Order of Worship
Let us be as open vessels that God’s spirit may enter.
The Community Gathers: Experience God’s presence in the assembly. Please greet one another with joy and welcome new friends into our community of love.
You are welcome here…come and worship!
Focus: When I fail to turn to God the way I should, when I let someone down, I admit my mistake. And then I say to God, “This is how things turn out when I try to do things a on my own. You are the only one who can keep me from falling- and You are the only one who can mend my mistakes.” And once I’ve done this, I put it out of my mind and stop worrying about it. Brother Lawrence
Welcome: Each week of this Lent Season, we are focusing on ways that we can practice a counter-cultural theology that emphasizes the beauty and grace of the reality of life-right-now rather than waiting with increasing judgment to reach some vision of a perfected existence. Our ladder -climbing efforts sometimes end up taking us down a rung or two as things don’t turn out just right. And so let us continue to nurture our souls and embrace our holy “good enough” lives.
Gathering Music: Good Enough (Marcia McFee/Marsha Moors/Chuck Bell) -Michelle Currie
Call To Worship:
One: Happy are those who experience the Grace of God
Many: Who find forgiveness and mercy from the Holy One.
One: Happy are those who experience the steadfast love of God.
Many: Who find peace even in times of trial.
One: Happy are those who experience rest in God.
Many: Who find Sabbath to renew their spirit.
Opening Hymn: Breathe on Me, Breath of God
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will one will,
To do and to endure.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Till I am wholly Thine,
Until this earthly part of me
Glows with Thy fire divine.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
Of Thine eternity.
Opening Prayer. Based on Psalm 32
Let us Pray together:
Holy One, God of Forgiveness, we call out to you and you surround us with deliverance. You love us infinitely more than we love ourselves or others. Open us this day to your counsel, helping us be more merciful, more grace-filled, so that we might rejoice in simple and good enough moments that fill our days. Amen
Lord’s Prayer
Awakening: He Ran to Me (by Philips, Craig & Dean) -Michelle Currie
Scripture: Psalm 32: 1-11; Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32 Peter McPheeters
Meditation: Watching and Waiting Stephen Fox
Music: Meditative Instrumental ~ Michelle Currie
Musical call to Prayer: (two times) Hush now in quiet peace, be still your mind at ease. The Spirit brings release, so wait upon the Lord. Michelle Currie
Prayers of the People Silent Prayers Pastoral Prayer
Closing Music: Amazing Grace
Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toil, and snares, I have already come
“Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.
“A Blessing for Becoming Real” From “Good Enough”
“Blessed are you who do not despise your realness.
It may hurt. You may not recognize yourself in the mirror.
But this is what we hoped for, right?
To live and love. To be loved.
To have our experiences show on our faces and in our cells.
It is the real life of Jesus in us, being made visible, as all our seams show.”
Benediction:
And now may the God who loves all creation, especially the broken bits, and Jesus, our companion along this crooked path called life, and the Holy Spirit, who loves to improvise in surprising ways, go with you, dwell among you and give you joy. Amen
Postlude: Good Enough (Benediction)
God is still here and some – how, this faith is good enough.
God is still here and some – how, this faith is good enough.
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Great thanks to our Music Director, Michelle Currie, our reader today, Peter McPheeters and to our Zoom Host, Amy Grohman. And a special thank you to Patricia Mulholland for helping with the development and presentation of today’s service.
Worship Materials Marcia McFee © www.worshipdesignstudio.com/goodenough. Used and adapted with permission.
“Good Enough” theme song by Marsha Charles, Marcia McFee, Chuck Bell. Used with permission of Worship Design Studio.
“A Blessing for a Joyfully Mediocre Journey” from Good Enough: 40’ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie.
Our Scripture Readings: Psalm 32: 1-11
Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.[b]
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:
“There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.
“When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’
“So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’
“Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”
A Word of God that is still speaking,
Thanks be to God.