence pour.
Many and One, O Mystery, Christ and Spirit,
we sing, we live your praise forevermore.

May 24, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Acts 2.1-21 — The Pentecost story

Psalm 104 —Praise God for Creation and God’s care for all creatures. “When you send forth your spirit they are created.”

1 Corinthians 12.4-13 —The Spirit lives in the members of the Church through varying gifts.

John 7.37-39 — “Come to me, you who trust me, and drink… ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water,’”
         or
John 20.19-23 — Jesus breathes on the disciples “Peace be with you. As God has sent me, so I send you.”

Preaching Thoughts

Speaking in tongues

Communicating. I’m intrigued that the Pentecost story of the disciples “speaking in tongues” is about communication: the disciples speak in other people’s languages to communicate the gospel they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to communicate… and yet within twenty years “speaking in tongues” was understood not as speaking in known languages for the purpose of communication but in ecstatic utterances that were meaningless, even to the speaker, with out interpretation. I wonder how that reversal came about? I think the pentecostal challenge is not to experience ecstasy but to communicate the good news in ways people understand—which is not in our religious language, or even in words, but in love and justice.

Listening in tongues. Love and justice involves more listening than talking: paying attention to people and their lives, their context, their needs, and listening to them, to what they experience and need and ask for—a kind of “listening in tongues.” Pentecost invites us to check our tendency to center ourselves, our desire that others “speak our language,” our temptation to impose our own values on them. Sometimes the most pentecostal thing we can do is affirm people as they are, rather than ask them to conform to our standards and expectations. Pentecost invites us to assume God has been with them in their journey, even if it’s very different from ours.

Words. We’re a wordy culture. We’re inundated with words, words in news and ads and texts and posts and ads and notifications and political rants and ads and the word salad of presidential nonsense…. But an abundance of words will not convey the Word. If on Pentecost people believed the disciples’ words about the love of God, the words must have been backed up by the love of those who spoke them. The words Jesus spoke were embedded in acts of love. For people who “speak different languages” than we do, who experience different cultural or economic realities, words alone will not convey the love of God. Only love itself will. This is the ultimate lesson of Pentecost: not that we get the words right, but that we convey love. As is frequently quoted, “Preach the Gospel; use words if necessary.” Words alone aren’t enough. Healing and justice are the “love languages” of the Holy Spirit.

Languages. Notice how revolutionary Pentecost can be. Power structures (and the more authoritarian, the more this is true) want to divide us into competing ranks and groups, so we direct any critique or discomfort horizontally, toward the “other,” and especially downward, toward the weak, the discredited, the outcast, the “unworthy.” That way we avoid questioning those above us in the power structure—or the structure itself. But Jesus and the Holy Spirit directly oppose such divisions and hierarchies. In the Spirit we are one. For Jesus to consort with Samaritans, prostitutes, lepers and tax collectors—to “eat with sinners!”—disturbs those divisions. And it’s disturbing for disciples to speak with foreigners in their own languages. There’s no one shouting “Hey! If you want to live here, learn English!” There is no “official language” in the Realm of God. There are no outsiders. In the story of the tower of Babel God gives people different languages: diversity is preferred. At Pentecost that diversity is affirmed: all theses people from different places and tongues—and maybe even religions—are all recipients of the good news together. Language does not separate us. Pentecost threatens the power structures that demonize the “other.”

The Holy Spirit

It’s helpful for us to personify the Spirit, to imagine the Holy Spirit as, well, a spirit—a sort of invisible “someone” who comes to us and acts upon us. That’s cool, as long as we remember we’re anthropomorphizing a member of the Holy Trinity, that is, God, who is not a god, but beyond all gods—the Mystery of Love that gives rise to all being, that is Being itself. The Holy Spirit is not some ghost, but God in us. In both Greek and Hebrew the word for wind, spirit and breath (and hence life) is the same: ruach in Hebrew and pneuma in Greek. The Holy Spirit is the living energy of God (which is love) in us. When we love, that’s God doing God’s thing. Jesus says “As scripture has said, ‘Out of the heart of one who trusts shall flow rivers of living water.’” We are the riverbank God flows through. (By the way there’s actually no scripture he’s quoting; it’s a “general gist” kind of thing.)

Jesus says “I am in God, and you in me, and I in you (Jn. 14.20). Sounds a little spacey, but it’s literally true. God is infinite; we are within God. The Holy Spirit is our inter-penetration, our inter-being. Jesus was both human and divine; so are we.

We speak of the disciples “receiving “ the Spirit at Pentecost, but they already had it. They were born with it. (Joel says the Spirit is poured out on all flesh.) And just to make sure, Jesus has breathed on them in John 20. But Pentecost is the moment when the spark catches fire and they burn with it, overcoming their fear and grief. Acting in the power of the Holy Spirit isn’t some ecstatic experience, but simply being a vessel for love. It’s not our love, our effort, but God’s. We let the Spirit, God’s love in us, do its thing. That’s what enables us to do things that seem beyond our capacity or expectations—like communicating love in languages we haven’t studied.

Baptism

Pentecost is a great day for baptisms, baptismal renewal, Confirmation, and receiving new members. People often conflate baptism and confirmation. Those who believe in “adult baptism” see it as a way to affirm one’s faith. But baptism, like birth, isn’t something you do; it’s something you receive. Baptism is a symbol of God’s unconditional love of the person being baptized—whether or not they like it, or understand it, or even know it. (That’s why we baptize babies.) Confirmation is the act in which we respond—we confirm our baptism; we accept our divine belovedness and vow to live in harmony with it. We can only be baptized once, since our belovedness is permanent, eternal and unchanging, and isn’t dependent on the pastor or church or denomination that pours the water, nor on the person receiving it. But we do need to continually re-affirm our baptism, to re-commit ourselves to the vows that were made at our baptism. Pentecost is a great time for baptismal renewal services. See a service of Baptism/ Baptismal Renewal/ Confirmation here.

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Breath of Life, raise us up.
All: Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Wind of Grace, carry us always.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Light of God, show us the way.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Spirit of God, make us one.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Flame of Love, send us forth.
Come, Holy Spirit, come. Alleluia!

2.
Leader: Spirit of Creation, you call us into being.
All: Spirit of life, you breathe your presence into us.
Spirit of love, you fill us with blessings for others.
Spirit of Christ, you breathe us into the world.
Spirit of God, be our life and our power.
Spirit of God, make us your Body, the Body of Christ.

3.
Leader: In the beginning the Spirit brooded over the waters.
All: Come, Holy Spirit, come.
God formed a human from the dust from the earth and breathed into it,
and it became a living person.
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
John said, “I baptize you with water but one is coming
who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Jesus said, “The water that I will give will become in you a spring of water
gushing up to eternal life.”
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Jesus said of the Spirit, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”
Come, Holy Spirit, come. Alleluia.

4.
Leader: Eternal God, by your Spirit you create us.
All: Risen Christ, you breathe your Spirit into us.
Holy Spirit, with each breath you give us life and love.
What beauty! What power!
You pour out your grace on us, like rain on thirsty land.
Your spirit is a well within us, gushing up to eternal life,
and flowing our of our hearts.
You are our breathing, our loving, our life.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

5. (Jn. 7.37-38)
Leader: Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.”
All: God, we are thirsty for you.
“Let the one who believes in me drink.”
We come to drink deeply of your Word,
your presence, your grace.
“As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart
shall flow rivers of living water.’”
Flow in us, God, with your love,
and by your grace flow through us
into the world. Amen.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Heavenly Lover, you who are the Spirit of love, breathe in us. Create us. Fill us with your life. Fill us with your love. Fill us with the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

2.
Breath of God, wind that blew over the sea at Creation; breath that brought to life the human form, made of the dust of the earth; Spirit that led Jesus through all his days: breathe life into us now; re-create us, and fill our bodies and souls with your Word of life, your song of blessing. We breathe deeply of your presence. In the secret language of the heart, speak to us. Amen.

3.
Holy One, Light of Love, Sun of Life, Blaze of Heaven, we turn to you like flowers to the sun to receive your light. Draw near to us and set us afire with your love. We are the lamp and you are the flame; we are the lighthouse and you are the light. Shine in us, until we are pure light, pure love, pure life! You are the river and we are your riverbank. Flow in us so that we may bear your grace to all the world in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

4.
Gracious God, you are our breath. Give us life, and ewe will praise you. Light of God, we come to shape ourselves to be vessels of your love. Give us grace, and we will serve you. Holy Spirit, you are our Wisdom and our life. Speak to us, and we will listen. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

1.
Spirit of God,
you breathe in us.
You make us alive.
In the stillness we breathe
and you enter us.
You come in and out of us
with life-giving love.
We breathe you in and out,
and we give thanks.

2.
You have said to us who thirst
to come to you and drink.
O Love, we drink deeply of your presence.
You said out of our hearts shall flow
rivers of living water.
O Love, flow in us
with life for all Creation.

Prayers

1.
Graceful power, move in me.
May my living give language to your miraculous ways.
May my words express your goodness,
my actions reveal the abundance of your blessing.
Spirit, be the nerve that moves me as your body
to do your will, that all that I do
might clearly embody your grace
and be your living example.
May all whom I meet be given to understand
in the language of their hearts
your loving presence.
Amen.

2. [May be led by two readers.]
Rejoicing in the presence of the Spirit, let us pray for the church, the world, and all of God’s creation.

Come, Holy Spirit, and kindle the flames of our witness to God’s presence.
We pray for the leaders of the church and all the people of God, that together we might live the gospel, and reach out to those with needy hearts. God in your mercy… you hear our prayers.

Come, Holy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
We pray for oceans and sky, for rivers and deserts, for lakes and forests, for mountains and grasslands. God in your mercy…

Come, Holy Spirit, and pour out your justice on all nations.
We pray for countries wracked with violence, for soldiers and civilians, for peacemakers and relief agencies. God in your mercy…

Come, Holy Spirit, and give hopeful visions to the young and life-giving dreams to the old.
We pray for those whose lives are wracked by fear, for those who feel distanced from your light, and for all those in need in any way, especially…. God in your mercy…

Come, Holy Spirit, and guide us in our work.
We pray for firefighters and scientists, for midwives and custodians, for writers and housekeepers, for parents and students, for all who live out the gifts of the Spirit in their lives. God in your mercy…

Come, Holy Spirit, and bind us to the communion of saints who have gone before us.
We remember with thanksgiving all those who served and witnessed by your power, especially… God in your mercy…

Into your hands, O God, we commend ourselves and all for whom we pray, trusting in your abundant mercy. And now with the confidence that is ours in being sons and daughters of God, we pray to the One we call Abba, Father, the prayer of Jesus: …

Poetry

           A sun within

I’m wondering how to love
such a big tough world,
where to find the strength to bless
the unending mass of the poor,
the problematic, the people who
annoy me. But You say to me,
“You don’t need to find anything.
You only need to breathe deeply
of this fire within; receive
what you have been given. You have
perfected your simple costume,
your blank demeanor.
But something deep within you roars:
not a flame, but a sun,
a wind that sweeps vast cities clear,
a heaving sea. Don’t you feel it?
The light seeps out through your joints.
The great tide swells
with every pulse of your heart.
You weary yourself trying to contain it.
Lie still for a moment in the sun
of God’s passion for you, the single flame,
the only light, that fills all things,
that loves each soul, until you catch fire.
Open your eyes, and let it stream from you.
Your heart is not a cistern. It is a river.
It is the sun. Wake up, for it is rising.


             Pentecost Prayer

Fire of God,
be my light.

Heat of God,
be my fuel.

Furnace of God,
purify me.

Blaze of God,
be my upward leaping.

Flame of God,
be my breath.

Wind of God,
be my steady leading.

Spirit of God,
may I burn with your love,

your passion to spread mercy
in this flammable world.


             Pentecost prayer

Holy Spirit,
River of love, divine delight,
flow through me.
Flame of sun, burn in me.
Wind of heaven, breathe in me.
Tongues of strangers, speak in me.
Love of God, sing in me.

Lead me beyond myself,
to return to you in the other,
to love you in my stranger,
my foreigner, my enemy.

Burn with your fire in me,
that it may be mine.
Breathe yourself into my life,
that it may be yours.
I am your song, and your singing.
I am your candle; you are my flame.

Holy Spirit,
love the world
in me.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
Leader: Spirit of God, you breathe in us.
      All: River of grace, you flow through us.
Spirit of wholeness, you unite us.
     Breath of God, you make us one Body.
Flame of wisdom, you are our living light.
     Wind of justice, you are the breeze in our sails.
Spirit of Life, let love be our language.
     Spirit of God, let healing be our Word.
You are our song;
     we are your singing.

2.
[From 1 Corinthians 12, Jn. 3. 5-6]
[Try experimenting with various ways of responsive readings in addition to Leader and Congregation. This merely an example.]
         Left side: No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
         Right side: Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
         Men: There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit in all people. To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
         Women: The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
         All: We are the body of Christ, and each one of us is a part of it.
         Under 50 years old : God says: “Here is my servant community whom I have chosen, the ones I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on them, and they will proclaim justice to the nations.”
         Over 50 years old: The Spirit of the Holy One is upon us, for God has anointed us to preach good news to the poor. God has sent us to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the grace of God.
All: Alleluia! Holy Spirit, be in us the light of God for the world. Alleluia!

3.
[Based on Romans 8. 2, 11-17]
We rejoice, for the power of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the power of sin and death. Since the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, then that same Spirit will give life to our mortal bodies also. So we belong not to our separate lives and desires, which are doomed, but to the one life of the Spirit. For all who are led by the Spirit are children of God. The Spirit does not restrict us, or shove us back into fear. The Spirit is our connection with God, as God’s children. When we cry, “Mommy! Daddy!” it is that very spirit in us crying out. So in the Spirit we are siblings with Christ: we suffer with Christ, and we are glorified with Christ.

Eucharistic Prayer

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

We thank you God, for in the beginning
you gathered up dust from the earth and breathed your breath into it,
and it became a living being: us, your people.
When we were lost and enslaved
your pillar of fire led us to freedom through the wilderness.
When we were defeated and lifeless
your wind brought life to our dry bones.
In our need you sent Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit.
So we sing praise and thanks to you,
with all Creation breathing together:

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ,
who taught and healed, who fed the hungry and included the outcast.
He breathed upon us his Spirit,
renewing your Covenant to be with us always in love,
and empowering us to love as he loved.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
one in your grace and aflame with your love,
for the sake of the world, in the name of Christ.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us. / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) In gratitude we give you our lives, symbolized in our gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. May your Spirit always flow through us, for the sake of the healing of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us. / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) In this meal you have poured yourself into us, and filled us with your Spirit of love. Send us into the world to convey your love to others, that they also might know your powerful works. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen.

3.
Spirit of Life, flow through us. Flame of Love, burn in us. Holy Presence, shine in us. May our whole lives be a song of praise for you, in the name of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)


Bearers of Light (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

God, how you love us, hold us and bless us,
reign from above us, lead us by hand
Call us to healing, bound by your Promise,
your Word revealing, by your command.

Great holy giver of life and wonder,
deep like a river your blessings flow.
Gladly we give you praise and thanksgiving:
gifts we will give wherever we go.

Baptized, anointed, filled with your Spirit,
we are appointed bearers of light:
for liberation, servants of justice,
bringing the nations joy and delight.


Breath of God (Tune: Londonderry Air – “Oh Danny Boy”)

O Holy One, Creator of the stars of night,
whose dust we are, created with your light,
now breathe your spirit into us and give us life;
give us new hearts that beat with your delight.
Our dust and ashes, Love, we give in faith to you.
Receive our lives, our sin, our wounds, our death;
and raise us up with Christ from death to life by grace.
God, may we be your love and you our living breath.

Breathe into us the breath of your compassion, God,
the breath to sing your praise in all we do,
the breath to run the race of justice, long and far.
Breathe, holy breath: empower and renew.
O be the grace that fills our lungs, reviving us;
O be the wind on which our hearts can soar;
O be our life, our beauty and our living breath.
O Spirit, come breathe in us now and evermore.


Fire of Love (Tune: HOLY MANNA)

Holy Spirit, you have gathered us as on that Pentecost
when you gathered Christ’s disciples and their fears and doubts were lost:
breathing life into their souls, and shining out of every face,
you sent them into the streets to tell of God’s amazing grace.

Each aflame with your compassion, eager that your praise be sung,
fearlessly they filled the streets to tell your news in every tongue.
So we ask you, by your life within us, giving us new birth,
send us out to spread God’s love in Jesus’ name to all the earth.

Holy Spirit, you have granted gifts to each, in our own way,
so that we might serve you as we live and work and share and pray.
By your pow’r we love our neighbors, work for justice, act with peace,
reach the lost and serve the lowly: so your work will never cease.

Holy Spirit, energy of God that links us soul to soul,
by your grace we are the Body of the risen Christ, made whole.
Be the breath that lifts our singing; be the wind that fills our sails;
be the fire of love among us ‘till the Reign of God prevails.

Holy Spirit, Burn Within Us (Tune: BEECHER, Love Divine, All Loves Excelling)

Holy Spirit, Sun of Heaven, source of light and warmth and power,
fill us and transform us like a seed that turns into a flower.
Kindle in your willing people joy’s bright spark, compassion’s flame.
Set us all afire to bear your loving light in Jesus’ name.

Holy Spirit, burn within us, radiant with your healing grace.
Give us brand new ways to meet and love the stranger face to face.
Help us find new ways of caring. Help us set new, daring goals.
Give us brand new languages to speak your love to seeking souls.

Holy Spirit, let your fire consume us, changing us at last.
Let us rise like light emerging from the embers of the past.
May the star of pure compassion shine within and set us free.
Holy Spirit, make us all your flame that burns eternally.


Holy Spirit, Wind of Heaven (Tune: Joyful, Joyful)

Holy Spirit, Wind of Heaven, Breath of Life, our warmth and light,
Power of Creation, bringing hopeful dawn from darkest night:
you have birthed us, you have borne us; you have blessed us all our days,
now you fill our lungs with singing; how you fill our hearts with praise!

Holy Spirit, flame of passion, you who brought your Church to be,
re-create us as your Body, holy in our unity.
Fill us with your fierce compassion, gentle courage, trust and peace.
Lead us all to love each other; make our sad divisions cease.

Holy Spirit, Dove descending, mind of Christ within us all,
speak your wisdom, move among us, help us hear your inner call.
Be the only pow’r that moves us; be our life, O singing Dove!
Holy Spirit, come, revive us! Fill us with your heart of love!


Spirit of God (Original song)

Spirit of God, bright Wind, breath that bids life begin,
blow as you always do; create us anew.
Give us the breath to sing, lifted on soaring wing,
held in your hands, borne on your wings.
Alleluia! Come, Spirit, come.

Spirit of God, bright Dove, grant us your peace and love,
healing upon your wings for all living things.
For when we live your peace captives will find release,
held in your hands, borne on your wings.
Alleluia! Come, Spirit, come.

Spirit of God, bright Hands, even in far-off lands
you hold all the human race in one warm embrace.
No matter where we go you hold us together so,
held in your hands, borne on your wings.
Alleluia! Come, Spirit, come.!…

Spirit of God, bright Flame, send us in your holy name,
with power to heal, to share your love everywhere.
We cannot fail or fall or know defeat at all,
held in your hands, borne on your wings.
Alleluia! Come, Spirit, come.!…

Spirit of God in all, we gladly hear your call,
the life in our hands that sings, the power of your wings.
Born of your grace we rise, love shining in our eyes,
held in your hands, borne on your wings.
Alleluia! Come, Spirit, come.!…

May 17, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Ascension Day

[Ascension Day, 40 days after the Resurrection, is May 14, but may be observed the 7th Sunday of Easter, May 17. Regardless of other textual choices, include at least one version of the ascension story.]

Acts 1.1-11. Jesus’ final instruction s to the disciples 40 days after the resurrection, and his ascension

Psalm 47 rejoices that God has “gone up with a shout” and sits on the holy throne.

Ephesians 1.15-23. A prayer that you may receive “a spirit of wisdom and revelation… with the eyes of your hearts enlightened,” so that you might know the greatness of God’s power, the power with which God raised Jesus from the dead.

Luke 24.44-53. A shorter account of Jesus’ ascension.

7^th Sunday of Easter

Acts 1.6-14. The ascension story.

Psalm 68.1-10, 32-35. “God, parent of orphans and protector of widows, has given the desolate a home to live in.”

1 Peter 4.12-14; 5.6-11. Blessed are you who are persecuted for your faith. Discipline yourselves. Cast your anxiety on God. Resist evil. God will restore you.

John 17.1-11. Jesus’ prayer for his disciples, that they (we) may know God, and that they be one.

Preaching Thoughts

Gospel
     The story of the Ascension, like that of the Transfiguration, is not history: it’s an icon, a highly symbolic image we’re invited to gaze at to deepen our faith. Treating it as a historical fact that proves a certain point (like that Jesus is divine) is not as fruitful as letting it be a story that invites our wonder. The story offers layers of “meaning” and significance.
     We still cling to the ancient worldview that God is “up” (NFL players point to the sky when they score. Why not point to the ground, or their hearts?) For Jesus to ascend implies he’s gone ”up” to be with God on the throne—that is, to rule over all Creation. Jesus has ascended to the “heavenly places:” not the sky, or the afterlife, but the place of power at the heart of all things. Love is actually sovereign, even if it’s unseen.
      For those concerned with the physical body of Jesus after the resurrection, this seems to present a puzzle: now where is Jesus? But he has told them: In you. In Luke 24.48-49 and Acts 1.8 Jesus has charged them to continue his ministry and promised the Spirit (in John 20.22 he has already breathed his spirit into them). So it’s not just a story about Jesus: it’s a story about us. Jesus is the spirit; we are the body. On Pentecost the disciples will discover the power of that gift. The Ascension makes way for the community to become the physical body of the risen Christ.
      This is also a story about grief and transition: the disciples now have to live without Jesus in separate physical form. It reflects a lot of the change, grief and uncertainty in the early church, and in the church these days.
      It raises the question of how we live out our faith without the reassurance of Jesus’ physical presence with us. Much as we might wish he were ”here” in that way, we have to learn to accept his presence in a different form.

Ephesians
      If you ever feel crummy read Ephesians. It’s just one blessing after another.
      To receive the “spirit of wisdom and revelation” doesn’t mean to be smart and know stuff. It means to have the “eyes of our hearts enlightened,” that is, to learn to see with the eyes of love. To see people not with judgment, but with compassion.
     And it means to hope, to see “the hope to which God has called you.” Hope is not optimism, it’s acting in trust of God’s unseen grace. To hope is to see “the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who trust.” To trust God is to tap into a great power that is “far above all rule and authority and power.” Hope isn;t about expected outcomes. It’s about allowing God’s power to flow through us for the sake of the mending of the world. This is what sustains us when we resist injustice against authoritarian powers.

1 Peter
Increasingly the words of the New Testament speak to the political situation of our times. We follow the Prince of Peace under the Emperor who would do away with him. Those who work for justice “share Christ’s sufferings” (4.13). We can expect harassment, persecution, arrest, even violence. The deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and so many others less heralded, remind us. Nevertheless we resist—but we do so nonviolently. (Verse 4.15 isn’t included in the lectionary reading, but is relevant.) We resist with humility (5.6). We resist out of our love, not out of anxiety (5.7). We resist aware that we are not alone, and it’s not about us or our power. We are accompanied—led, really— by “siblings in all the world who undergo the same kinds of suffering” (5.9). And we resist with confidence that God will “restore, support, strengthen, and establish” us (5.10).

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: God of glory, something has happened.
All: God of love, something has changed.
Christ now reigns overall the world.
Christ now reigns over all our hearts.
All our minds.
All our lives, and all our choices.
Christ, ruler of all that is, come rule over us.
Draw us up in your love, and make us your Body,
for the sake of the world. Amen.

2.
Leader: Despite the world’s chaos,
All: love is the root of all.
Over and beneath men who fight for power and influence,
love is the greatest power.
Though death looms and evil prowls,
Christ, risen from the dead, is in every time and place.
God, the God of love, is with us.
We worship in gratitude and joy.

3.
Leader: Eternal God, you reign over all the universe.
All: Praise to you for your wondrous love!
Christ, you have ascended and are enthroned over all things.
Glory be to you, who are above all powers and authorities.
We praise you. Reign over us, and make us your holy people.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

4.
Leader: Loving God, you sent Christ to us, to love us and lead us.
All: Alleluia! We are blessed, and we thank you for your love!
But he was crucified at the hand of our own fear and selfishness.
Alas! We are sorrowful, and we confess our sin to you, and ask your forgiveness.
In grace you raised him from the dead.
Alleluia! We are saved! We praise you for your grace!
You have lifted him up into the heavenly places.
Alas! We are afraid, for now we are without him: he has gone away from us again!
You have seated him at your right hand in the realm of power.
Alleluia! Christ rules over everything, over every force that frightens us.
We can relax!
Christ is the head of all things for the church, which is his body.
Alas! Then we must get to work, and risk dying and rising as well!
In Christ you grant us a glorious inheritance, and call us to hope.
Alleluia! With all our mixed feelings we come to worship, to give you our lives,
to follow the crucified, risen and ascended Christ. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Everliving God, your eternal Christ once dwelt on earth, confined by time and space. Give us faith to discern in every time and place the presence among us of the One who is head over all things and fills all, even Jesus Christ our ascended Sovereign. Amen.

2.
Loving God, Creator of all things, you have raised Christ to rule at the heart of the human story, present in all beings, through the Spirit of love to bless us, keep us and lead us in your ways. May your Word may be made flesh again in Scripture, in our worship, and in all our lives and in our living. Open our hearts, God, and speak to us. Amen.

3.
Eternal God, Christ, who rose from the dead, rises in our hearts with love. May Christ, who has ascended to the heart of all things, ascend in our minds and hearts, and rule with grace. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

We do not look up into the sky for Jesus.
We look to love.
May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened,
that we may see and give thanks,
that though we don’t see
we may give our hearts.

Poetry

        Enlighten the eyes of my heart

God, enlighten the eyes of my heart,
that I may see clearly what is your true and beautiful will;
and even if I may not see your will,
that I may see what is true and beautiful;
and even if I may not see that,
that I may see what is.

Enlighten the eyes of my heart,
that I may be open to your light.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
Ephesians 1. 15-23
      We do not cease to give thanks to you, O God of our Beloved Jesus Christ, our glorious Father and Mother! We pray that you may give us a Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may know you better. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts. Help us embody the hope to which you have called us. We thank you for the richness of the gifts we inherit from you with all the saints, our sisters and brothers. We celebrate the incomparably great power you give us when we entrust ourselves to you.
      By that same power, you raised Christ from the dead; by that mighty strength you seated Christ at your right hand at the heart of all things, to reign over every force and every system, every rule and every power structure, every law, both human and natural, in this world and in the next. You placed all things under Christ, whom you made to be head over everything—especially the church, which is Christ’s body.
      Therefore by your Spirit and your abundance that fills everything in every way, we devote ourselves to be the presence of Christ, to embody your love in this world. Alleluia!

Eucharistic Prayer

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your heart.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

We thank you, God, for you create us in your image,
and covenant to be with us in love.
You judge the forces of injustice,
and call us to join you in freeing your children from all oppression.
You gave us the gift of Jesus, who was crucified by the powers of evil.
But by the power of love you raised Christ from the dead,
and set Christ, the Body of your Love, to rule at the heart of all things.
Therefore with all Creation we praise you with joy and gratitude:

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
He loved and healed and taught and fed the hungry.
He was taken by the forces of injustice,
subject to the powers of this world.
But by the great power of your grace
you raised him from then dead,
victorious over death, over evil, over the powers of this world.
Christ is no longer in one time or place, but present in all things.
The living Christ embodies your covenant to be with us in love.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
clothed with power from on high, the power of love,
witnesses to your grace from here to the ends of the earth,
for the sake of the healing of the world, to your glory.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) Even as Christ left the disciples, still he filled their hearts. You have opened the eyes of our hearts, so that we seek you in one another and in our love. Send us into the world to be your witnesses, to give flesh to your Word, and to trust your reign of power and grace. We pray, as we serve you, in the name of Christ. Amen.

2.
Loving God, we treasure this mystery, that Christ is no longer in one time or place, but in every time and place. May your Spirit give us grace and courage to be your witnesses, to the ends of the earth, in the steadfast company of Jesus. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

Christ Has Ascended (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

Christ, you have gone now into all Being,
into all people, all time and space.
Open our eyes, then, that we may see you
risen and living, shining with grace.

Christ you have changed now, hidden in daylight,
always before us, here in plain sight.
We look not skyward, but to our neighbor,
every face shining with God’s pure light.

Christ, you expanded, so that your Spirit
is not yours only, but with us all.
Still our companion, you will be with us,
no matter where we follow your call.

Christ, in your love you rule all creation;
justice and mercy shine as you rise.
We are your Body, breathing your Spirit,
light of your rising clear in our eyes.


Love Is Enthroned (Tune: Finlandia)

O, risen Christ, who once appeared among us,
you have ascended! Loud we sing your praise.
Though we may see no shadow of your nearness,
you have not gone; your loving presence stays.
You are no longer in one time or place,
but in all things, to radiate your grace.

Christ has ascended, reigning now above.
Love is enthroned at the Creator’s side.
All powers on earth are subject to Christ’s love,
who is our history’s unseen, gentle guide.
Though evil try to make this world its home,
Love is its Lord, and love shall overcome.

Go in the peace of Christ who is our Lord,
and gently heal, amid the fear and strife.
For we who eat and drink the living Word
are now Christ’s Body, and Christ’s earthly life.
We may not see the journey or the end,
but Christ still reigns, our ruler and our friend.


You are the Nerve Tune: Finlandia)

O God, your Christ is risen in your people.
On earth Christ has no body now but ours.
We are the flesh and blood of your compassion:
moved by your Spirit, with its loving powers.
God be our heart, and we will be your Body,
serving in love in all our days and hours.

We are your feet, that go with joy to others
to share your love, the gospel we confess.
We are your eyes that see what is and may be,
that see each person’s need and loveliness.
We are your hands, that work with strength for justice,
your hands that shelter, heal and feed and bless.

Love, move in me, and guide me by your Spirit,
even when I don’t see or understand.
My life is yours, to be your living Body,
that I may love and serve at your command.
This is my life, my purpose and my power:
you are the nerve, and I your willing hand.

May 10, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Acts 17.22-31 —Paul has seen an altar in Athens, dedicated to “an unknown God.” But God can in fact be known, if we “search for God, and perhaps grope for God and find God.”

Psalm 66.8-20 —Thank you, God, for being present even in the midst of our sufferings.

1 Peter 3.13-22. (I encourage you to include vv. 8-9 too) Do not be intimidated when you suffer for your faith. Be gentle, and be ready to explain your hope. This we do in the spirit of Christ, who suffers with us. Baptism unites us with the resurrection of Christ, so that we can indeed live in the spirit of Christ, to whom all powers are subject.

John 14.15-21 — Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit, an “Advocate,” “I will not leave you orphaned…. I am in God, and you in me, and I in you… To those who love me, my Abba God and I will come and we will make our home with them…”

Preaching Thoughts

Acts.
Paul characterizes faith as “searching and groping for God.” People brought up on the notion of faith as certainty need to hear this. This doesn’t mean God is hiding from us, but that God is mystery. God is infinite love, beyond our capacity to know, understand or even perceive. We are always only looking, feeling for little hints, little slivers of God. And we are not well trained in that. But although God is mystery, God is not far off. After all, we are the very offspring of God; in fact we are within God, “in whom we live and move and have our being.” Faith is not superstition in some unknown heavenly manipulator, but a seeking, loving relationship with Love, a continual reaching out.

1 Peter
The writer cautions us against the arrogance of folks who whine about a “War on Christianity.” The Gospel is countercultural. Of course we will face opposition. Jesus warns us: anybody who obeys God will be persecuted by society that wants us to obey the rules of capitalism, nationalism and individualism. Expect to “suffer for doing what is right.” That’s pretty clear these days. Expect reprisal from the Administration if you oppose authoritarianism, or appear “woke.” (Jesus said “keep awake.” You know that won’t sit well with some.) Expect opposition, even harassment, or worse, if you protest. But in responding, stay true to Christ’s spirit of nonviolence: “Do it with gentleness and reverence.” And, in verse 9, “Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing.”

Gospel
The nickname Jesus uses for the Spirit is “Advocate,” basically a defense attorney. (Actually that’s John’s word; Jesus was unlikely to have used Roman legal language.) This is in sharp contrast to the image of God as Judge. God is not judging us; God is on our side, for us, against the judgments of the world. (“The world does not know the Spirit…” “The stone the builders have rejected…”)

“I will not leave you orphaned.” What an evocative image, not only for disciples who probably did feel orphaned after Jesus’ death, but also for us who often feel distant from God, or out of touch with Jesus. Jesus expresses parental love for us, knowing how alone we may sometimes feel. The Spirit is subtle, and invisible to much of the world—but not far off or hard to “search and grope for.” Because the Spirit is Love. And love is God. To quote the ancient hymn, Ubi cáritas et amor, Deus ibi est: “Wherever there is love or compassion, there is God.” Whenever you love– a spouse or lover, a child or parent, a friend or stranger, a dog or a sunset, any and all love—that is God, right there. “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love.” It’s in love that Jesus reveals himself to us (v. 21). As long as we love, we are not orphaned.

“We will come to them and make our home with them.” People imagine heaven as a city with streets of gold, with lots of jewels and grandiosity. But notice Jesus’ images of whatever we might think of as heaven: they’re not images of architectural grandeur, but images of domestic intimacy. Whether you think of heaven as the ideal life or the afterlife, it’s not that you go off to some ivory palace somewhere, but that Jesus comes and makes a home with you, and brings along God and the Holy Spirit. Heaven is not about “there,” but about “we.”

“I am in my Mother/Father, and you in me, and I in you.” Here is the mystery of the Trinity, and the mystery of faith. We are all in God. God is infinite. Therefore everything—everything—is within God. We not only draw near to Christ, we are in Christ. Christ is not only beside us; Christ is in us. It is the risen Christ in us who gives us our life: “Because I live, you also will live.” And we will live with the same love he had. Even when we feel most orphaned, most alone and lost, we are still in God, in Christ, and loved by God (v. 21).
       [For more on the Trinity see Trinity Sunday.]

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: God of grace, be with us.
All: Spirit of truth, be within us.
Spirit of love, we are searching for you, reaching for you.
Christ, who loves us, come to us, and do not leave us orphaned.
We are in you, as you are in God.
Be with us and within us. Even in the mystery, be with us.

2.
Leader: God, in you we live and move and have our being.
All: We are your children, and we praise you.
You do not leave us orphaned, but Christ comes to us and dwells with us.
We are your Beloved, and we thank you.
You are in us, and we are in you, and your Spirit works through us.
We are your Body, and we worship you.

3.
Leader: Loving God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
Holy Spirit, we are one body by your grace.
You, O God, are holy, and we worship you.
You love us, and though you are veiled in mystery, you reveal yourself to us.
You send your Spirit to be with us,
so that we know that we are in you, and you are in us.
You created all things, and from one Being you made all peoples.
You made us to reach out to you and to find you.
And we do find you, for in you we live and move and have our being.
Alleluia! Send your Spirit upon us now,
and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

4. (Ps. 66.16, 20)
Leader: Come and hear, all you who worship God,
and I will tell what God has done for me.
Blessed be God, who has not rejected our prayer,
or failed in steadfast love to us.
Jesus, you promised your Spirit, who helps us to do your will.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

5.
Leader: Christ is Risen!
All: Christ is risen indeed!
Light of Christ, rising in glory,
chase away all darkness, illumine our way,
and lead us to the heart of God.
O Crucified and risen Christ,
reveal yourself to us now in our worship.
Open the eyes of our hearts to your love;
open the ears of our souls to your presence,
that we may find ourselves in you,
an find ourselves in love. Amen.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
Spirit of truth, we search for you. Spirit of love, we long for you. Spirit of life, we hunger for your grace. You who dwell within us, speak to us. You in whom we live and move and have our being, speak to us. Beyond words, enfolded deep in the mystery in which we dwell, speak to us. Amen.

2.
Loving God, you have created us to reach out to you.
So we reach out, in love and need.
Speak to us, stir in us, so we may find you and know you. Amen.3.
God of love, though you are infinite and unknowable, yet you make yourself known to us. You come to us in love, reveal yourself to us in love, and give us your Spirit of love. We open our hearts to you now. Speak to us, stir in us, so that we may know you, so that Christ may be in us and we in Christ, even as Christ is in you. Amen.

4.
Gracious God, Jesus promised us his Spirit, and returned from death to give us his Spirit. Open our hearts now, so that as we listen to your scriptures read and your good news proclaimed, we might receive your Spirit, grow in our love of Christ, and be moved more deeply to obey his commandments of love. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

1.
Jesus, we love you,
and would keep your Word.
Come to us, with your Abba God,
your faithful Spirit,
and make your home with us.
Infinite God, Eternal Love,

2.
Infinite God, Eternal Love,
Christ is in you and we are in Christ,
and Christ is in us.
By your Holy Spirit
we hold this space within us
for you to be,
and for us to behold.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
(Acts 17.24-27)
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Sovereign of heaven and earth, and does not live in temples built by hands. God is not dependent on human hands, as if God needed anything, because God alone gives all people life and breath and everything else. From one person God made every nation of people, that we should inhabit the whole earth; and gave us times and places where we should live. God did this so that we would seek God and perhaps reach out for God and find God, though God is not far from each one of us. For in God we live and move and have our being. Alleluia.

2.
(1 Peter 3. 8-22)
Dearly Beloved, siblings in Christ, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
By the Spirit in us we will not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, repay with a blessing. It is for this that we were called—that we might inherit a blessing.
Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit.
By the Spirit in us we will turn away from evil and do good; we will seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of God are on you, and God’s ears are open to your prayer.
By the Spirit in us we will abide with God.
If you suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what others fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as your Chief, your Power, your Leader.
By the Spirit in us we are ready to account for the hope that we have; ready to do it with gentleness and reverence.
Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.
We would rather suffer for doing good than to suffer for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.
He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. Alleluia!

Eucharistic Prayer

Click here for eight settings of the Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation and Amen to familiar tunes suitable for the Easter season.

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

Eternal God, you are the Love that breathes us into being.
We live in you, and your “Yes” lives in us.
You are in Christ, and Christ is in us, your Spirit flowing through us.
You create us; you set us free; you walk with us into new life.
So with all Creation we sing your praise.

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
He taught us to love, and showed us love.
He gave us his commandment to love.
For his love he was crucified; but you raised him from the dead.
He dies not lave us orphaned, but comes to us
and reveals himself to us.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)

As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

Jesus promised you would send the Advocate to be with us forever,
the spirit of truth, to abide with us and be in us.
Therefore pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
Christ is in you and you are in Christ and Christ is in us,
in the bread, in the Spirit, in the love.
By your grace may we love Christ,
and keep Christ’s commandment to love,
for the sake of the healing of the world.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.
__________________

* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) We have feasted on the Body of your love. You are in us, and we in you, one in Christ. Send us into the world to love, as the body, the healing hands of Christ. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You promise to be with us in the bread of our daily lives. Send us now into the world to be mindful of your presence, and, by the power of your Spirit living in us, to keep Christ’s commandment to love, according to your grace, to your eternal glory. Amen.

2.
Loving God, thankful for your grace, we love you and desire to keep your commandment of love. We are in you, and you in us; by your Spirit in us help us always to love, to bless and to serve in the name and the constant presence of Christ. Amen.

May 3, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Acts 7.55-60 — Stephen, one of the early followers of Jesus, is stoned to death for his faith.

Psalm 31.1-8 — You are my rock and my fortress…. Lead me and guide me… .. You have noticed my struggles and set my feet in a broad place…. Into your hands I commit my spirit. [Like Jesus, Stephen quotes these words as he dies.]

1 Peter 2 .2-10 — We are “living stones, built as a spiritual house” for God. We are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, so that we might proclaim the mighty acts of God, who called us out of darkness into God’s marvelous light.”

John 14.1-14 — “There’s lots of room in my Abba’s house… I am the way, the truth and the life … You who trust will do the works that I do, and even greater…”

Preaching Thoughts

1 Peter
     The claim that we’re a royal priesthood is not unique to us Christians. It reflects Exodus 19.6, spoken to the Jews: “You shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” Our mission is to be priests: not to convert people but to be their connection with God: to pray for them, and to mediate God’s presence to them. The text describes our transformation—receiving mercy, becoming God’s people—but it’s not for our sake: it’s so that we will proclaim (live out) the good news. It’s not a favor; it’s an assignment.

John 14
“In my Father’s house there are many mansions.” Everybody wants this at their funeral. But, as usual, Jesus is talking about being alive, not being dead. Yes, the afterlife is sweet. But not yet. Is “God’s house” just the afterlife? I think not. Psalm 23 promises I’ll live in God’s house all my life. This life. I think God’s house is God’s presence. Where God is. The present moment. There’s room in God’s household for people of all kinds, even all religions. God’s love includes everybody. This is the scandal of Jesus’ gospel: God doesn’t exclude, but includes. Trusting this transforms us.

“I go and prepare a place for you; I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. The “there” Jesus speaks of isn’t a place, any more than the Realm of God is a place. It’s like the table God sets for us that we heard of last week in Psalm 23. It’s the ”place” of God’s presence. We can think of it as the afterlife, but Jesus is also talking about the community of radical love. It’s a state of being, a way of relating. Jesus is saying, “I’m going ahead of you preparing a community of radical love and inclusion, and then bringing you into that community.” Kind of like “You prepare a table before me…”

“I am the way, and the truth and the life.” To the disciple’s question about how to get close to God, Jesus says “There is no method. I am the method. You don’t need certain practices, or certain beliefs about me. Just receive my love.” It’s about a living relationship in which we listen, trust and follow. It’s daily attentiveness. Like being married, it’s not just about having the ring; it’s about the little daily actions in which we live in love with Jesus.
         Jesus’ ”I am” statements echo God saying “I AM” in the burning bush. So they each say something about what Jesus is like, and also specifically that he is of God—or maybe even that he is God. John the gospel writer thinks so. John the evangelist emphasizes more than for the other three gospel writers that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love. (“The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but God who dwells in me does God’s works. Believe me that I am in God and God is in me” [Jn. 14.10-11].) Jesus is speaking on behalf of God. So God is saying “I am the way.” God says, “My house is wherever I am. It’s my presence. And I am infinite. So everywhere you are, you are in a room of my house. You are with me. You are in me. So you want to get close to me? You’re already there. You want to find the way to God? I AM the way. Let me love you—and you’re home.” God is not a lawgiver who demands our obedience, but a life-giver who invites our intimate relationship, a God who is our truth, who is our way, who is our life.

“No one comes to God but through me.” Again, Jesus, as the embodied love of God, is speaking on behalf of God. In other words, “No one comes to God except through God’s gracious love and mercy, which I offer you.” There’s no technique, no requirements, no religion. Just grace. Just love. Jesus represents that love, and offers it to us. We come to God “through” Jesus, that is, by participating in his life. Jesus says that we who follow him will do the same things he does. (v. 12). “No one comes to the Father except through me” does not mean that no one can come to God except by being a Christian. It means the way we know God is to receive God’s love, and live lives of love. This can happen in the context of any, or no, religion.

“I am in God, and God is in me.” This is not only the raw materials of our image of the Holy Trinity, it’s also the raw materials of the spiritual life. Sharing in the love of Jesus, we come to know ourselves to be not just close to God but in God. The secret is that we’re in God whether or not we know it or feel it.

By the way: Did Jesus really say all this stuff? Probably not. The Gospels are not historical records, they’re faith statements in narrative form. They’re icons. John, especially, is not a record of what Jesus said and did, but an image of the Jesus we believe in. (“These are written so that you may believe” [Jn. 20.31].) John puts our beliefs on Jesus’ lips the same way an artist puts a halo on Jesus: it’s not about what happened but what it means to us. I don’t think Jesus ever claimed to the the Only Begotten Son of God. But John believes he is, and so he has Jesus say so. The Jesus in John is not the Jesus of history but the Jesus in our hearts. So let go of trying to parse what Jesus may actually have said. This is the story. Tell it.

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: God, in your house there are many dwelling places—
room for for all your Beloved.
All: We belong to you.
Christ, you prepare a place for us and come for us and take us into yourself.
We come to you.
We are in you, and you are in us, and we are in Christ.
We worship you. Alleluia!

2.
Leader: Loving God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
Christ, our way, lead us in the path of love.
Christ, our truth, open our eyes to what is.
Christ, our life, come and renew us.
Make us a part of you, so that we may share in your life.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

3.
(1 Peter 2. 4-10)
Leader: Come to God! For God has called you out of darkness into God’s marvelous light. Once you were not a people but now you are God’s people. Once you did not know mercy, but now you have received God’s mercy.
All: We worship you, O God.
God has chosen what is rejected by mortals: you are chosen and precious in God’s sight. You are living stones being built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, through Christ.
We thank you, O Christ.
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of God.
We serve you, O God. In the grace of your Spirit we offer ourselves as a spiritual sacrifice, a gift to you, which you accept through Jesus Christ. Alleluia.

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of love, you have called us out of darkness into your divine light. You have chosen us. You have done mighty acts in our lives. We remember with gratitude. We thank you. We listen for you life-giving Word, that we might proclaim your good news in all we do. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, you have given us your Word in Creation, and in Scripture. You speak your living Word to us in our hearts, and in the presence of the risen Christ with us. Help us to listen, to hear, and to be made anew. Amen.

3.
Loving God, Jesus said we come to you through him. By your grace we enter into his love, receiving his mercy, open to his healing, being built into his house, made into his royal priesthood. We are in Christ, who is in you. Bless us, and make us your people, in the name and the Spirit of Christ. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(Suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Christ, our way,
lead us.
Christ, our truth,
illumine us.
Christ, our life,
bring us to life.
Make us your people.
Amen.

Response / Creed / Affirmation

1.
(John 14.1-14)
      We believe in God, creator of all that is and all that is to come, in whose house are many rooms; and who prepares a place for us, so that where God is, we may be also.
      We trust in Jesus, who is our way, and our truth, and our life. Through him we have seen God, who lived and worked in him.
      We live by the Holy Spirit, who lives and works in us; so that we may do the works that Jesus does, and even greater works; so that God may be glorified. Alleluia.

2.
(1 Peter 2. 4-10)
      We worship you, O God. We come to you in gratitude, humility and praise. For you have called us out of darkness into your marvelous light. Once we were not a people but now we are your people. Once we did not know mercy, but now we have received your mercy.
       We thank you, for you choose what is rejected by mortals; and by your grace we are chosen and precious in your sight. As if we are living stones you build us into a spiritual house through Christ.
       We serve you, O God, For you have made us a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, your own people, in order that we may proclaim your mighty acts. By your Spirit in us, we offer ourselves as a gift you. Alleluia.

Eucharistic Prayer

Click here for eight settings of the Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation and Amen to familiar tunes suitable for the Easter season.

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

Loving God, at your table Christ prepares a place for us.
We come to your table, grateful for our belonging.
In your house there are many rooms.
In your house we have many roommates,
siblings who are also God’s beloved people.
We come as one.
You set free your people and invite us all
to your table of justice and mercy, your feast of grace.
You covenant to be with us in love always,
and so we gratefully sing your praise,
together with all who are in the many rooms of your house:
            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Blessed are all who come in your name,
and blessed is Jesus, your Christ.
Christ, you are the way, the truth, the life.
We come to feast on the truth, to follow the way, to embody the life.
You draw us to yourself, so that where you are, we may be.

     (The Blessing and Covenant)

As we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.
Therefore, remembering these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,
we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s offering for us,
as we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

God, you are in Christ, and Christ is in you,
and by your Spirit we are in Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Spirit on us, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ,
doing the works of Christ, with our hearts unafraid,
for the healing of the world

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.
____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You have made a place for us in your heart. Give us your grace to make a place for others, that they may know their belonging and your love. We pray through Jesus Christ, your Beloved and ours. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You are our way, our truth, our life. By these gifts, we pray that you will live in us, for the sake of the healing of the world. Send us out in the name of Christ, to do his works, by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

At Home In You (Tune: Finlandia)
(John 14.2,6)

We give you thanks, O loving God, Creator,
for in your house are many rooms to dwell.
Your Christ prepares a place for all your people,
where we belong, are made one, and made well.
Give us your life; make us your holy people,
to shine with light, and your good news to tell.

The place you make, O Jesus, for your people
is not far off, but near—too near to see.
It is the home of love within God’s loving,
the place of peace where we are called to be.
Bring us to you, that love may be our dwelling,
at home in you, in love eternally.

We give you thanks, O Loving Christ, companion;
you are the truth, you are the life, the way.
For when we share in love’s divine communion,
we are by grace alive in every way.
Grant us to love, with you in blessed union,
love be our faith, our truth, our life, our way.


O Christ, My Way      (Tune: The River Is Wide)

O Christ, my truth, my life, my way,
I give my heart to you this day.
I give myself, yes all of me,
that where you are I too may be.

O Christ, my way, the path I take
is love alone, for your love’s sake.
O be my heart, my strength and nerve,
that I may love and bless and serve.

O Christ, my truth, in you I see
the God who dwells in you and me.
But God remains yet far above
until I live in humble love.

O Christ, my life, I give my heart,
for when in you I take my part
and share your love, your work and strife,
I share in full your risen life.

April 26, 2026

Lectionary Texts

Acts 2.42-47 describes the life of the early church, and the Christians’ care for each other. They studied, worshiped, ate and served together, sharing all their possessions.

Psalm 23 — God cares for us as a shepherd for their sheep… guides us through dark places… and as a host welcomes, protects and provides for us as guests, and even household members. (Here are nine paraphrases of Ps. 23.)

1 Peter 2.19-25 encourages us to endure suffering, entrusting ourselves to the care of Christ, who is the shepherd of our souls.

John 10.1-11. Jesus speaks of himself as a shepherd whose sheep follow him because they know and listen for his voice.

Preaching Thoughts

(Here are nine paraphrases of Psalm 23.)

It’s nice to think of being personally shepherded by Jesus. But it’s not all about our own smug comfort in green pastures. Jesus doesn’t call us just for our sake. It’s to follow him— on the road, healing and proclaiming grace. People certainly gained benefits from being among the early Jesus-followers. But they also worked, prayed and shared for the sake of the community. Jesus isn’t trying to shepherd us to heaven. He’s shepherding us into the world, to serve with love.

It’s also tempting to believe that in Jesus’ care we’ll encounter no pain, difficulty or loss. Oh, yeah? To seek justice is to risk suffering. The calm, idyllic, pastoral 23^rd Psalm leads us right out of green pastures into the valley of the shadow of death. But we go there willingly, because it’s how we stay close to Jesus. We often think of the shepherd pushing the sheep ahead, as sheep dogs do. But in cultures such as ancient Israel (I’ve seen this myself) the shepherd walks in front and the sheep follow. Wherever we go with Jesus, we know that he has gone before us. Even in shadowy places, Jesus is there with us The Good Shepherd Jesus doesn’t promise ease and comfort: he promises his loving presence even in awful times. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” To follow Jesus is to take up a cross, not a lawn chair.

This reality may be especially acute these days, when practicing our faith can bring us into direct conflict with an authoritarian regime that does not want to shepherd people to green pastures, but to take food away from people, and deport people to the valley of the shadow of death. To follow Jesus means to oppose this injustice, which means to take risks. The Good Shepherd leads us in the paths of justice, from our own green pastures to a place of suffering. We follow willingly because we trust Christ is there with us, and we trust the rod and staff of God’s grace will sustain us.

Jesus’ image of the good shepherd is one of mutual intimacy. “The shepherd calls his sheep by name … and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” He knows them personally, by name. Jesus encourages us to believe in a God who knows us, understands us, and believes in us, who doesn’t just react to us according to the formula of laws and requirements. And the sheep know him well enough to recognize his voice. The point of our faith is not to believe some stuff about Jesus, but to know him like a friend, to engage in a living relationship. I think that’s what it means when he says “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” In our relationship with Jesus we enter into a place of rest and belonging, of nurture and empowerment. And we follow him. We know him well enough to listen to him. We’re invited to reflect on what it means to “know the shepherd’s voice,” to recognize what leads us to life, to love, toward intimate connection with the world; and what it means to listen to Jesus, to be open-hearted to ways we may be nudged, attentive to where the “voice“ of Jesus is in our lives: in praying with scripture, interacting with people, observing nature, reflecting on our own inner life….

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Abundant life doesn’t mean abundant possessions or interesting experiences. It means being fully alive, in a free giving-and-receiving relationship with God and the world, receiving all life has to offer, connecting with the presence of God in all things. It means all of life throbs and hums in us, and we are part of all living things. It means not being deadened. It means death has no dominion over us. It means that life overflows in us and can’t be diminished, controlled or taken away. (I don’t think it means anything different from “eternal life,” life that can’t be taken from us.) I think of Luke 6.38: “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.” I think of John 4.14: “a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” We are the creek God flows through. Abundant life is the gushing flow of God through us into the world.

Following Jesus is not a personal privilege. It is a communal act. To follow Jesus is to join his community. When the Psalmist says “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” it certainly refers to the ancient understanding of hospitality: that a host is obligated to protect a guest from their enemies. But as Jesus lives out that Psalm he sets the table… and then invites my enemies! So he did when he put Judas in the place of honor at the last supper. Such is the mystery of the Eucharist. Following the Good Shepherd means being brought into community, even with my enemies.

The Psalter, Epistle and Gospel all show us God or Jesus lovingly shepherding us. Acts shows us what we’re like when we follow the shepherd. We study, worship, share and pray together, we practice awareness that leads to awe, and we reach out to others. Again, it’s not just for our own sake. This passage provides a template with which to look at your own congregation. Do we do all this? Where are we strong? Where are we weak?

Call to Worship

1.
Leader: Shepherd of mercy, you provide for us and protect us.
All: Shepherd of love, lead us in your way.
Shepherd of justice, you gather your flock, and care for the lost and neglected.
Shepherd of love, lead us in your way.
Shepherd of our souls, you guide us toward your own heart, and we follow.
Shepherd of love, lead us in your way.
In gratitude and trust, we worship you. Alleluia!

2.
Leader: Loving God, shepherd of our souls, we come to you.
All: Tender Christ, companion on the way, we follow you.
Holy Spirit, guide among the shadows, we depend on you.
Loving God, shepherd of our souls, we listen for your voice.
In stillness… in hunger… in hope… we listen.
Loving God, shepherd of our souls, we come to you.

3. (Psalm 23)
Leader: Loving God, Shepherd of our hearts, by your grace we lack nothing!
All: You give us rest in green pastures;
you lead us beside still waters; you revive us.
You lead us in paths of justice for the sake of your will.
Even though we walk through deathly shadows, we are not afraid,
for you are with us:
your Word and your presence are our safety.
You set a table for us: abundance in the face of all that would diminish our lives.
You shower us with your delight.
Our lives overflow with your grace.
You accompany us with goodness and mercy all our days.
So we come to live in your house, O God,
now and our whole lives long! Alleluia!

4.
Leader: Loving God, we praise you!
All: Risen Christ, we greet you!
Jesus, gentle shepherd, you have brought us out of death,
and led us in green pastures of life, beside still waters of blessing.
Alleluia! Shepherd us, dear Savior, and lead us into life.
Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!

Collect / Prayer of the Day

1.
God of love, Shepherd of our souls, we listen for your voice,
the voice that speaks the world into being,
the voice that calls our secret name,
the voice that leads us to abundant life.
Speak to us. We are listening, ready to follow. Amen.

2.
So many voices clamor for our minds, so many noises.
God of love and truth, you speak beneath them all.
In the stillness, we listen.
For your grace, we listen.
For your voice, we listen.

3.
Loving God, Gentle Christ, Life-Giving Spirit, you shepherd us from death to life, from loneliness to community. You know us, and you speak to our deepest hearts. Even deeper than our conscious thought, something in us knows your voice, and responds. So we listen, God, for your Living Word. Speak to us now, and always, and lead us to life. Amen.

4.
Gentle Shepherd, you guide us and protect us and nourish us. You gather us as one flock; and we find grace in one another’s companionship. Your voice leads us to abundant life; your steps lead us in serving. Speak to us now, so that, recognizing the voice of love, we might follow. Amen.

5.
Loving Shepherd, you renew our souls; our cups brim over, and we give you thanks. We are mindful of those whose cups are not full, who are denied access to the green pastures of this world. Lead us in the paths of justice for their sake. And if the path of Jesus should take us into shadowy places, we will not fear, for you are with us. Help us to trust the staff of your grace, so that we may welcome all to the table of your mercy. Amen.

Listening Prayer

(suitable as a Collect, preparation for hearing scriptures, or invitation to prayer)

Jesus, gentle Shepherd,
you speak with the voice of life,
the voice of love.
You call us each by name.
We listen,
and we will follow.

Readings

Here are nine paraphrases of Psalm 23.

Poetry

      Haunt me

Holy Mystery,
may your voice haunt me all this day,
your blessing cling to me like a smell,
your beauty drip through my veins,
your hand be my own shadow beneath me,
your Way be the light I walk through,
your heart the path I travel,
your Word the breath I take
your blessing my world.
Amen.

Eucharistic Prayer

Click here for eight settings of the Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation and Amen to familiar tunes suitable for the Easter season.

[After the introduction, the body of the prayer may be read responsively with the presiding leader(s) and congregation, or by the leader(s) alone.]
1.
God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

Beloved, you are our shepherd. You lead us beyond our fears and wants.
You lead us to drink of deep springs, to rest in green pastures.
You restore the breath of life in us.
Feed us with your grace, O God, and lead us in your ways.
[silent prayer]
In Christ you have accompanied us with love and tenderness.
Gentle shepherd, we thank you for your love and presence.
You walk with us even in the valley of the shadow of death, and lead us to life.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
[silent prayer]
Gracious Host, you have set for us a table of rich and luxurious blessing,
and invited us together with all your beloved, even our enemies.
You make us one in this feast. Our cup overflows.
Pour out your Spirit on us, and on these gifts, that our hearts may overflow with your grace.
Your goodness and mercy be with us always.
In your loving care, listening to your voice of life, following you in all we do,
may we live in the house of your love every day of our lives.
[silent prayer]

     (The Blessing and Covenant)

________________________

2.

God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give thanks to the Holy One, our God.
It is good and beautiful to give God our praise.

We thank you, O God, for from the beginning you have shepherded us
and given us all that we need.
You have fed us in the green pastures of Creation.
You have led us by the waters of your Word.
You have restored us with the breath of your Spirit.
You have led us in the paths of justice for your name’s sake.
You have led us from captivity to freedom, from fear to compassion.Therefore with all Creation we sing your praise:

            [Sanctus, spoken or sung:]
        Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
        heaven and earth are full of your glory.
        Hosanna in the highest.
        Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.
        Hosanna in the highest.
               [or alternate version]

Even in the shadows of death you have been with us.
Your Word and your Presence, they comfort us.

[… The Covenant and Blessing … ]

Therefore we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

             [Memorial Acclamation, spoken or sung:]
        Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
                     —or—
        Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
        Christ will come again in glory.
             [or alternative]

You prepare a table for us, and invite even our enemies, and make us one.
You anoint us with your joy.
The cup of blessing that you give us overflows.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us,
that we may be for the world the Body of Christ.
May goodness and mercy fill us all our days.
May we dwell in your presence now and in eternal life. Amen.

     [Spoken or sung]
Amen.

____________
* The Blessing and Covenant
[I usually don’t print the words. I want people to be looking at the bread, not their bulletins.]

On the night in which he gave himself for us
Jesus took bread, blessed it,. broke it, and gave it to his disciples,saying,
“Take and eat; this is my body.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
blessed it with thanks and gave it to them, saying,
“Drink of this, all of you. This is my blood,
poured out for you and for many, in a new Covenant,
which is the forgiveness of sin.”
As long as we break this bread and share this cup
we remember his death and resurrection, until he comes again.

Prayer of Dedication / Sending / after Communion

[Adapt as needed.]
1.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) In gratitude for all you have given us we give you our lives, symbolized in these gifts. Receive them with love, bless them with grace and use them according to your will. Shepherd us by your gentle Word; lead us to follow you and to do your will, for the sake of the world, in the name of Christ. Amen.

2.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You have led us beside the still waters of your peace. You have fed us in the green pastures of your grace. You have led us in the paths of your love. Shepherd us as we go into the world, following your voice, living by your Spirit, sharing your love. Amen.

3.
Gracious God, we thank you for (the mystery that you give yourself to us / this mystery in which you have given yourself to us.) You have led us in peace and fed us with grace; our cup overflows. Grant that we may always listen for your voice and follow, into the world, serving our sisters and brothers, whom you love so much that you would lay down your life for them. We pray in the name and the Spirit and the company of Christ. Amen.

Suggested Songs

(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)

Dear Gentle, Watchful Shepherd. (Tune: O Sacred Head Now Wounded)

Dear gentle, watchful shepherd, you lead us as we graze,
and guide, us when we wander, to find again your ways.
And when we stray in darkness, alone and lost and weak,
unseen, you still are with us, your dear ones whom you seek.

We pray for those who struggle through life all on their own,
who find no path to guide them, who think they are alone.
You fold them in your mercy in every lonely place,
and with your hand upon them you bless them with your grace.

O lead us, loving shepherd to seek the last and lost,
to love them with your passion, and serve at any cost.
Send us to find the lonely, forgotten and ignored:
it’s there that we shall meet you, our saving, healing Lord.


Jesus Our Shepherd          (Tune: Morning Has Broken)

Jesus, our shepherd, gently you lead us
to these green pastures’ sheltering place.
By the still waters guide and refresh us;
gather and feed us here with your grace.

Jesus, our shepherd, gently you bless us,
granting us peace and life-giving breath.
Through the dark valleys still you are with us.
Lead us to new life out of our death.

Jesus, our shepherd, gently you call us.
We hear your voice and follow with you.
Lead us to serve you, loving each other,
always receiving life that is new.


Lead Me, My Shepherd (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)

Lead me, my shepherd, in paths that you show.
Not by my own will, but yours, may I go.
By the still waters of baptism’s grace
dear God, renew me, and show me your face.

Love, may your rod and your staff be my guide.
Even in death’s shadow walk by my side.
Help me to listen, to trust and obey,
going wherever you show me the way.

Dearest companion of blessing and weal,
you who provide and forgive me and heal,
still now, I listen and wait for what’s true:
your voice that leads me to life, and to you.


Psalm 23 (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)

God is my shepherd; I have all I need. God
Makes me lie down in green pastures to feed.
By the still waters God gently will lead.
Love, you’re my shepherd. I have all I need

Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I
fear not, for you are as close as my breath.
For you are with me, your staff and your rod
they are my comfort, my shepherd, my God

You set my table before all my foes. You
pour out your blessing; my cup overflows.
Goodness shall be with me wherever I roam,
and I will live with you, my Heart, my Home.