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 "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. All are alive to God." Thirty-Second Sunday In Odinary Time ☩ Proper 27 ☩ Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost Sunday, November 6, 2022 A Liturgy For Worship and Meditation  Life-giving God, we praise you. Life-restoring God, we give you thanks. Life-renewing God, we offer ourselves to you. You are Life and we live within you. To you, O God, be all praise and glory. PRAYER OF THE DAY God of faithful surprises, throughout the ages you have made known your love and power in unexpected ways and places. May we daily perceive the joy and wonder of your abiding presence and offer our lives in gratitude for our redemption. Amen. PRAYER OF BROKENNESS All is not well, and we know it. We feel it in our bones and our short-comings. Let us turn to God who is the life within us. ———————————————————— God of life. God of eternity. God in whom we live from beginning to end, and all that is in between. We know that life should be simply evident. No question about it. We breathe, we think, we feel, we move. But somehow we feel more dead than alive. We are beyond our fill of January 6th hearings and procedures, especially when nothing seems to come from them. At this point we are beyond tired of the political ads and the lies and mud-slinging. We are exhausted following the news in the Ukraine and the starving children everywhere. We feel like the last straw on our backs is the senseless violence and killing in our schools, places of worship. shopping malls, athletic events, and the streets of our cities and towns. And, but to feel yet another straw added to the load. Tt is over four years now that Covid has turned our world upside down, yet people are clamoring for a getting back to normal when that normal is never to be known again. It is as if we gaze out within all these things but our eyes are blank in a never-ending stare as if the only thing to be seen is the dark, thick mist of the abyss where the chasm of shadows loom. We confess to you, O God, and one another that in our days we forget your life and the life that is in us as a gift from you. Instead of trusting you and seeing life all around us, we choose to stare into the abyss of our brokenness. Instead of living life to the fullest we but cling but to the edge as if we have reached the end of our rope. Forgive us, O God, and heal us. Give us eyes that are focused on life. Stir your life within until we feel the fire in our bellies. Then, dear God, with re-discovered passion we might once again serve within your life giving Kin-Dom helping others to find the life in them, until everyone knows and trusts that they are numbered among your people. ————————————————————— The promise of God is sure and can be trusted. Jesus said, "I have come to bring you life and life in all its fullness abundantly. Life is yours. Thanks be to God. PRAYER FOR THE READING AND HEARING OF THE SCRIPTURES O God who is still speaking, speak to us in the uncertainty of these days, that in heart and mind may be confident of our life in you and able to follow in your way. READING—Haggai 2.1-9 1 In the second year of Darius the ruler, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of YHWH came through the prophet Haggai and told him, 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel ben-Shealtiel, the high commissioner of Judah, and to Joshua ben-Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who is there left among you who saw this Temple in its former glory? And how does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing in comparison? 4 But take courage now, Zerubbabel!—it is YHWH who speaks. Courage, High Priest Joshua ben-Jehozadak! Courage, all you people of the country!—it is YHWH who speaks. To work! I am with you—it is YHWH Omnipotent who speaks— 5 as I promised I would be when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit remains among you. Don’t be afraid! 6 For YHWH Omnipotent says this: A little while now, and I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the treasures of all the nations will flow in, and I will fill this Temple with glory, says YHWH Omnipotent. 8 Mine is the silver, mine the gold! says YHWH Omnipotent. 9 The new glory of this Temple is going to surpass the old, says YHWH Omnipotent, and in this place I will give peace, says YHWH Omnipotent.’ ” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. PSALMODY—Psalm 145.1-5. 13-21 1 I will extol you, my God, my Ruler, and I will bless your Name forever and ever! 2 Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your Name forever and ever! 3 Great you are, YHWH, and greatly to be praised; your greatness is unfathomable. 4 Generation after generation praises your works and proclaims your mighty deeds; 5 they’ll speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty, and I will meditate on your wondrous acts. 13 Your reign is a reign for all the ages, and your dominion endures from generation to generation. 14 You lift up those who are falling and raise up those who are oppressed. 15 the eyes of all look to you in hope, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. 17 YHWH, you are just in all your ways and loving toward all that you have created. 18 You are near to all who call upon you, all who call upon you in truth. 19 You fulfill the desires of those who revere you; you hear their cry and save them. 20 You watch over all who love you, YHWH, but you’ll destroy all who are corrupt. 21 My mouth will speak your praise, YHWH, and may all creation bless your holy Name forever and ever! —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. READING—Thessalonians 2.1-17 1 Concerning the coming of Jesus Christ and our being gathered to meet our Savior: we beg you, sisters and brothers, 2 don’t become easily agitated or disturbed by some prophecy, report or letter falsely attributed to us, which says that the day of our Savior has come. 3 Let no one deceive you, in any way. It cannot happen until the Great Falling Away occurs, and the rebel, the Lost One, has appeared. 4 This is the Enemy, the one who claims to be so much greater than all that people call “God,” greater than every object of worship—so much so that it enthrones itself in God’s sanctuary and claims to be God. 5 Surely you remember me telling you these things when I was with you? 6 And now you also know what is holding the Lost One back now, only to appear at the proper time. 7 Rebellion is already at work, but secretly, and the one who holds it back must be removed first. 8 Then the Rebel will appear openly, whom Christ will destroy with nothing more than a breath, bringing that rebellion to an end with the revelation of Christ’s presence. 9 Christ’s coming, however, will coincide with the activity of Satan. There will be all kinds of fake miracles, signs and wonders. 10 There will be every form of evil to deceive those already bound for destruction, because they would not grasp the love of the truth that could have saved them. 11 The reason God sends them such a delusive influence—and therefore makes them believe a lie— 12 is to condemn all who have not believed the truth, but chose evil instead. 13 But we ought to thank God always for you, sisters and brothers loved by Christ, because God chose you from the beginning—to be saved by the sanctifying Spirit and by believing in the truth. 14 God called you through our preaching of the Good News, so that you might gain the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, sisters and brothers, stand firm. Hold fast to the traditions you received from us, either by word of mouth or by letter. 16 May our Savior Jesus Christ and our Abba God—who loved us and in mercy gave us eternal consolation and hope— 17 console your hearts and strengthen them for every good work and word. —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. READING—Luke 20.27-38 27 Some Sadducees—the ones who claim there is no resurrection—came forward to pose this question: 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife and no child, the brother should marry the woman now widowed, to raise up children with her. 29 Let’s say that there were seven brothers. The first one married and died childless. 30 The second brother then married the woman, 31 then the third, and so on. All seven died without leaving her any children. 32 Finally the woman herself died. 33 At the resurrection, who will be her husband? Remember, seven married her.” 34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry each other, 35 but those judged worthy of a place in the age to come and of the resurrection from the dead don’t take husbands or wives. 36 They can no longer die, like the angels—they are children of God, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 That the dead rise again was even demonstrated by Moses when, in the passage about the bush, he called the Most High ‘the God of Sarah and Abraham, and the God of Rebecca and Isaac, and the God of Leah and Rachel and Jacob.’ 38 God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. All are alive to God.” —Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward.
PRAYER OF INTERCESSION God of life, we praise you for your abiding presence from generation to generation, blessing your people, strengthening us to lives of service, empowering us to witness. Hear the prayers we offer on behalf of your creation. For the a sacrificial love that we may be open to all the ways You call us to put aside our own interests in witness to the truth and in loving service of others. . .hear us, O God of life. For a liberty that will help us to place You at the center of our life and to let go of all the things that interfere with our relationship with You, O God. . .hear us, O God of life. For all who have experienced torture and abuse that You will heal their memories and free them from all fear and hatred. . .hear us, O God of life. For an end to torture and ethnic cleansing that You will change the minds and hearts of government and military leaders who use violence and the threat of pain to control and punish people. . .hear us, O God of life. For all who are fearful of death that they may discover Your faithful and life-giving presence with them and draw closer to You, who is faithful to us in both life and death. . .hear us, O God of life. For all who do not believe in eternal life that they may come to know You as the life-giver who offers the fullness of life and everlasting peace to everyone. . .hear us, O God of life. For all who are approaching death that they may experience Your presence as they commend themselves to Your love and mercy. . .hear us, O God of life. For all who are grieving the death of a loved one that they may know Your comforting and healing presence. . .hear us, O God of life. For parents who have lost a child that You will be present to them in their grief, heal their pain, and give them hope. . .hear us, O God of life. For all who are recovering from violence, natural disasters, or crime that You will ease their pain, give them strength, and guide them to the support and assistance that they need. . .hear us, O God of life. For all who are working in the election process that You will help them fulfill their duties faithfully, be of assistance to voters, and keep them safe from harm. . .hear us, O God of life. For all who will be voting that the Spirit will guide them in making truthful choices about candidates and issues so that justice and the common good may be advanced. . .hear us, O God of life. For peace in places and times of violence and destruction, that You would bring an end to the killing and harm between nations, on city streets, in schools, and within families and bring all who are suffering to a safe place. . .hear us, O God of life. THE PRAYER OF JESUS Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One: Like a loving Parent, You provide and care for us. Reaching from heaven to earth, you are with us. Most Holy is Your Name. Your Realm is coming. Your will is being done. Here and now within Your Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day the portion we need to be whole and well and to share with those whose need is likewise. Redeem us as your forgive our failure of neglecting to do the right and our choosing to do the wrong. Free us from all temptation that would be against your will and keep us from all evil. For Yours is the Kin-Dom, the Power, and the Glory, now and forevermore. Amen. —G Lake Dylan SENDING FORTH WITH BLESSING As those who alive and live in God, go forth to proclaim that all are alive and that the God of life calls us to be people of justice and peace. And, the blessing of God—who creates, redeems, and makes whole—keep you in life and in all goodness and liberty, now and forevermore. Amen. |
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WORSHIP IN INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE AND PROGRESSIVE THOUGHT
WHY A BLOG?
As a clergyperson with a disability now retired, this is my humble attempt to provide a ministry that some will find helpful. I have always focused on be inclusive and have struggled with the church's tradition of referring to God and humankind with masculine names and pronouns. Since the 1970's, thanks to my dear sister-in-law, I have been aware of the discrimination of women and have worked in the parish and community for equal rights with an equity of access to the resources that add blessing to life. I hope this site is of meaning to those who read it and worship with me and others within it. Peace.