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confession: we don’t like kings

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We don’t like Earthly kings so much anymore, Lord. No, we don’t. We’ve moved on in this New Century, and have created other things to rule our lives: our cell phones, our favorite sports teams, our shopping malls, our Facebook pages, our calendars crowded with to-do lists and appointments, our worries, our bills to pay…it seems we have agreed to serve just about everything and everybody -except for You. Forgive us. May Your Kingdom come, to a place right here in our hearts, where you rule as our Good Shepherd, with love, compassion and forgiveness. Amen.

Submitted by Jerie Messer Lukefahr, via the comments! 

 

the crowning of the year: liturgy for Christ the King

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Rather than a traditional liturgy for Christ the King Sunday, I’ve adapted an idea from colleagues at the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church to walk through the liturgical year on Christ the King Sunday.

The Crowning of the Year

Call to Worship

This is the day the Lord has made!
This is the crowning of the year!
The life of Christ is the model for our own, and he shapes all we say and do.
The Lord reigns over all our days.

Hymn: Rejoice, the Lord Is King

Advent: Preparing to Welcome Jesus

Introduction

God has always been present with God’s people.
Amidst the changing days of this world,
amidst flood, fire, and famine,
amidst death, life, and new life,
God’s presence has sustained us.
For generations, women and men longed for that presence to be more real.
They waited for God to step in and make God’s presence known.
And so in Advent we too stop and wait,
remembering that God comes among us in Christ to make all things new.

In the midst of the waiting, God speaks in the voice of the prophet Isaiah
to give comfort and call the people to prepare the way for something new:

Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11

Hymn: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Christmas: Immanuel, God-with-Us

Introduction

In Jesus Christ, God steps into our world.
In Jesus, God became human, Immanuel, God-with-us.
At Christmas, we remember how he was born of Mary,
how his lowly birth shows us that God stands with the poor and powerless,
how he feels for all our sadness and shares in all our gladness.

And so we hear again the story of his birth, according to Luke:

Reading: Luke 2:1-20

Hymn: Away in a Manger

Epiphany: The Light Shines in the Darkness

Introduction

In Christ, light broke through into our weary world,
shining the brightness of God into all brokenness,
into all pain and sorrow and suffering and sighing,
into every uncertainty and anxiety and hopeless place.

At Epiphany, we remember how the light of Christ
shines into our hearts and our lives,
transforms us into the people God intends for us to be,
and compels even those from far away to journey to see the light.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah:

Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6

Hymn: As with Gladness Men of Old

Baptism of the Lord: Jesus Is Marked as God’s Own

Introduction

Just as we do, Jesus grew in age and stature,
following in his parents’ footsteps.
Like his father, he took up carpentry as his trade.
Like his mother, he opened himself to the fullness of God’s life in his own.
When the time was right, he journeyed out into the wilderness
and responded to the call of his relative John,
as told by the gospel according to Mark:

Reading: Mark 1:4-11

Hymn: When Jesus Came to Jordan

Lent: Penitence and Preparation

Introduction

Early in his ministry, Jesus endured a time of testing and trial.
Mark describes it this way:

Reading: Mark 1:12-13

So remembering all the trials of Jesus’ life
and seeking to deepen our own faithfulness alongside his,
we celebrate Lent,
forty days of penitence and preparation,
forty days of setting aside the things that keep us from right relationship with God and our neighbor,
forty days of taking up a new way that can bring us closer to God in Christ.

Hymn: Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days

Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday: God’s Love Revealed

Introduction

Jesus lived a faithful life,
teaching the people and his disciples more about who God is
and how God is at work in the world.
He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, and called people to repentance.
He proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God.

But not everyone agreed with him.
His words threatened the powerful and challenged the status quo.
When the time came for him to face the authorities,
he was abandoned by those who loved him.
Even amidst his innocence, he was condemned to death,
hung on a cross and left to die.

The gospel according to Mark tells us the sad story:

Reading: Mark 15:25-41

Hymn: Were You There?

Easter: The Lord Is Risen!

Introduction

The story of God in Christ did not end on the cross.
On the third day, something strange happened:
Jesus was raised from the dead.
In the resurrection,
God shows us once and for all that death does not have the last word.
God reminds us that nothing can keep us from the fullness of God’s love.

Again, we hear from Mark:

Reading: Mark 16:1-8

Even amidst their terror and amazement, Jesus was not there—he was raised!
And so every Sunday we celebrate the resurrection once again.

Hymn: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today

Pentecost: The Holy Spirit Comes Among Us

Introduction

In the days after his resurrection, the risen Jesus appeared to his disciples
and made it clear that he was not just a ghost but a real man, living once again.
He told his friends that he would not be able to be among them forever,
but he did promise that God would send them the Holy Spirit to journey with them.

God kept God’s promise.
On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came among the people with great power and glory.
The book of Acts tells it like this:

Reading: Acts 2:1-13

And so even now, every year on Pentecost
we celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit among us.
We remember how the Spirit inspires us to believe the good news of the gospel,
how the Spirit opens us to new relationships with God and one another,
how the Spirit helps us to join in God’s work of making all things new.

Hymn: Gracious Spirit

Ordinary Time: For The Living of Our Days

Introduction

While we have seen God at work in the movement of the life of Jesus,
we also see how God is working in us too to make all things new.
God’s presence is real even in the most ordinary moments of life and living.
Even amidst the struggles of the day to day,
we know that God journeys with us everywhere we go
and shows us how to trust the fullness of God’s grace amidst all of time and space.

The writer of Ecclesiastes put it well:

Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Amidst all the time of our lives, may we know the God who reigns over all our days.

Hymn: God of Grace and God of Glory

[Include necessary elements of the weekly service here, such as Prayers of the People, announcements, and the offering.]

The Reign of Christ: Already and Not Yet

Introduction

Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
He reigns over us and all our world with justice, mercy, and peace.
As we celebrate this reign today,
the psalmist reminds us of the majesty and grace of our sovereign and Lord:

Reading: Psalm 93

So as this year comes to an end and a new one begins,
may we sing all joy and praise to Christ who reigns now and always.

Hymn: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus

Charge and Benediction

Submitted by Rev. Andy James, First Presbyterian Church, Whitestone, NY

hurricane or no hurricane, Sunday’s Coming: working toward November 4

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Many prayers for all our faithful contributors and readers who are in the path of the storm–may you be dry, warm, and safe!

What happened in worship yesterday? What worked, or didn’t work? Was there a moment when the liturgy truly became the “work of the people”?

And looking toward this Sunday…are you going for All Saints, or Ordinary 31, Stewardship Commitment, or some other season/theme/series?

If you’re working on All Saints, then yesterday’s Prayers of the People post might be of use to you as you ponder and prepare. If you write something, or have just a phrase you want to work with but aren’t sure what to do with it yet, put it all in the comments and we’ll all join in the creating–a virtual cloud of witnesses to celebrate the more literal one.

If you’re working on Ordinary 31, perhaps you’ll be pondering the relationships of 3 women in Ruth, or the High Priestly nature of Jesus, or Praising the Lord!!!! with the Psalm, or answering the eternal question about the most important commandment.

If you have stewardship commitment this Sunday…is it also a communion Sunday for you? How do you combine those two things in the service without giving the impression that one pays for the privilege of coming to the table?

Lots to think about this week–let’s create together!

POP: our heavenly parent…

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Our Heavenly Parent, who is within us,
We celebrate your many names.

We celebrate your names and we remember the names of those who have been your hands and feet in our lives. We remember the names of those saints who have gone before us – have labored for your church and who now rest from their labor.

(Pause and listen as we name those saints who we wish to remember.)

Your wisdom come;
Your will be done unfolding from the depths within us.

We think and make notes; we plan and keep calendars and yet your will, your will?
Do you have a will? Is there one right path for each of us, for all of us? What happens if we miss it? Can we miss it?
Your will unfolds around us, just like it did for those who walked this earth before us.
Your will lives within us.
Quiet us then. Quiet our restless, planning hearts.
Let us listen and watch for your will.

Silence

Each day
Each day you give us all that we need.

No more, no less. Although sometimes it seems we have more and sometimes it seems we have less.
And then when we, if we would stop being so self-centered, we would see that there are many that have more and many who have less.
And if we are one, if we belong to one another, what matter is this daily bread to us?

You remind us of our limits; And we let go.

Sometimes we let go. Sometimes we hold – tightly. Sometimes we need you, or maybe someone else with your hands and feet to pry our hands open.
If we were to accept your grand love for us… if we were to let that kind of love creep from the earth into our feet, would our breath catch in wonder at your vast love for us, for us – your holy people?

You support us in our power; And we act with courage.

In “our” power – How little would we fear if we – together – the Body of Christ – small, tall, white hair, no hair, little girls and growing young men, experts and learners alike moved as one – would we find our courage together?

For you are the dwelling place within us,
(Take a deep breath)
the empowerment around us,
(Look to your right and to your left)
and the celebration among us now and forever, Amen.

 

Submitted by Rev. Beth Scibienski, Community Presbyterian Church, Kendall Park NJ.

illumination for Reformation

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Holy and Mysterious God, open our eyes to see you in our midst, open our ears to hear your word afresh, open our hearts to know your grace. Give us understanding minds and willing spirits, that we might be continually made new by your love. In the name of the living Word we pray. Amen.

Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.