Sunday, February 17, 2019
For Meditation and Reflection:
God, wake me from the fog of my low expectations. Help me shake off the world’s despair, its pointless habits, desires, and attachments, its broken busyness, and the downward spiral of judging, consuming, and protecting myself. Give me the courage to trust that you are moving and acting, the courage to embrace the unimaginable. Give me the urgency to act, for now is the time, and the patience to wait for every moment. — Steve Garnass-Holmes
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship (from Jeremiah 17 and Katherine Hawker)
Hear the words of the prophet Jeremiah: People who trust in human strength are like shrubs in the desert: they live alone in salt, and they can’t see relief when it comes. People who trust in the Lord are like trees by the stream, which send their roots into its water: they do not fear the heat; in drought, they are not anxious, nor do they cease to bear fruit.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our treasures cannot be quantified.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our knowledge is tempered by mystery.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our pain is held in the balm of love.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our delight comes from beyond ourselves.
Opening Hymn: Enter, Rejoice, and Come in #73
Children’s Time
Pastoral Prayer
Lord’s Prayer (Alternate version, in memory of William Dewey)
Earth-maker, pain-bearer, life-giver: blessed be your work. Let happen here on earth what you will.
Give us what we need today in bread and insight, and release us from our offenses, as we release our offenders.
When we forget that life is both a gift and a task, forgive us; when we hold grudges or blame other people, forgive us; when we love ourselves more than we love other people, forgive us.
Don’t leave us alone with our private demons and fears, with our apathy and our indifference, but deliver us from the evil in us and around us.
Help us choose what is good, what is right, what is loving, what is just, for we are endowed with the power to make our world whole, forever. Amen.
Today’s Scripture Reading: Luke 6:17-26
Sermon Blessed Are the Self-Insufficientby Mark Dewey
Responsive Sharing
Reflective Hymn: God Will Take Care of You #460
The Offerings and Offertory Music
Prayers of Joys and Concerns
Lord’s Prayer (Traditional version, with debts)
Closing Hymn: What a Covenant #471
Blessing and Sending
Leader: Go out into the world in peace.
All: Have courage.
Leader: Hold onto what is good.
All: Return no one evil for evil.
Leader: Strengthen the faint-hearted.
All: Support the weak.
Leader: Help the suffering.
All: Honor all persons and all creation.
Leader: Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sharing the Peace as we go…….And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.
Thoughts for the Day/Week
The Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas said the only thing that really converts people is the face of the other. The face of the other creates a moral demand on the heart that is far more compelling than the Ten Command-ments written on stone. So many Christian mystics talk about seeing the divine face or falling in love with the face of Jesus. I think that’s why St. Clare used the word ‘mirroring’ so often. We are mirrored not by concepts, but by faces delighting in us, giving us the face we can’t give ourselves. It is the face of the other that finally creates us. — Richard Rohr
ANNOUNCEMENTS
This Sunday, Feb 17th: 10am: Sunday School for adults in the Sanctuary led by Janell Kenzie and Brenda Lyle; Sunday School for Children resumes this month in the Fellowship Hall with Lauranne Oliveau. 11am: Worship with Seminarian Mark Dewey
Next Sunday, Sunday, Feb 24th: Worship with Seminarian Mark Dewey and Sea Raven on piano.
Sunday, Mar 3rd: Communion SundayWorship with Samantha Tuttle.
Childcare is available during services. Thank you to Katie and Greta for your gracious care of the children.
Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Please bring non-perishable food items to church.
– BRIDGES* VOICES OF FAITH speaker series –
Tues. Feb 19th 7-8:30pm Purcellville Library: The Baha’i Faith, with speakers, Jenny Rahmani and Paria Akhavan.
Thurs. Feb 21st 7-8:30pm Cascades Library: Islam, with speaker Hurunessa Fariad of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society.
Thurs. Feb 28th 7-8:30pm Cascades Library: Christianity – The Emerging Church with Kurt Aschermann, of Christ Church, Lucketts.
*Building Relationships for Interfaith Dialogue, Goodwill, Education and Service
Statement of Faith: We gather as an Open and Affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and seek new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people