Christ at the Center

Christ at the Center is our worship theme for Ascension Sunday, May 20, 2012. Our focus scriptures are Acts 1:1-11 and Ephesians 1:15-23.

The Acts of the Apostles is the “second chapter” of the book Luke wrote about the mighty work of God’s Spirit, first in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and then in the life of Christ’s Body, the Church. (Luke never imagined the Gospel of John being placed in the middle of his two chapter book!) In any case, Luke begins his story in Acts just where he left off in his Gospel: the story of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. In Acts, Luke says that the risen Christ appears to his followers over a forty day period following his resurrection. Then, after a last conversation on the Mount of Olives, Jesus is lifted up into the clouds. His followers stand there gawking until two men dressed in white suddenly appear beside them and gently urge them to get on with their work. So they return to Jerusalem to prepare to be baptized by the Holy Spirit and then to preach the good news of Christ out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

The passage from Ephesians, celebrates the enormous power of God’s Spirit, stamped on Christ’s followers as God’s guarantee that they will enter the kingdom of heaven, causing praise and glory for God. Then there is a prayer that the members of the church at Ephesus may truly comprehend the power of the life that God enables in them through the Spirit. And it concludes with an amazing affirmation of Christ’s place in the universe and the role of Christ’s church. To quote from The Message: All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

Here is a Call to Worship based on the passage from Ephesians. Please feel free to use or adapt anything in this post that is helpful to you.

Call to Worship     from Ephesians 1:15-23

(most wording from The Message by the Rev. Dr. Eugene Peterson)

L: Christ shows us who we are and what our purpose is.

     P: In fact, Christ had his eye on us long before we heard his call.

     L: When we fell in love with him, we found ourselves home free:

signed, sealed and delivered by his Spirit!

     P: For the Spirit is God’s guarantee that God’s kingdom will come.

     L: Now we need only to know Christ personally and to see what he calls us to do.

     P: For he empowers a glorious life: endless energy, boundless strength!

     L: And all this power issues from Christ!

     P: For God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven.

     L: He runs the universe, everything from galaxies to governments,

no name and no power exempt from his rule!

     P: And not just for the time being, but forever.

He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything.

     L: At the center of all this, Christ rules the church.

          For the church is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church.

     P: The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts,

          by which he fills everything with his presence.

  All: Alleluia! Let us worship God in Christ!

Love Like Jesus

Love Like Jesus is our worship theme for our celebration of the Festival of the Christian Home on the sixth Sunday of Easter, May 13, 2012. Our focus scripture is John 15:9-17.

“This is my commandment,” says Jesus: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Love one another by laying down your life. Love one another by abiding in my love. Love one another by being my friend. Love one another by bearing the fruit of my ministry of love.

In the history of our world, many mothers have died to protect their children. Countless others lay down their lives day by day in giving their children and grandchildren the understanding attention and support that they need to grow. And many also follow the example of Julia Ward Howe in trying to change the world so that no more sons and daughters are killed in war, but that “the great human family can live in peace”.

The love which Jesus taught and lived stands underneath and supports family love. In this service we will explore how to abide in his love and strengthen our families and even our world.

Here is a Call to Worship based on Psalm 98 as well as several resources for the celebration of Mother’s Day. Please feel free to use or adapt anything helpful to you.

Call to Worship   from Psalm 98

L: Sing a new song to God, for our God has done marvelous things!

P: God won an everlasting victory, right in front of all the people!

L: God’s steadfast love and faithfulness have won the day!

P: Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Sing God’s praise!

L: Pluck the harp! Make melody!

P: Sound the trumpets!

L: Let the sea roar! Let the world rejoice!

P: Let the floods clap their hands! Let the hills sing joy!

 All: For God is coming to set things right!

        God will bring justice and create peace!

Thought for Meditation

Arise, then, women of this day!

Arise all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.

From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.

It says, “Disarm, Disarm!”

The sword of murder is not the balance of justice! Blood does not wipe out dishonor nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as the means whereby the great human family can live in peace. And each bearing after her own time, the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.

                 – The original Mother’s Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe

                                              after viewing the carnage of Civil War battles.

A Litany for Mother’s Day

L: God says: “As a mother comforts her child,

     so I will comfort you.” (Isaiah 66:13)

     Mothering God, today we give you thanks for our mothers

     and for all the women who nurtured us with your love.

     Hear us as we pray:

P: Thank God for mothers!

L: For all those women who taught us to follow Christ in

    faith, hope, and love…

P: Thank God for faithful mothers!

L: For every woman who is working day and night

    to raise her children right now…

P: Thank God for the mothers of today.

L: For the women who have passed on to new life

    and whom we miss dearly here on earth…

P: Thank God for the mothers who have joined God in heaven.

L: For the women who took in children through adoption and foster care…

P: Thank God for mothers with hearts so big.

L: For the women who have lost children to death and must carry on…

P: Thank God for mothers who are so strong.

L: For all the women who wanted to give birth but were unable,

     yet chose to mother those around them…

P: Thank God for mothers in spirit.

L: For all the women who have worked for justice and peace

    so that children will not be lost to poverty or war…

P: Thank God for mothers of conscience.

All: Mothering God, we thank you for the women

       who have influenced our lives in so many ways.

       We pray that we will honor them in everything we do. Amen.***

***The Litany for Mother’s Day was adapted from a litany by

       Peggy Emerson, copyright 2003, 2007. Published by The General Board

       of Discipleship, United Methodist Church. Used by permission.

A Responsive Prayer for Mothers and Families

L: Gracious God, you have blessed our lives with many miracles, but none more mysterious and challenging than the miracles of birth and parenting. This morning we pray for mothers and for families, giving thanks that your Spirit works ceaselessly in our lives to create love and understanding.

P: We also give thanks that in Christ you set before us a vision of a world that is a single family where each member is valued and respected, and where all live together in peace. Yet we confess that because we choose to separate ourselves from you, we often fall far short of this vision. And sometimes life events intervene to separate us from those we love, and to plant the seeds of fear and bitterness in our hearts.

L: So we pray for our families, asking you to surround them with your love, praying that you give strength to mothers who so often balance an incredible number of responsibilities and expectations.  Help them to find space to love and enjoy their children. Calm their fears and worries. Let them feel your Spirit working in their hearts and help them trust that you are working in the lives of their children, too.

P: We also pray for those for whom this is an especially difficult day. We pray for those who are mourning the deaths of their mothers and feeling their absence keenly. We pray for those who grieve because they were not given the mothering love and care that they needed when they were children. And we pray for those who want to give birth, but have not been able to do so. Be with them all. Strengthen them on this day when they may feel out of step with the rest of the world. Comfort their hearts with your eternal and creative love.

All: Finally, O God, we pray for the millions of families and mothers who live today under conditions of hunger and poverty, or violence and oppression. Make us indignant! Create compassion in our hearts and in the hearts of our leaders. Guide us to use our strength and wealth to protect the mothers and children of the world. Remind us of your special love for them. Save us from cynical apathy! Use us to be Christ’s servants. All this we pray in his name of love. Amen.

God Is Love

God Is Love is our worship theme for the fifth Sunday of Easter, May 6, 2012. Our focus scripture is I John 4:712.

Our overall worship theme for the month of May is Crazy Love. For compared to the expectations and values of our everyday world, God’s love is crazy! So often the world teaches us to watch out for number one. To take advantage of every opportunity to advance ourselves and to be wary of any threat that might harm us. As a result, we are fearful, driven, anxious, and ready to do violence to one another.

But in I John, the author sees things quite differently! God is the creator of love. Love is God’s most important gift to us, because love is God’s essential quality. In fact the author gives us this incisive definition: God is love. God loves us first. God loves us in such a crazy way that God sends God’s one and only Son to die for us. And it is when we love others – all others – that God comes fully to life in us.

Here are three Calls to Worship that are appropriate for this Sunday’s lectionary. Please feel free to use or adapt anything that is helpful to you.

Call to Worship    from John 15:5, 12, 16

   L: Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branches… 

Abide in me as I abide in you.”

P: We come to reaffirm and renew our connection with the life-giving Vine.

L: Jesus said, “I appointed you to go and bear fruit… fruit that will last.”

P: We want to be fruitful, productive people whose lives make a difference.

L: Jesus said, “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.”

All: Christ, you are the Vine. We are the branches.  We will bear your fruit. 

        We will abide in your love and share it!

Call to Worship

          L: Jesus said, “I tell you this so that my joy may be in you…

P: Love one another as I have loved you…”

L: Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I ask you…

P: Love one another as I have loved you…”

L: Jesus said, “I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last…

P: Love one another as I have loved you…”

L: As we gather in worship, we know that Christ laid down his life for us.

       All: We are called to be a community where his love lives and grows!

Call to Worship    from I John 4:7-12

     L: Dear sisters and brothers, let us love each other because God gives us love.

All who love become God’s children and come to know God.

All who do not love cannot know God, for God is love!

        P: God showed us love by sending God’s one and only Son into the world.

The Son gives us life – even eternal life! We did nothing to deserve this.

We did not love God, but God loved us and sent the Son to die for us.

His death bridged the valley of our sins and opened the way back to God.

 All: Since God loved us so much, we must love each other!

No one has ever seen God. But when we love each other, God dwells in us.

When we love each other, God comes fully alive in us.