Focus: “Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.” ― David Richo
Welcome:
Music: God Is Holding Your Life (by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan) ― Michelle Currie
Call To Worship:
One: Breath of God, you are the one
in whom we live and move and have our being.
All: And we are the ones in whom you live and move and have your being, for you made us in your image and likeness.
One: May your unifying energy be felt here among us,
All: And rekindle the fire within, that makes us feel
alive when we care for others.
One: Let us draw from the well of living water,
All: And be attentive to that which needs healing
in ourselves and in our world.
One: Come, let us worship where all are welcome in the house of God,
All: And find safe-haven in the heart of the One who loves us.
Opening Hymn: Spirit of the Living God *Recording ― Michelle Currie
Opening Prayer:
God of our ancestors, of prophets from long ago and today,
you have spoken your word deep within us.
Help us to hear your wisdom and to feel it in our bones.
You have called us to a life that liberates and is liberating,
so on this day, may we sense the strength we have together to create a way when there is no way. As people who have walked in darkness, yet have seen a great light, may we befriend the stranger with the warmth of our hospitality. As a community of faith, let us stand on the ground of the Good News that offers healing to the broken and belonging to the lost. Spirit of the Living God, guide us in your ways
of justice and grace. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Awakening: You’re Gonna Be Okay (by Seth Mosley/Jenn Johnson/Jeremy Riddle) ― Michelle Currie
Scripture: A Blessing for Healing, Joyce Rupp; Mark 1: 29-39 ― Rev. Lamar Robinson
A Time for Sharing: Times of Healing Rev. Paula Norbert
Music: ~ Meditative Instrumental … Be Thou My Vision / Make Me A Channel of Your Peace ― 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.
Prayers of the People:
Closing Hymn: Make Me A Servant *Recording ― Michelle Currie
Benediction:
May you live with the knowledge that
God is holding your life
even as we hold each other.
You are not alone.
You are loved.
Amen.
Postlude: Go In Peace
Scripture
A Blessing for Healing by Joyce Rupp
May the ever-present love of family and friends sustain and support you, especially in those times when you feel alone and lonely.
May you accept your worthiness to receive self-compassion, to give yourself permission to care for your inner and outer self as best you can.
May you be in touch with the resilience residing within you, a strength that enables you to go on when you feel weak and vulnerable.
May you find comfort when you are hurting, and experience a tender presence of the Holy One when you are most distressed.
May the beauty contained in gestures of kindness, and in the loveliness of nature, bring you quiet joy.
May you give yourself to restfulness when you are weary, and be content with inactivity when your body and spirit demand that you go slowly.
May you be patient when you want things to change, or when difficulties appear to be insurmountable and unmanageable.
May you be released from the burdens of fear and dread, and anything else that tries to drag your spirit into desolation.
May you discover hope in the most unexpected situations, and store this treasure in a special corner of your heart where you can easily find it.
May you sink into the peaceful embrace of the Great Healer, and may this peace permeate you with divine tenderness.
Mark 1:29-39
1:29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
1:30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once.
1:31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
1:32 That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.
1:33 And the whole city was gathered around the door.
1:34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
1:35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.
1:36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him.
1:37 When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.”
1:38 He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”
1:39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.