The word "liturgy" means "work of the people." Instead of providing a product for you to passively consume, we are inviting you to participate in a weekly experience. By praying and singing and reading out loud, through sitting and standing and listening, we hope to engage you in the active act of worship. We may be physically separated during this time, but by participating in the same acts of worship each week, we are connected to one another through a common experience.
God – we gather in your presence.
Father – we long for more of you.
Jesus – we place you at the center.
Holy Spirit – come and fill our time together.
Help us to be fully present here,
to your word, to one another,
and to the world you love.
Amen.
Join Anderson by standing and reciting alongside.
The text of lectionary passage for you to read aloud as you remain standing.
Please remain standing for the reading of scripture. The text for today comes from Isaiah 50:4-9
Isaiah 50:4-9a (NIV)
The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
I have not been rebellious,
I have not turned away.
I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.
Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame.
He who vindicates me is near.
Who then will bring charges against me?
Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
Let him confront me!
Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:15-27:66
Take some time to listen to the Spirit and respond in prayer, however you feel led.
As we enter passion week in the most peculiar time in many of our lives, may we continue to grow in generosity. This past week, our community has given over $12,000 to individuals and ministries serving the most vulnerable. Let’s continue living with a heart of generosity.
This week, take time to remember all that God has done. Reflect on the moments and seasons of life when God has felt near to you. Spend time outside and feel the raindrops, observe the budding of new life that springtime brings forth, and remember that the creator who made all things has not abandoned creation. As you remember, don’t neglect your pain and suffering. Instead entrust your pain, loneliness, isolation, anxiety, and suffering to a loving God who remains faithful to His promise of making all things new!
Stand together, one last time, and read this Psalm in solidarity with a suffering world.
Psalm 31:9-16
“Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief.
My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,
and my bones grow weak.
Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
For I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
But I trust in you, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.”
Go In Peace!!!