leadinginworship

The Inn Crowd: A Poem about Jesus

Jesus never fit into the Inn crowd
there was just no room.
From the very start those in-power people
had very little use for Jesus.
Moreover, they were increasingly offended
by his accusation that they lacked insight.
In the end, they were incensed
and looked for any way to do him in.
Even the Romans had no use for Jesus,
although Pilate’s wife believed he was innocent.
It was inevitable, he was in for it.
In the final hours a cross, and then interred in a tomb.

But Jesus could not be kept in,
he burst out of the grave on the third day!
Without a doubt,
no locked door could keep him out.
He knew what he was about,
with his ministry to the outcast,
the outlaws, the out of luck.
He knew the outcome;
he would not be outdone
by the clout of the politically powerful.
His disciples never forgot the mountaintop
where he stood outblazing the sun.
On that final outing on the beach
he outdid himself, making breakfast and speaking of love,
and then he was lifted out of sight.
This was before the outpouring of the Spirit.

Those are the ins and outs of the story,
and the bottom line is,
Jesus calls with a kingdom question
which cannot be ignored:
“Are you in or out?”

Palm Sunday Call to Worship

Jesus is coming!
From the mountainside, from the seaside,
from the homes of the rich
and the company of the poor,
from the bedside of those who are sick,
Jesus is coming!
Along dusty roads,
with a ragged band of travellers,
Jesus comes to Jerusalem,
Jesus comes to worship.
Will we greet him with Hosannas?

Let’s pray:
We have come to meet you today, Jesus.
We don’t know quite what to expect.
We think we know what we need,
how you can meet our needs.
But we come humbly, laying our coats before you.
It’s your call.
Reveal to us who you are,
how you can be a Saviour in our lives,
a Saviour in our world today.
Come Lord Jesus!

Palm Sunday Offering Prayer

The crowds offered you their coats to walk on,
they waved palm branches, honouring your presence.
Today we honour you, Lord,
with our faithful tithes and offerings.
We lay these gifts before you,
humble tokens of our love,
a public display of affection for our King of kings.
Amen.

Palm Sunday Congregational Prayer

Thank you God for your triumphal entry into our world each and every day.
The slow motion explosion of buds on the trees proclaim “Hosanna!”
Rushing water, falling from heaven, gurgling to the sea, proclaims “Hosanna!”
The fragrance of spring in the morning air proclaims, “Hosanna!”
And the beauty of a baby’s fingers, the softness of their cheek proclaims your praise!

We long to join this chorus, giving you thanks and praise for who you are,
for all you have created, all you are creating.
Thank you for sending Jesus, who showed us your love for all creation,
your love for us.
He opened our eyes to see your kingdom come here on earth.
Forgive us for the times where we have gone about our own business,
concerned with many things, oblivious to the needs of those around us,
oblivious to the call of your love in our heart.
God of grace, equip us to be your servants, listening, eager, ready.

Thank you for your presence in our world, even in war-filled places.
We hear of bombs dropped, children killed, the needy betrayed.
We are tempted to despair, and to think that you have forsaken us.
We are tempted to think that you are powerless.
Give us a vision of your entry into our world as the Prince of peace,
changing hearts, changing our hearts, one by one,
creating an army of peacemakers who say no to violence.
God of great deeds, open our hearts to be your hearts,
our hands to be your hands,
our arms, to be your loving arms
for all who need your presence.
We ask all these things, in the name of Jesus, our Lord, Amen.

Palm Sunday Benediction

My brothers and sisters,
as we enter into this holy week,
let us keep our eyes on Jesus. 
He will show us where we need to go.

 

Design conscious: a prayer about our clothes

Consider the clothes of our congregation,
how they glow!
Clothes of every color, light and dark, bright and muted,
a rainbow of raiment as varied as the lilies of the field.
Thank you, Lord, for clothing us;
we all have something to wear.
This despite the fact
that some of us have stood at our closets
lamenting, “I have nothing to wear.”

We come to worship with expensive Italian shoes
and twenty-year-old Birkenstocks
and running shoes from the thrift store.
We come to church with ironed pants,
skirts and dresses, short and long;
we even come with holey jeans. 
Few of us toil and spin to make our clothes,
and we confess, Lord, that we give hardly a thought
to those who clothe us with their labor.
In a world where disconnection breeds contempt,
where ignorance leads to neglect,
and apathy can mean the difference between life and death,
clothe us, Lord, with wisdom.
Show us the connections between:
what we wear and what we believe,
who we are and who we affect,
how we love and how we spend our money.
Help us to read the labels and to know our origins.
You are our Designer, we are fashioned by you.
Your garment of love, tailor-made,
a design lovely in every season.

This mutual life: a mediation on Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.
The earth’s crust, the earth’s surface
the earth’s atmosphere.
From molten rock to glaciers,
all this, everything is the Lord’s.
The world is the Lord’s.
The working world, the academic world,
the old world and the new world order
the worldwide web, the real world,
the whole world is the Lord’s.
The world and those who live in it:
all creatures great and small,
all swimming, flying, crawling, creeping beings.
Humankind cheek by jowl with lemurs,
birds singing your praise with crickets,
speckled trout showing your glory,
elephants and krill,
alive and replicating;
all made by you, all belonging to you.
God of the world,
God of this great blue globe,
God of mystery and infinite variety,
we are yours, together.
Help us live this mutual life,
conjoined, inseparable, intimate.

Psalm for those living with mental illness

Oh God, you are my God!  I seek you!
I am feeling heavy and tired,
I am troubled and empty.
From this place of pain I cry out to you!
I have never felt so sad,
I am totally overwhelmed,
I am facing despair.
People around me say,
“You’ll feel better tomorrow.”
They say I lack faith,
they are irritated with me and say,
“Pull yourself together!”
I hear the other voices of people saying
“Stupid, idiot, dumb, birdbrain.”

I call out to you because nobody else understands me,
nobody cares for me but you.
I can’t move, I feel paralyzed.  
I need your help!
If I don’t receive your help,
I have no reason to live. 
I can’t go on living like this.

Oh, you are my God, you are with me!
You hold me, you encourage me,
you are the one who is there for me at rock bottom.
Jesus weeps in the garden with me.
Jesus knows what it is like to feel forsaken.
My God is mighty to save,
God touches me and makes me whole.

Were you there for me?
Yes, you were! 
You say to me,
“Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.”
You have plans for me,
plans for good and not for evil.
You give me a hope and purpose.
I will always praise you,
for you are my God,
my Rock and my Redeemer.

[I help to run a peer support group for people with mood disorders. This Psalm came out of an exercise we did together, everyone in the group helped to write this psalm.]

Psalm for Silence

I crave silence like water.
In this noisy non-stop fast-paced high-powered
injection-fuelled people-filled emotion-packed
day, I say
“I crave silence like water.”
Drop, drop, drop
into my soul, soul, soul.
I will listen for the drip and the echo.
I will look, look, look
for the dropper of silence
and wait, wait, wait to be filled.

Silence expands noiselessly.
It blossoms unexpectedly,
beautifully, completely,
and it doesn’t leave when you open your eyes.
Silence is companionable,
it likes your company,
and wants you to stick around.
Silence is the long-term friend of pause,
and is acquainted with catch-your-breath.
Close cousins with sleep.
Wait’s uncle.

Silence outdistances all takers.
In the vast reaches of space,
supernovas explode in silence.
Silence seeps into the world
through the night sky.
I open my mouth
as round as the moon
and breathe in silence.
My heart hums because
Silence over the spent world swoops
with warm breast and ah! bright wings.

 

Our New Year's Prayer of hope

Lord, we stand at the door of this New Year,
thankful for the year behind us,
a gift through which we’ve lived and moved.
At this timely threshold,
with our feet poised to walk into 2012,
we turn to you with our prayer of hope.
Hope springs eternal when we walk with you.
Help us walk this year with you.
We hope that this will be a year filled
with joy, with love, with laughter,
a year filled with plenty and abundance,
with purpose and fulfillment.
But if the year brings hard times and hurt,
pain and sorrow, tears and trials,
we know that your care and comfort
will console us month by month.
Grace us with forgiving spirits.
As a community help us walk
with the happy and the sorrowful,
holding their stories tenderly.
We hope for peace in our time,
for an end to wild war music.
We long to hear the sound of governments
listening to their people,
heeding their pleas for justice.
We long to hear the sound of the children of the world
cheering together because peace has been declared,
and they do not have to fear anymore.
We hope for healing for our beloved earth,
for harmony and balance where we have caused
disharmony and unbalance.
This  year, Lord, help us to feel in our bones
the beauty of this life, this world;
its sounds and sights and smells and tastes,
the lavishness of being
which you give us in seconds and minutes
and hours and days and weeks and months.
Move in us, have your way with us,
so that on the last day of 2012
we can say, wholeheartedly,
this year has been a gift
through which we’ve lived and moved
as followers of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Advent/Christmas Call to Worship

Dearly beloved!
We are gathered here in the sight of God
in this time of worship
to remember the holy incarnation,
the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In a tiny town of Bethlehem
a worried father waited,
a would-be mother laboured.
The world held its breath for a Saviour.
The baby arrived,
and angels incandesecent
sang of goodwill to shepherds,
lighting up the night sky.
Centuries later, we celebrate this birth
this advent of life and hope.
May God this day
lighten the darkness of our lives,
so that we too can sing
Gloria!  Gloria!

Advent Communion Service

Who is invited to the Lord's Table?
All are invited;
the young and the old,
the rich and the poor,
the lowest and the least;
sinners and saints together in communion.
Come find your place here
where there are no strangers or foreigners,
only brothers and sisters in the sight of God.

Why do we give thanks at this table?
We give thanks because Jesus showed us the way,
we give thanks because Jesus is the Way.
Jesus was a gift from God for the world.
He was called Immanuel, “God with us”.
He came to save us from our sins.
Jesus lived a life of thankfulness
and gave his life as a sacrifice for many.
We give thanks that he is our Saviour, Christ the Lord.

Why do we eat and drink at this table?
We eat because on the night before Jesus died,
he ate with his friends. 
He gave them bread and said,
“This is my body which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
At that same meal he took a cup of wine and said,
“Drink this cup. This is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

What do we remember at this table?We remember Jesus’ birth and his presence as God with us.
We remember Jesus’ life and his love.
We remember Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross.
We remember the resurrection and the promise of life.
We remember that we are waiting in hope to see Jesus again.

Let us pray:
God of grace, thank you for this bread and wine,
and for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ. 
God of hope, fill us with your Spirit today
that we might have the wisdom to understand the mystery of this Table,
and the depth and  height and breadth and length of your love for us.
Through this meal, strengthen us to be followers of Jesus,
a community of peace in a broken world.

communion is served

Closing prayer:
Jesus, you truly are Immanuel “God with us”.
In this season of hope, may the meal we`ve shared together
nourish us to be your body in the world,
your kingdom come,
your will done on earth as it is in heaven.
With the angels in heaven we join in singing your praises,
Glory to God in the highest.
Alleluia!  Alleluia!
Amen. 

The year I put God on the Christmas list

It never occurred to me till this year
to put God on my Christmas list.
Heaven knows, I’ve been on the receiving end
too many times to count,
with a God whose giving knows no ending.
Maybe God would like a gift,
for a change.
What do you get Someone who has everything?
Slippers?  Does one size truly fit all?
A book?  What hasn’t God read yet?
An ipad?  Are there apps made in heaven?
Can everyone really use socks?
Tickets to a show…theatre?  sports?   
Is God hopeful enough to be a Maple Leafs fan?
Maybe I should get God something more personal.
A home-made gift perhaps,
like a coupon book.
What God might really like
is a coupon that says,
“One minute of world peace”.
I wish we could send messengers to God,
holy angels singing,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace,
good will from all people.”
This Christmas, a present for God
seems out of reach.

If I can’t get a present,
maybe I can be a present,
by being present for God.
This minute, this hour as my present.
I will completely turn my attention to God;
tuning in instead of tuning out,
deciding to be an active listener.
I will take the Bible at its word
and believe that God wants to hear from me.
I will present my requests to God
humbly, gratefully, honestly.
It`s not wrapped in shiny paper,
it`s not a perfect gift for the Father of Lights;
but I will try to be a cheerful giver.
Here`s hoping that God will say,  
“This is just what I’ve always wanted!”

Lost and found at Christmas

This Christmas, you come as a Saviour to the lost.
We gather here, we who have lost heart,
lost hope, lost patience, lost time.
We have lost innocence, we are losing the race,
we feel like lost souls.

This Christmas, we want to be finding you--
finding you in the silence of the gray morning
and in the sweet smile of a child;
finding you in the dark starry sky
and in the warm handshake of a friend;
finding you in the familiar Christmas narrative
and in the story of a stranger;
finding you in our own hearts
and in the face of our enemies.

Immanuel, God with us,
we wait for your presence this Christmas;
help us to give with generous hearts
and receive with thankfulness.
Give us patience in the face of irritation
and kindness in the face of anger;
fill us with contentment and peace
and remove all jealousy from us.
May our celebration of your birth
give honour to you in all we say and do
and may we enter the New Year
refreshed and recommitted to your service.  Amen

Advent Prayer: The world waits

God of grace, thank you for this season of waiting.
Thank you for the beauty of the sleeping earth  
waiting for spring’s new life.
Thank you for the joy of children
waiting for the excitement of gift giving.
Thank you for the gift of familiar carols,
whose joyful music touches waiting hearts.
Thank you for far-flung family and friends
that we can’t wait to see this season.
Thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ;
we have been waiting for a Saviour.

We pray for all who are waiting this morning;
people who are waiting for an end to violence
because they have known too much war;
people who are waiting for healing
because they live with sickness and pain;
people who are waiting for good news
because they are weighed down with sorrow.
We pray for all of the earth that is waiting--
creatures who are waiting for protection
because their environment has been destroyed;
waterways that are waiting for renewal
because they have been contaminated;
lands that are waiting to be redeemed from pollution
because we have forgotten that God called the land good.

Throughout the world, in and on and under it,
waiting happens, waiting grows and gathers,
the earth is pregnant waiting for redemption.
In eager expectation we wait for the revelation of the Son of God.
“How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of his heaven,
no ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Lord enters in.”*

*Philip Brooks, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

 

 

Christmas Reader's Theatre: For unto us a child is born!

[I wrote this for a Christmas Eve service and I had different congregants take the parts; they got up from where they were sitting in the congregation and came to the front to say their part, then they each lit a candle and placed it at around the manger scene that was at the front of the church.  Congregation members could each be invited to light a candle after their part to honour Jesus.]

Narrator:  Waiting, watching, hoping against hope,
the faithful have looked and longed for a Saviour.
Wrapped up in our own lives, in our own struggles,
consumed with our own desires and our own sins,
still our hope was in God.
At long last, all generations cry out,
“For unto us a child is born”.

Abraham:   My name is Abraham.  I followed God’s call. 
I went from my own country and my kindred to the land that God showed me. 
God promised to make a nation from my descendants.
 God said that all families of the earth would be blessed through me. 
Now we see the fulfillment of that promise with the gift of this child…
today we are blessed indeed!
For unto us a child is born.

Hagar:  I am Hagar.  I was Sarah’s slavegirl.
I bore Abraham a son, whom I called Ishmael. 
When I was at the end of all hope because of my suffering,
I fled into the wilderness.  
It was there that I met “the God who hears”;
the God who hears even the crying of the cast out. 
God has heard the cries of all people; the insiders and the outsiders. 
This baby is a gift to us: a gift for all peoples. 
For unto us a child is born!

Jacob:  I am Jacob, grandson of Abraham. 
Even though I was a liar and a cheater, there was still room for me in God’s plan. 
I had a dream one night where God stood right next to me.
In the morning I called that place Bethel, the House of God.  
Today a child is born with the same message…God is right here with us!
We give thanks for Immanuel--God with us.
For unto us a child is born!

Moses:  I am Moses.
When God spoke to me from a burning bush in the wilderness,
I had lots of excuses. 
I didn’t want to help God liberate our people from slavery. 
But God didn’t give up on me or Israel. 
With God’s power,
our people were delivered from the hands of the mighty Pharaoh.
We worship a God who delivers!
And then through God’s mercy, we were given the law at Sinai to guide us.
We worship a God who guides us!
And today we have been given a Saviour who will deliver us from evil,
a Saviour who will be our guide.
For unto us a child is born!

Ruth:  I am Ruth. 
I am a foreigner from Moab, who married one of the sons of Israel. 
When my husband died, I followed my mother-in-law back to her country Israel.
I was her faithful friend, and her God, the God of Israel,
was faithful in restoring our happiness.
I gleaned wheat in the fields near this town of Bethlehem. 
A man named Boaz married me, even though I was a widow and a foreigner.
I gave birth to a child that brought great joy to my family.
This baby Jesus is one of my descendants,
he has come to bring great joy to the world!
For unto us a child is born!

Samuel: My name is Samuel.   
When I was just a small boy I heard God calling me.
 I said, “Yes Lord, your servant hears you.” 
And so I served God all my days, calling the people of Israel to faithfulness. 
It was a hard job, because the people did not always want to hear what I had to say.
But God never deserted me. 
Now I see that God has sent his own son to call us to faithfulness. 
For unto us a child is born!

David: My name is David.
I was the Lord’s anointed, a man after God’s own heart.
I ruled Israel as a king for many years.
I was a sinner, like everyone else, and I disappointed God in many ways.
But God was faithful to me.
This night in Bethlehem, in my own city,
a new King has been born, one of my own descendants.
This Ruler will bring peace to the world. 
He will be called the Prince of Peace.
For unto us a child is born!

Isaiah:  My name is Isaiah, and I was a prophet of the Most High. 
The people of Israel had turned from God. 
God allowed them to be conquered by the Babylonians. 
he holy city Jerusalem was in ruins, our temple was destroyed. 
Our people were taken in chains into captivity. 
How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. 
He will establish the throne of David
and uphold it with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore. 
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!  (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Joseph: Joseph is my name, and my betrothed Mary has given birth to a son. 
This child has come to save our people from their sin. 
We have great hopes for this small baby, our firstborn.
And we have named him Jesus, as the angel instructed me.
For unto us a child is born!

Mary:  My name is Mary and I am a servant of the Lord.
God’s mercy is on those who fear God, from generation to generation. 
God has helped his servant Israel,
according to the promise made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and Sarah and to their descendants forever. 
Jesus is a blessing for the world, that has come through my life.
For unto us a child is born!

People:  Today we add our voices to the chorus of thanksgiving.
We join our voices to the song that rises through time,
around the world on every parallel,
“Glory to God in the highest”.
The harmony of our song of praise reaches heaven,
as we give thanks for God’s son, Jesus Christ our Lord!
For unto us a child is born!

 

Remembrance Day Prayer

Remember with clear eyes the horrific cost of war.
Remember with deep sorrow those who killed and were killed.
Remember with grief the blood-stained battlefields.
Remember with tears the rending of people from their homes.
Remember with compassion the bereaved and the wounded.
Remember with reverence those who risked their lives for peace.
Remember with tenderness the children’s longing for freedom.
Remember with gratefulness all who forgave their enemies.
Remember with hope the kingdom that is planted with small seeds.
Remember with confidence that faith, hope and love abide.
Remember with joy that our Saviour is the Prince of Peace.

 

Faith offering prayer

Before the offering:

We don’t always know how much money we have,
or how much we will need;
in precarious economic times we are tempted
to hoard our money for ourselves.
In this offering we have the opportunity to show our faith,
that our God will supply all our needs.

After the offering:

We walk by faith,
we live by faith,
we give by faith.
God of great gifts,
you have given us so much,
accept these gifts from our hands,
our faithful response to your abundant grace.  Amen.

 

God of gardens

God of gardens,
you are the great Cultivator,
growing faith  for the ages.
You aren’t picky about the size of the harvest.
You rejoice in the vast prairie field,
one crop from horizon to horizon,
just as you rejoice in the tiny plant
breaking through the inner city cement crack.
You carefully tend the tenderest of plants,
taking deep delight in burgeoning beauty.
Under the light of your gaze,
faith breaks out in different colours
and different stripes
all over the wide world.
You aren’t threatened by new cultivars
that change through the generations;
you’ve grafted in new strains
cross-breeding for hardiness and vigour.

We come on the scene,
eager gardeners,
anxious to work till kingdom come.
We long for and then write gardening manuals.
We outline what is acceptable and unacceptable,
and what should never be tolerated.
We come to work with books in hand,
ready to raise up something from nothing.
We’re shocked and even a bit dismayed to find faith
growing wild and strong
even before we arrive.
We don’t know what to make of this faith,
undomesticated by us.
You tour us around, smiling broadly,
remembering the lavish generosity
of those who planted so others could harvest.

Lord, we are the newly planted.
You are growing us all into good gardeners
and we look to you for inspiration.
Reveal to us the mystery of faith
in the eyes of a child,
wide with amazement
as the petal of each new day unfolds.
Reveal to us the work of faith
in the hands of our grandparents,
calloused from decades of labour.
Reveal to us the fundamentals of faith
in the harvest of righteousness
you are growing in the earth today.
Help us to see the harvest
not as something to be owned and controlled
but as something to be celebrated,
pressed down, shaken together, running over.
We ask all this in the name of Jesus, Amen. 

celebrate

On the long journey,
where many steps are required each day,
there comes a time to pause and look back,
to join with a companion and say, “There!
Those steps have been completed, they’re done.
I’ve come this far.”
Or if no companion is there,
to stand alone and whisper,
with clear eyes,
“I’ve done this, I’ve made this journey.”

The journey with mental illness
has milestones seldom marked except by those who walk there…
a day where I continued to live
a week where I managed to take my medication
a month since the last episode
a year since I was in the hospital
a decade since I began living with this disability.

I have made this journey
I have moved in darkness and lived to see the day
I have been swept up in the whirlwind and survived
I have been lost and found my way
I have wept and my tears have turned to peace
I have been abandoned and found my own strength
I have called on God in despair and found faithfulness.

I can celebrate this, this moving towards healing.
And if I walk this road again, God help me,
I will turn and help a fellow traveller,
“You can do this.  I have done this.  We can do this together.”