The Gift of our Imperfect Lives
Seekers Church
A Christian Community
In the Tradition of the Church of the Saviour
Epiphany 2005
The Gift of our Imperfect Lives
CIRCLE TIME
ENTRANCE
REFLECTION
I want to be famous to shuffling men,
famous as the one who smiled back.
…
I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.
From "Famous" in Words Under the Words Naomi Shahib Nye
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Let us worship the One who calls us.
People: Here we are,
ready or not,
called by the One
who lived and died
and rose to live again among us.
Leader: Here we are,
ready or not,
bringing our everyday selves
to praise and to pray,
to know the Holy One
in the midst of our lives.
All: Let us worship the One who calls us.
INVOCATION
HYMN
WORD FOR THE CHILDREN
SILENCE
RESPONSIVE READING
Leader: I love people who harness themselves,
an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo with massive patience,
People: who strain in the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
Leader: The work of the world is common as mud.
People: But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
All: The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.
SILENCE
PRAYERS
CONFESSION
Leader: O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
Voice 1: We do not always walk blamelessly.
We do not do what is right,
or speak the truth from our hearts.
Voice 2: We slander with our tongues.
We do evil to our friends.
We reproach our neighbors.
Leader: Who may dwell on your holy hill?
Voice 1: Those in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
and who honor those who fear the Lord.
Voice 2: Those who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
and who do not take a bribe against the innocent.
All: Those who do these things shall never be moved.
INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE
Leader: The Good News in Christ is this:
God loves us,
even though we are less than perfect.
All: Amen.
PRAYERS OF THE COMMUNITY
JESUS PRAYER
All: Eternal Spirit, Father and Mother of us all,
Holy is your name.
Let justice and mercy fill all Creation
and let us recognize
that every thought and thing belongs to you.
Feed us with the bread we need for today.
Forgive our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Stand with us in trial and temptation.
Free us from the grip of all that is evil.
For you alone are creating our universe,
now and forever.
Amen.
HYMN
THE WORD
FIRST LESSON
SILENCE
GOSPEL
SERMON
SILENT REFLECTION
OFFERING
The first Sunday of each month we switch to a Communion Liturgy here.
SHARED REFLECTIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN
BENEDICTION
Leader: Arise, shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
As you follow Christ into the ordinary structures of your life,
"Do all you can with what you have
in the time you have
in the place you are."
You are a gift from God to this troubled world.
Unison: Amen.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
Responsive Reading from "To Be of Use," The Art of Blessing the Day Marge Piercy.
Benediction based the words of Nkosi Johnson, who lived with AIDS all 12 years of his life. NPR Radio interview with Jim Wooten, author of "We Are All Alike," December 2, 2004
