Online Worship – May 17, 2020

Dear Family of God – these are trying days in God’s beloved world.

As Christ’s Church, sustained by the Holy Spirit, we have gifts and a call by which to care for one another and our neighbors. Worship in which we encounter our living God and know ourselves connected to the body continues. So this day we expand our worship into our homes, knowing that as we read the same Scriptures, and share in the same prayers, we are held together on this Sunday morning.

Let us prepare our hearts and minds to worship the living Lord.

arr. D. Wood

We come here to draw water—
Thirsty for new life.
We come here to draw water—
Bringing our past and our present, our messy truths and our deepest scars.
We come here to draw water—
Carrying shame, and in need of grace.
Fortunately for us, God always meets us at the well.
So breathe deeply and drink up.
God is here. The water is clean.
Let us worship God.

Living God, through Jesus Christ you emptied the power of death and gave us the gift of life in fullness. Now fill us with the breath of your Spirit to tell the good news of the gospel: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

Amen.

Like the woman at the well, we so often are unraveled by shame.
We carry shame for broken relationships.
We carry shame for being unable to balance work and parenting,
tithing and bills, productivity and Sabbath.
We get stuck in a comparison game and in critical self-monologues,
Consumed with the nagging feeling that we should be able to do more.
Forgive us for forgetting that we are made in your image.
Forgive us for forgetting that you see us and love us as we are.
Unravel the shame that unravels us.
Gratefully we pray,
(Silence for Reflection)
Amen.

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn?

Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34) Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life is gone and a new life is begun.

In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

If you’d like to participate in the next Passing of the Peace video, read this how-to instruction page (a new window or tab will open).

The Samaritan Woman at the Well: John 4:1-29

Today’s liturgist is David Tiernan reading from the the Gospel of John. Listen for God speaking to you today.

The artwork below is this week’s theme in the Unraveled series from A Sanctified Art, LLC referred to by Rev Beebe in the meditation.

Why are you asking me? As a woman in a patriarchal society, I have been faced with subordination throughout my life. I mostly do not feel it. I have learned self control from a young age and I have been taught to appreciate what I have. These skills are the reasons that I have the extensive happiness and comfort that I enjoy on a daily basis. However, the patriarchy still exists. Along with the external blocks, the glass ceilings, I am finding that I stand in my own way, too. Despite the tireless efforts of my parents to teach us of a world of equality and opportunity, I have still imbibed the societal belief that I, as a woman, am lesser; that my skills do not measure up, that my salary should not be equal or more, that I work too much, that I spend too little time with my children, or that I will not succeed at the next challenge. None of these things are true, and yet I throw the roadblocks of patriarchy before myself anyway. The woman at the well had multiple levels of societal oppression standing like a wall between Jesus and her. She was not of the same race or gender as he, and she was unwed, unprotected. I can understand why she questioned God’s call for water. Why would he address her as an equal? Are you asking me? Are you sure you meant to do that? Are you sure that I measure up?

I believe in God, the Great Sewer—
Who weaves us together in community,
Collecting our loose ends and turning them into belonging.

I believe in the Holy Spirit—
Who hems us in before and behind,
Catching us when we fall and writing us into God’s holy narrative.

And I believe in Jesus Christ—
Who loved and claimed the people society had thrown out, refusing to disregard
Anyone as scrap.

I believe God has woven part of God’s self into the fiber of our being,
Making us inherently worthy of love and belonging.

I believe the fabric of my life is weak,
That I am prone to error and need God’s handiwork to remind me of love.

I believe in the Church, and that like a quilt of different fabrics,
She is designed to be as diverse and beautiful as God’s creation.

And I believe that when life unravels,
God is there to stitch my wounds together,
To hold me in the palm of God’s hand, to tell me of love,
And to invite me into a new journey.

Amen.

— Liturgy by Sara Are, A Sanctified Art

God of labyrinth journeys, thank you for walking with us through paths that lead to places that center us, not confusing and blocking our progress like mazes. Thank you for being present with us, even when we forget you are with us. Thank you for the witnesses we have to your faithfulness and love for generation after generation.
Thank you, God, for being with Sarai and Abraham as they traveled to places they did not choose, lands foreign to them and challenges they did not design. Thank you, God, for Shiprah and Puah, the midwives to the Hebrews, who risked their lives to make sure new life thrived, letting their commitment to you and to the community take priority. Thank you, God, for being with Naomi and Ruth as they return to Bethlehem after the death of loved ones, for their courage to stay steadfast to one another and to you, and the abundant harvest they found where there once was famine. Thank you, God, for the gift of Mary, who anointed Jesus with costly perfume, reminding us that caring for the body of Christ is primary for us all.
Finally, we give thanks for leaders in our midst throughout time who have showed us the way forward as prophets, preachers, pastors and shepherds. Journey with us, O God, in the tumult, twists and turns of this coronavirus crisis, and lead us to a place centered on your love, trust, promise and new life that conquers all. In the name of the one who created us, redeems us, and sustains us, our One God. Amen.

—The Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty, Senior Director of Theological Education Funds Development, Presbyterian Foundation

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

God calls us to give all of who we are, and all of what we have to be used in and thru the Church. So let us present our lives. Let us present our gifts unto God. (Offerings can be received in the church by mail or you may utilize online banking options).

You can click the image to the right or this link to give online now. At the online Giving site, select “2020 Pledge” as the Fund to fulfill your 2020 pledge or use another fund if you’re directing your gift elsewhere. Note, the church must pay a small processing fee to receive your contribution via online giving. Increasing your gift would help cover the cost of processing and would be greatly appreciated.

If you’d like to see alternatives to online giving, please take a look at our Contribute page.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

1 Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.