A PRAYER FOR AFGHANISTAN

		PRAYER FOR AFGHANISTAN I (Click Here) PRAYER FOR AFGHANISTAN II (Click Here) PRAYER FOR HAITI (Click Here) FOR POETRY PEW CLICK HERE FOR A BEAD AND A PRAYER CLICK HERE A LITURGY FOR WORSHIP —Use As Much Or A Little As You Choose—
		CENTERING IN PREPARATION God is here. God is within us. God is within all of creation. God is moving: Slowly... Gentlely... Softly... Comforting... Bringing us, and all, into that place deep in our heart of hearts. Go there. Be at peace in the Divine Presence. PRAYER FOR NEEDS TO BRING BEFORE GOD IN WORSHIP Holy One, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer: have mercy on us. We live in a time and place of chaos. Amid your presence and with even our best intentions, so many things go wrong, so many things go against your will. We have brought horrendous and horrific events into your creation of justice and peace. Even in our attempts to liberate and establish a just peace, our efforts are thwarted by our own finite limitations and the harmful actions of those we name as the enemy. There are occasions where in our anger and our desire to rectify things as we will them to be, we bring suffering to others. While we seek to do what is right, our decisions and actions have consequences beyond our understanding and control. War has raged since the beginning of time and continues to this very day. Nations against nations, communities against communities, people against people: We seem to find differences with others that lead to violence and destruction. Lives are lost. People are killed. People are maimed. Families are torn apart. Your creation suffers. Your earth calls out for healing. O God, our nation is in conflict. So many opinions are pressed, so many lack truth and wisdom. In this time of politcal unrest and the pandemic that is affecting so many lives, our divisiveness only serves to deepen and widen the wounds we inflict upon each other. Bring the passion for your reconciliation and redeem our relationships. Unite families and people in making decisions and taking action that is discerned in the truth of your Spirit. May your Wisdom be embodied in our lives. O God, your world is in a battle for survival. Climate change, wild fires, hurricanes, tornados, and other catastrophes seem to happen time and again without a coordinated effort to live in ways that are in stewardship of creation and in care for the environment. O God, warfare is the seeming norm in so many times and places. We pray for the people in and of Afghanistan. We pray for those who are seeking freedom and safety, who are becoming immigrants to other homes. We pray for those who have no yet found a way to escape the danger and violence of the Taliban and other extremists. We especially pray for the women and children who are at a higher risk for violence, rape, loss of rights, and other injustices. O God, you alone can resolve the manifiold challenges we face. You along have created and redeemed us to be your people of peace, justice, love, and humbleness. May we find the strength of being true to you and true to our real-self in acts of that establish equality and equity. Grant us a vision of the justice and peace that is possible by living according to your great commandment — to love as you love us. And. in those times when love seems impossible, teach us patience, renew within us courage, restore to us our humanity and dignity even as we strive to see the dignity of each person. We seek the faith, hope, and passion that will sustain us and keep us faithful, for we long to be the people you call to do your will and to know your peace. Blessed are You and blessed is your Kin-Dom of just peace, always, all ways, and forever. CALL TO WORSHIP (after Song of Solomon 2:8-13) Hear the voice of God calling out with love, Hear the voice of God in the wind whispering in the trees, Hear the voice of God in the swishing grass, Hear the voice of God in birdsongs, Hear the voice of God calling out with love, “Come to me! Come to worship and be renewed.” “Come to worship and be restored.” “Leave in the past the difficulties of the past.” “Bask in the sweetness of this time together.” Beloved, God is calling us to come away to worship. —Rev. Dr. Rebecca Z. McNeil OPENING PRAYER O God, our God, you are the Creator and Sustainer of us all. Today we want to worship you with gladness and come into your presence with praise and thanksgiving. We invoke your presence among us today so that none who leave this time without the deep assurance of your love, without the strong confidence of your faithfulness, without a fresh and full commitment to live by your power and for your glory. —Drescher, John. Invocations and Benedictions for the Revised Common Lectionary (altered) PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION Come O God among us. Give light to our minds, which hunger for truth. strength to our spirits, which hunger for help. Renew your work of grace and healing within us as we encounter You in Your WORD. So that we may go from here strong in your strength to be your people to do your will. Amen. —Drescher, John. Invocations and Benedictions for the Revised Common Lectionary HEBREW BIBLE LECTION Song Of Songs 2. 8-13 Here comes my lover, running down the mountains like a gazelle, leaping the hills like a deer in search of another Look at my beloved, standing out there staring in through the window lattices like the moon. My beloved calls to me: "Come, sweetheart, my pretty one, come out! Winter is over, the rains are gone, the flowers are blooming. it’s time for singing. Let’s walk out through the valleys and listen to the song of the dove. The fig trees are setting fruit; and the air is full of the smellv of grape blossoms. Arise and come, my pretty darling. Come away with me!” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. PSALMODY Psalm 45. 1-7 My heart is stirred with this sweet melody; I serenade you with my verse, my leader: my tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer. Over all the earth, you are the most stately in manner, and the most charming of speakers, because God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword upon your thigh, my champion, triumph by your splendor and subdue by your grandeur! In your majesty ride forth for the cause of truth and the defense of the just. Let your right hand proclaim your awesome deeds! Your arrows are sharp; they pierce the hearts of your enemies and make the nations cower before you. For God has enthroned you forever and ever, and your royal scepter is a rod of justice. And because you love justice and hate corruption, God, your God, has set you above your companions and anointed you with the oil of gladness. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. EPISTLE LECTION James 1. 17-27 Make no mistake about this, my dear sisters and brothers: every worthwhile gift, every genuine benefit comes from above, descending from the Creator of the heavenly luminaries, who cannot change and is never in shadow. 18 God willingly gave birth to us with a word spoken in truth, so that we may be, as it were, the firstfruits of God’s creatures. Remember this, my dear sisters and brothers: be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to anger; for God’s justice is never served by our anger. So do away with all your filth and the last vestiges of wickedness in you. Humbly welcome the word which has been planted in you, because it has power to save you. But act on this word—because if all you do is listen to it, you’re deceiving yourselves. Those who listen to God’s word but don’t put it into practice are like those who look into mirrors at their own faces; 24 they look at themselves, then go off and promptly forget what they looked like. But those who look steadily at the perfect law of freedom and make it their habit—not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice—will be blessed in all that they do. If those who don’t control their tongues imagine that they are devout, they’re deceiving themselves and their worship is pointless. Pure, unspoiled religion, in the eyes of our Abba God, is this: coming to the aid of widows and orphans when they are in need, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by this world. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. GOSPEL LECTION Mark 7. 1-8, 14-15, 21-23 The Pharisees and some of the religious scholars who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. They had noticed that some of the disciples were eating with unclean hands—that is, without ritually washing them. For the Pharisees, and Jewish people in general, follow the tradition of their ancestors and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow. Moreover, they never eat anything from the market without first sprinkling it. There are many other traditions which have been handed down to them, such as the washing of cups and pots and dishes. So these Pharisees and religious scholars asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of our ancestors, but eat their food with unclean hands?” Jesus answered, “How accurately Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites when he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human precepts.’ You disregard God’s commandments and cling to human traditions.” Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand. Nothing that enters us from the outside makes us impure; it is what comes out of us that makes us impure. For it is from within—from our hearts—that evil intentions emerge: promiscuity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, obscenity, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evils come from within and make us impure.” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. CALL TO RECONCILIATION All Knowing God, you look upon our brokenness and call us to come to you and to come together as a people, that there will be healing and wellness. Hear our prayer, O God, and have mercy upon us. PRAYER OF BROKENESS Loving, righteous God, our hearts are defiled with the wickedness you hate. You have called us to yourself, but we have gone away. Forgetting your living Word, we cling to dead traditions. Deceiving ourselves, we abandon your commandments. Hypocrites, we honor you with our lips while our hearts are far from you. Cleanse our hearts from evil intentions; cleanse our tongues from evil words so that our worship may be pure and undefiled and we may live with you in love for others. Amen. —Long, Kim. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: 2 DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS Our generous God has given us the perfect gift of forgiveness, liberating us new by the living Word, filling our hearts with God’s love. —Long, Kim. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: 2 WORDS OF HEALING AND ASSURANCE The Living God hears our cry and forgives our sin. The God of Hosts is a sun and shield, bestowing favor and honor on us through Christ, the bread from heaven, who brings us back to God and feeds us with his strength. —Long, Kim. Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: 2. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation CREDO As people of heart, and lovers of life; we are the people of God, we are a people of love! As people who think, and givers of peace; we are the people of God, we are a people of love! As people who care, and healers of hurt; we are the people of God, we are a people of love! Yet we are sometimes fragile and weak. When we say one thing and do another, O God, forgive us. When we know the truth, but do not act on it, O God, forgive us. When we fail to notice the overwhelming love you have for all your creation, and all your people, O God, forgive us. When we are quick to speak and slow to listen, rather than the other way around, O God, forgive us. —Seasons of the Spirit. Prayers for All Seasons: Based on The Revised Common Lectionary Yr. B PRAYER OF INTERCESSION O God of lights, with whom there is no shadow, we pray yet again for the world of your making: We pray with an active hope. We pray in love. For those born in hopelessness without parental love or the provision of basic human needs: We pray with an active hope. We pray in love. For those raised in poverty often unprotected from disease, or those unable to afford basic health care: We pray with an active hope. We pray in love. For those scarred by wars and consumed by hatred enduring and deep: We pray with an active hope. We pray in love. And for those in this place yearning for healing or in need of simple understanding and care: We pray with an active hope. We pray in love. O God of lights, with whom there is no shadow, hear these and other prayers of the heart. For you are the source of our hope and you are the wellspring of our love. Use us in the remaking of your world. We pray with an active hope. We pray in love. Amen. — Seasons of the Spirit. Prayers for All Seasons: Based on The Revised Common Lectionary Yr. B. THE PRAYER OF JESUS O God whose name is most holy, your sacred love we know as like that of a parent for their child. You are the Sovereign of your creation and we ask that we will find nways to do your will just as it is for the host of heaven. Give to us what we need in this day, and may we always be in reverent praise and thanksgiving for your gifts. Forgive us our wrong-doings, as we forgive those who havew done wrong against us. Heal our brokenness, O God of compassion and mercy. Test not our faith, but keep us from all that is contrary to you and your Word. For yours is the Kin-Dom, the power, and the glory, forevermore. Amen. —Paraphrase, by the author PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING We give thanks for all whose lives reflect the life of Christ, whose words bring wisdom, compassion, peace; whose hands bring healing, support, relief; whose feet will walk the extra mile if there should be a need, and, in obedience to the Loving God of all, share a word or two of grace. We give thanks for all whose lives reflect that of your own Beloved and Anointed One, and pray that we might also live that life. —Birch, John. The Act of Prayer: Praying through the Lectionary. (altered and abridged) PRAYER OF DEDICATION Bountiful God, giver of the fruit of the vine, your call to righteous living stirs the heart like the oils of gladness: sweet-smelling frankincense, sandalwood myrrh, and pungent cassia; your charge to be doers of the word and not hearers only, sparks the soul like the fragrance of wild flowers and the blossoms of spring. Inspire true devotion in our hearts, that we may care for your little ones and hearken to the needs of your people. —Scifres, Mary; Beu, B. J.. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2021 SENDING FORTH Go out, and make known the mystery of the gospel. Keep alert and pray at all times. Draw strength from God’s power and so stand firm against all that would corrupt you. —Nathan Nettleton, http://laughingbird.net DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in your faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook may be radiant with hope.” —Romans 15. 13, paraphrase
		POETRY PEW "Kids Who Die" —Langston Hughes (1902–1967) [Seems apropos considering the plight of children and others in today's world.] This is for the kids who die, Black and white, For kids will die certainly. The old and rich will live on awhile, As always, Letting kids die. Kids will die in the swamps of Mississippi Organizing sharecroppers Kids will die in the streets of Chicago Organizing workers Kids will die in the orange groves of California Telling others to get together Whites and Filipinos, Negroes and Mexicans, All kinds of kids will die Who don't believe in lies, and bribes, and contentment And a lousy peace. Of course, the wise and the learned Who pen editorials in the papers, And the gentlemen with Dr. in front of their names White and black, Who make surveys and write books Will live on weaving words to smother the kids who die, And the sleazy courts, And the bribe-reaching police, And the blood-loving generals, And the money-loving preachers Will all raise their hands against the kids who die, Beating them with laws and clubs and bayonets and bullets To frighten the people— For the kids who die are like iron in the blood of the people— And the old and rich don't want the people To taste the iron of the kids who die, Don't want the people to get wise to their own power, To believe an Angelo Herndon, or even get together Listen, kids who die— Maybe, now, there will be no monument for you Except in our hearts Maybe your bodies'll be lost in a swamp Or a prison grave, or the potter's field, Or the rivers where you're drowned... But the day will come— You are sure yourselves that it is coming— When the marching feet of the masses Will raise for you a living monument of love, And joy, and laughter, And black hands and white hands clasped as one, And a song that reaches the sky— The song of the life triumphant Through the kids who die. —Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, novelist, playwright, and newspaper columnist. This poem was written in 1938, and depicts the social climate of the 1930s, a period through which Hughes lived.
		A BEAD AND A PRAYER CROSS (Song 2:10, Ps 45) “Arise, my fair one, and come away,” says the God of love. We come gladly, for every good gift comes from above. The season of singing is upon us. The scent of myrrh, aloe, and lavender fills our senses. “Arise, my fair one, and come away,” calls our God. We come to worship with joy and thanksgiving. ——Scifres, Mary; Beu, B. J.. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2021 INVITATORY Bountiful God, giver of the fruit of the vine, your call to righteous living stirs the heart like the oils of gladness: sweet-smelling frankincense, sandalwood, myrrh, and pungent cassia; your charge to be doers of the word and not hearers only, sparks the soul like the fragrance of wild flowers and the blossoms of spring. Inspire true devotion in our hearts, that we may care for your little ones and hearken to the needs of your people. ——Scifres, Mary; Beu, B. J.. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2021 CRUCIFORM Creating God, extend our vision to perceive that this is your world. You are in it. You pervade it. You enfold it. It is immersed in you. Open our eyes to see in the depth of reality your grace your goodness your glory. To see that we dwell in you. May it be so. ——https://www.rexaehuntprogressive.com/ WEEK 1 Song Of Songs 2. 8-13 ♦  Here comes my lover, running down the mountains like a gazelle, leaping the hills like a deer in search of another ♦  Look at my beloved, standing out there staring in through the window lattices like the moon. ♦  My beloved calls to me: "Come, sweetheart, my pretty one, come out! ♦  Winter is over, the rains are gone, the flowers are blooming. it’s time for singing. ♦  Let’s walk out through the valleys and listen to the song of the dove. ♦  The fig trees are setting fruit; and the air is full of the smellv of grape blossoms. ♦  Arise and come, my pretty darling. Come away with me!” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible.. CRUCIFORM Awesome God, we come before You confessing our sins. We confess that we have accepted the way of empire. We have accepted the silencing of marginal voices in our society as a given. We have not questioned the oppression of those who are different from us, and when we do question, we have not always sought their liberation. We have ignored the cries of those who are most in need. Almighty One, we know You hear their cries, and we hear Your voice calling us into accountability. You remind us of our responsibility to love our neighbor as ourselves. Help us to turn to You and away from empire, away from the ways of this world. Remind us that we live for Your heavenly reign, on earth as it is in heaven, and that what we do now matters far beyond us. Guide us into Your ways of love, justice, and mercy. Amen. ——Rev-o-lution Worship Resources, Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell [http://rev-o-lution.org] WEEK 2 Psalm 45. 1-7 ♦  My heart is stirred with this sweet melody; I serenade you with my verse, my leader: my tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer. ♦  Over all the earth, you are the most stately in manner, and the most charming of speakers, because God has blessed you forever. ♦  Gird your sword upon your thigh, my champion, triumph by your splendor and subdue by your grandeur! ♦  In your majesty ride forth for the cause of truth and the defense of the just. Let your right hand proclaim your awesome deeds! ♦  Your arrows are sharp; they pierce the hearts of your enemies and make the nations cower before you. ♦  For God has enthroned you forever and ever, and your royal scepter is a rod of justice. ♦  And because you love justice and hate corruption, God, your God, has set you above your companions and anointed you with the oil of gladness. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. CRUCIFORM Life-giving God, you know us better than we know ourselves. While we long to meet the demands of your justice, we often settle for a touch of righteous indignation. And though we long to resist evil with every fiber of our being, it is easy to confuse our anger over petty wrongs with your anger over real misuse of power. Teach us the difference between human precepts, that bloom and fade like the grass, and your life-giving ways, that are eternal. Help us be doers of your word, and not hearers only, that our lives may bear the fruit of eternal life. Amen. —Scifres, Mary; Beu, B. J.. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2021 WEEK 3 James 1. 17-21 ♦  Make no mistake about this, my dear sisters and brothers: every worthwhile gift, every genuine benefit comes from above, descending from the Creator of the heavenly luminaries, who cannot change and is never in shadow. 18 God willingly gave birth to us with a word spoken in truth, so that we may be, as it were, the firstfruits of God’s creatures. ♦  Remember this, my dear sisters and brothers: be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to anger; for God’s justice is never served by our anger. ♦  So do away with all your filth and the last vestiges of wickedness in you. Humbly welcome the word which has been planted in you, because it has power to save you. But act on this word—because if all you do is listen to it, you’re deceiving yourselves. ♦  Those who listen to God’s word but don’t put it into practice are like those who look into mirrors at their own faces; 24 they look at themselves, then go off and promptly forget what they looked like.. ♦  But those who look steadily at the perfect law of freedom and make it their habit—not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice—will be blessed in all that they do.. ♦  If those who don’t control their tongues imagine that they are devout, they’re deceiving themselves and their worship is pointless. Pray also for me, that God will open my mouth and put words on my lips, that I may boldly make known the mystery of the Good News—that mystery for which I am an ambassador in chains. ♦  Pure, unspoiled religion, in the eyes of our Abba God, is this: coming to the aid of widows and orphans when they are in need, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by this world. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. — CRUCIFORM Watchful God, you know our plight. Offended, we have not believed your words. Complaining, we have betrayed your love. We are weak, estranged, wandering, and lost. Seeking to stand in our own strength, we fall. Strangers to your holiness, we wander. Defenseless against evil within and without, we are lost. Shine your light in our darkness, and guide us back to our place in you... — Silence — The precepts of God bring equity to the earth. The one who anoints our lives with gladness leads us into life and the fullness of grace. —Scifres, Mary; Beu, B. J.. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2021 WEEK 4 Mark 7. 1-8, 14-15, 21-23 ♦  The Pharisees and some of the religious scholars who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. They had noticed that some of the disciples were eating with unclean hands—that is, without ritually washing them. ♦  For the Pharisees, and Jewish people in general, follow the tradition of their ancestors and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow. Moreover, they never eat anything from the market without first sprinkling it. There are many other traditions which have been handed down to them, such as the washing of cups and pots and dishes. ♦  So these Pharisees and religious scholars asked Jesus, “Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of our ancestors, but eat their food with unclean hands?” ♦  Jesus answered, “How accurately Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites when he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me. ♦  The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human precepts.’ You disregard God’s commandments and cling to human traditions.” ♦  Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and try to understand. Nothing that enters us from the outside makes us impure; it is what comes out of us that makes us impure. ♦  For it is from within—from our hearts—that evil intentions emerge: promiscuity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, obscenity, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evils come from within and make us impure.” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. CRUCIFORM It feels so good, God, to be together in prayer. So much seems to be falling apart. So many are so divided that it feels good to be united here with you and with these, our friends in faith. It feels good to be protected from the winds that blow, to be shaded from heat, to be gathered where there is safety in numbers. We lament the heartaches unfolding in the world around us: Our neighbors in Haiti who seem never to be able to rebuild from tragedy before another disaster strikes. Our neighbors in central Tennessee, in Germany and elsewhere digging out and drying out from devastating flooding while weeping and mourning their dead and their missing loved ones. Our neighbors in the American west and in Greece and elsewhere in the world fleeing fires and breathing smoke, praying for rain, enough, but not too much, praying for a future for the landscapes they call home. Our neighbors in Afghanistan clinging to hope, hiding out, crying out, for help, for safe passage, for a future, for freedom, for an end to suffering and war, for simple happiness. Our neighbors in hospitals and schools and businesses around the globe who are so very weary of COVID-19, who mourn for those who have died, who grieve for those who are terribly ill today, who grow frustrated with those who do not do the simple things that can be done to slow the progress of this disease and bring it under control. Our neighbors anywhere who live under threat of violence, absent safe homes, who are lonely, addicted or otherwise afflicted with heartaches and sorrows untold. Help us, so fortunate to be gathered here in the sanctuary of this fellowship, to do what is right by our neighbors. Help us to speak truthfully about ourselves and each other. Help us to know the truth, help us to be willing to change our minds and change our hearts and change our behavior when truth turns out to be different than we once believed. Help us to speak in ways that help and heal and make the world and all her inhabitants more whole. Tenderize our tongues that love alone is what we communicate. Help us to live with integrity. Help us to live so that what we say we believe and what we do line up with each other and with You. Help us to be honest. Help us to be fair. Help us to give advantage to others rather than taking advantage for ourselves. Help us to stand up for the least of these among us. Help us to be your people until all the world is a sanctuary and all our neighbors are welcomed safely home. Amen. ——https://revgalblogpals.org/ INVITATORY All God, lover of us all, most holy one. Help us to respond to you. To create what you want for us here on earth. Give us today enough for our needs. Forgive our weak and deliberate offences, just as we must forgive others when they hurt us. Help us to resist evil and to do what is good. For we are yours, endowed with your power to make our world whole. Amen. ——Lara Winkley CROSS Let us go from this sacred space, this holy place, to live our lives honoring God, not only with our lips but with our whole hearts. In our words and in our deeds, may we make sacred every space that all our work and all our days may be worship.