prepared by Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber

Worship Note

As we continue the selfless practice of restricted physical contact, as we adapt and welcome new ways of being communities of faith, our souls need special care. This service is one of a series designed to align us with the Living God during these pandemic-impacted times as social justice reforms arise.

Preparations

• You may wish to arrange to worship distantly with others at the same time.
• Read through this service beforehand to assemble items needed.
• A “Christ Candle” can be any sort of candle or object which represents Christ’s presence.
• Choose songs to sing (our suggestions or your favorites). Assemble what you’ll need to sing.
• Ensure an uninterrupted place to worship.
• Decorate your space to welcome God’s presence as we do at church.

Time for Children of All Ages

“Out of the Bag: Guided” on YouTube channel: Kathryn Schreiber

Worship Service

Please adapt to make this worship service your own. Your intention is what is important.

We Gather

Call to Worship

We are traveling on a most unusual journey, my friends. The nightstars are not bright enough to light the way. Even the daystar, the sun, can’t shine a light on the future. What will guide us on this mysterious road? God’s Word will illuminate our feet. God’s Presence will enlighten the path.

Invocation

As we light the Christ Candle we invoke the eternal presence of God. Be a lamp unto our feet, O Lord. Light our way, O Holy One. Amen.

Light the Christ Candle

Song for Welcoming the Presence of God

“Thy Word” by Amy Grant and Michael W Smith Performed by GEMS Creative Movement – Dance (used without permission)

We Unburden and Gather Hope

Naming Our New Reality

Whether you are alone or with others, let this be a time of private reflection. Take a few moments to reflect on the past week. Listen to your heart, your mind, your body, your soul. How are you, really? What moments stopped you in your tracks or lifted your spirit with joy? What concerns weigh down your heart and body? Can you give this to God? What hope is hiding inside, asking to be celebrated? God is always with us through the ups and the downs. Offer to God anything that asks to be shared, including the sweet silence of just being together. God is so grateful you have paused to be in Holy Presence.

Silent Prayer

We shift from speaking to God to sitting with God silently. A helpful way to enter sacred silence is to offer this simple prayer based on Psalm 46:10:

Be still and know that I am God. (pause)

Be still and know that I am. (pause)

Be still and know. (pause)

Be still. (pause)

Be. (pause)

Try to sit quietly in a state of calm devotion. It can be very hard to still the mind. Thoughts and feelings rise. A great temptation to bolt may occur. Who wants to meet the frantic activity of our minds? Please be kind to your mental clouds. They are fleeting reality. There is a more permanent reality they mask – God’s eternal loving being. Christian spiritual guide, James Finlay, teaches us to treat these every-changing thoughts and feelings with great compassion. Kindly acknowledge what rises but try not to further engage any thought or feeling. (Important matters will return later.) Instead, try to breathe in the ultimate reality of God’s Lovingkindness. From time to time, we do sense it. Even one moment of this experience is enough to cast a huge platform of deep peace. When you’re ready to release this practice, take a deep breath, let it out, thank God, and say, “Amen.”

Acts of Unburdening and Affirming

Place pebbles or small items at the base of the Christ Candle thinking or speaking whatever you wish to offer to God for release or gratitude. These offerings need not be named. The soul knows what to give to God and God knows what to receive.

God’s Grace 

God designed our minds to keep us safe. Our brains are very good at noticing potential dangers. However, when we are in a perpetual state of concern – such as living through a pandemic – our bodies are flooded with an excess of “response” biochemicals. We need to reset our body chemistry. We need to shift into “grace-awareness” mode.

God’s grace doesn’t make sense. Our ideas can’t get us there, but our souls can. Our souls receive God’s grace 24/7. To become aware of this holy flow of grace try to shift consciousness from  what is scary to what is secure. From fleeting challenges to eternal love. Let us practice trusting in God’s goodness. Maybe, today, you will actually experience God’s grace firsthand. Peace. Amen.

We Listen

Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:105-112 (New Revised Standard Version)

Your word is a lamp to my feet
   and a light to my path.
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
   to observe Your righteous ordinances.
I am severely afflicted;
   give me life, O Lord, according to Your word.
Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord,
   and teach me Your ordinances.
I hold my life in my hand continually,
   but I do not forget Your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
   but I do not stray from Your precepts.
Your decrees are my heritage forever;
   they are the joy of my heart.
I incline my heart to perform Your statutes
   forever, to the end.

May God add a blessing to the reading and reflecting upon God’s Holy Word. Amen.

Reflection Upon “Being with God”

(This content is created for private reflection. If your pastor has prepared a written or recorded message you may use it instead of, or with, this material.)

These are not easy times, friends. We like to believe in progress, in a strait path out of an unwanted challenge into a better solution. However, healing paths are never linear. They meander. They flow, like the great rivers of the world, going where the water needs to flow.

Today’s scripture is part of a much longer psalm. It is the story of human challenges laid beside God’s endless faithfulness. This is THE human story. This is OUR current story. Life can be very hard at the same time as God can be very good. What a beautiful paradox!

This enforced time of restricted activity might be a good time to explore your personal relationship with God. Do you love God when times are good but shun God when times are hard? Do you race to God when the going gets tough and forget about God when the going is good? Maybe, God is a familiar friend you turn to often with whatever is going on? Maybe God is a stranger you think you see in the corners, but aren’t quite sure you’d like to come closer? Maybe it’s a little bit of all of these styles? Our relationship with God tends to shift. Like all relationships, the shifts are spiral – we evolve in how we relate to each other both repeating old patterns while exploring new ones.

During this time of pandemic, of continuing or re-instated shelter-in-place, please reflect upon your relationship with God with great loving compassion. Listen to yourself as the best parent might listen to the most precious child. How has your life with God been? You might want to write in a journal or go for a walk. Maybe, this is a discussion to share with a dear companion? It may be a task of a few minutes or a couple of days. Honor what has been, and when you are ready, thank God for what was.

And then, when you are ready, listen to the current hunger of your soul. What does the deepest part of you want from God? Again, do so with great loving compassion – listen to yourself as the best parent might listen to the most precious child. What do you want your life with God to be? What is your personal “God Dream”?

Tell God what you’d like, really like. It might seem like play-acting to talk to God in this way, especially if you’re not used to being so vulnerable with God. It is scary to be so honest. It may be helpful to recall that Jesus frequently asked those who came to him, “What do you want from me?” The Ever-Perfect One is a gracious God who creates space for us to listen to our own deep knowing. Tell God what you want – take the time it takes to do so. Thank God for listening when you’re ready to move on.

Dear ones, this is BIG work… to explore our personal relationship with God. Come back to this practice anytime. If the work seems frightening or wrong in some way, you may wish to speak to a trusted spiritual friend or guide. You don’t have to do this deep work alone. Or, set it aside for now. This may not be the time for you to be so introspective. Trust our gut, not your fear. God remains with you, just as much in love with your beautiful soul as the day you were born.

When we seriously seek a deeper, more vivacious relationship with God light appears illuminating the most mysterious of paths. Around the world we need more people to become spiritually blessed with inner knowing. This is one of the critical ways God will move us into a new, better future. Dear one, may God’s presence – in scripture, in prayer, in community, in all creation – be with you. Take care. Soli Deo Gloria. (Latin: “Glory to God Alone”)

Special Music    

Suggestion: “Honor the Dark” written and performed by LEA (used by permission)

We Pray

Prayers of Petition

Though distant, when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, we are connected one to another in the Holy Spirit. We never pray alone. What prayers does your soul ask to be lifted up – joys and concerns? Speak them. If your prayers don’t fit words today, use your body to give your prayers to God through movement or sound, dance, tears, or silence. If your community shares prayer requests please include them as you continue your prayers of petition.

Chant of Response

Suggestion: “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” – K Medema, CHILDREN PRAYING (#305 Chalice)

The Lord’s Prayer

Imagine a place where you feel close to God, maybe a sanctuary where you’ve worshipped. Welcome the memory of your Beloved Community filling your soul with companionship as we pray together the prayer Jesus taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

We Give Thanks

Offering

Sometimes we give thanks for what has been, sometimes we give thanks for what will be. Today, practice future thanksgiving – just as today’s psalmist did. Praise God for God’s faithful response to all special needs no matter what is currently going on. Practice faith. (see donation footnote)

We Continue in Hope

Song of Hope

Suggestion: “Amazing Grace” by J Newton, NEW BRITAIN, Performed by Rhema Marvanne (used without permission)

Words of Hope

Serenity Prayer by Rev. Reinhold Niebuhr (later version)

God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is not as I would have it, trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

Benediction

One step at a time in the luminous presence of God we enter the future with faith, hope, and love. Go forth in peace, Dear One. Amen.

(the service is concluded)

Resources:

Online Chalice Hymnal: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/CH1995

Online New Century Hymnal: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/NCH1995

HOL: Hymns of Life, bilingual hymnal. ©1986, China Alliance Press.

YouTube Music Videos: search by title AND one of the authors for best results

Worship Resources: All content prepared and written by Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber unless attributed to another source. (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version ©1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Chalice) The Chalice Hymnal and (New Century) The New Century Hymnal, among other worship publications, have suspended copyright restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Worship Credit: © 2020, Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber, Living Liturgies

Permission: Permission is not granted to share or distribute this resource beyond your community without additional permission from the author.

Donation for Use of Content: Due to the current coronavirus pandemic this content is offered free. However,  you may express your gratitude financially by making a donation to an organization that provides soul care. I highly recommend Spiritual Directors International and am a member: https://www.sdicompanions.org/. If you’d like to support the congregation I serve as pastor – Berkeley Chinese Community Church – we’d be most grateful for your support. Please send checks to: BCCC UCC, 2117 Acton Street, Berkeley, CA 94702, Attn: Diane Huie, Treasurer. Thank you!

Living Liturgies: www.inthebiglove.com; Facebook: “Living Liturgies”; YouTube: “Kathryn Schreiber”

prepared by Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber

Worship Note

As we continue the selfless practice of restricted physical contact, as we adapt and welcome new ways of being communities of faith, our souls need special care. This service is one of a series designed to align us with the Living God during these pandemic-impacted times as social justice reforms arise.

Preparations

• You may wish to arrange to worship distantly with others at the same time.
• Read through this service beforehand to assemble items needed, including items for Holy Communion – a cup with a beverage and some bread or other finger food.
• A “Christ Candle” can be any sort of candle or object which represents Christ’s presence.
• Choose songs to sing (our suggestions or your favorites). Assemble what you’ll need to sing.
• Ensure an uninterrupted place to worship.
• Decorate your space to welcome God’s presence as we do at church.

Time for Children of All Ages

“Out of the Bag: Holy Water” on YouTube channel: Kathryn Schreiber

Worship Service

Please adapt to make this worship service your own. Your intention is what is important.

We Gather

Call to Worship

Dear Ones, no matter where you are, no matter what day of the week it is, no matter what time of the day or night it is, may we be connected, one to another, woven together through our shared faith in the Living God revealed to us through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Invocation

Our souls cry out, O God. We are thirsty for You! Flood our souls with sustaining hope, Living God. Fill our memories with Your eternal faithfulness. Amen.

Light the Christ Candle

Song for Welcoming the Presence of God

Suggestion: “Come and Fill Our Hearts” – Taizé, Performed by Church of the Savior, UCC Knoxville TN (used without permission)

Unburden and Gather Hope

Naming Our New Reality

Whether you are alone or with others, let this be a time of private reflection. How is it with you today? How is your heart, your mind, your body, your soul? What were the highpoints of the week, and the low points, too? What might be forgotten if you don’t hold that memory today? Through it all God was there and is here now, listening. Offer to God anything that asks to be shared – anything. God has heard it all many times before, and yet, God eager awaits hearing directly from each of us.

Silent Prayer

We shift from speaking to God to sitting with God silently. A helpful way to enter sacred silence is to offer this simple prayer based on Psalm 46:10:

Be still and know that I am God. (pause)

Be still and know that I am. (pause)

Be still and know. (pause)

Be still. (pause)

Be. (pause)

Try to sit quietly in a state of calm devotion. It can be very hard to still the mind. Our thoughts wander, feelings arise, our bodies wiggle. It can be shocking how quickly our good intentions go astray! Do not fret, dear one. The mind is like an antsy toddler. With compassion, acknowledge what rises but try not to engage any thought or feeling. (Important matters will return later.) Practice choosing to refocus on God. Take a breath and try again. Each time we choose to return to God, gently turning away from our over-active mind, is a gift we give God. Let’s be kind to ourselves. When you’re ready to move on take a moment to thank God saying, “Amen.”

Acts of Unburdening and Affirming

Place pebbles or small items at the base of the Christ Candle thinking or speaking whatever you wish to offer to God for release or gratitude. These offerings need not be named. The soul knows what to give to God and God knows what to receive.

God’s Grace 

Ever-Present One, Ever-Faithful One, Ever-Merciful One, You wait for us. No matter how far we have wandered off; No matter how hard we were pushed away; No matter how thin our presence has become – You are always here with us. Restore our souls and make us well. May we receive the healing grace of Your Love. Amen.

We Listen

Scripture Reading: Psalm 42:1-6a (NRSV)

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”

These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise God, my help and my God.

May God add a blessing to the reading and reflecting upon God’s Holy Word. Amen.

Reflection Upon “Spiritual Thirst”

(This content is created for private reflection. If your pastor has prepared a written or recorded message you may use it instead of, material below.)

Sermon

Sermon Suggestion: “As a Doe Thirsts” by Rev. Kathryn Schreiber, YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/wcb11m0TQMs, Transcript on Facebook: Berkeley Chinese Community Church

Special Music    

Suggestion: “As the Deer” by Martin J Nystrom, Performed by World Edition Singers (used without permission) YouTube: https://youtu.be/KnIYWKfW74E

We Share

Prayer of Consecration

Whenever we gather for Holy Communion, be it in a sanctuary or virtually in many homes, we gather spiritually. At this time, please gather your cups and bread for blessing.

Let us Pray:

We are thirsty, God! We are hungry, God! We need the spiritual nourishment only You can give. Amen.

Words of Institution

Remember the night of Jesus’ Last Supper with his Beloved Disciples? They were tired from the highs and lows of discipleship. They were parched from witnessing human suffering. They were burnt out from doing what was God’s to do. They were like deer in need of a long, deep drink of fresh water. So, Jesus called them to join him at the table.

With whom would you like to share this meal? Who is need of God’s nourishing presence? Invite them to join us. Speak their names… (say their names)

Communion Song

Suggestion: “All Belong Here” by The Many performed by The Many (used without permission)

Sharing the Elements

Jesus looked upon his beloved disciples, and he picked up the Passover Shabbat loaf of unleavened bread, an ancient symbol of God’s nourishing presence – the bread given to the freed Hebrew slaves as they left Egypt. Jesus took the Liberation Loaf, lifted it up (lift up or put your hand over your bread) and said: “Take, eat. This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (eat the bread)

After they had eaten, Jesus looked, again, upon his beloved disciples. Jesus picked up the Elisha’s Cup. Each Passover, a place setting is set out for the Prophet Elisha in hopes that one day he will return with the Messiah. Jesus took the Messianic Cup, lifted it up (lift up or put your hand over your cup) and Jesus said: “Drink this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (drink from the cup)

Prayer of Thanksgiving

From the dry places of weariness and regret, from the hungry places of fear and anger, O God, You have restored us. You fill our souls with Living Water. You revive our memories with Your faithfulness. We have been made whole again – ready to live strong, blessed by You. Thank You, Holy God. Thank You. Amen.

We Pray

Prayers of Petition

Though distant, when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, we are connected one to another in the Holy Spirit. We never pray alone. What prayers does your soul ask to be lifted up – joys and concerns? Speak them. If your prayers don’t fit words today, use your body to give your prayers to God through movement or sound, dance, tears, or silence. If your community shares prayer requests please include them as you continue your prayers of petition.

The Lord’s Prayer

Imagine a place where you feel close to God, maybe a sanctuary where you’ve worshipped. Welcome the memory of your Beloved Community filling your soul with companionship as we pray together the prayer Jesus taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

We Give Thanks

Offering

Let your spirit fill with gratitude for a memory of being restored by God – the Living Water who brings life to all beings. Maybe your soul has been lifted by song or the fragrance of a summer flower? Maybe the sharing of Holy Communion or a word of scripture uplifted your spirit today? Give thanks for the wondrous ways God tends all of us, knitting us together, fellow siblings on this life journey.(see donation footnote)

We Continue in Hope

Song of Hope

Suggestion: “Be Still My Soul” – K von Schlegel, FINLANDIA (#566 Chalice, #273 HOL)

Benediction

Beloved One, Formerly Thirsty One, May the days ahead be blessed with unexpected joys. May your heart open to new gifts of hope. May you share with other living beings a moment of peace. Go forth in the Peace of Christ. Amen.

(the service is concluded)

Note: *When a verse of scripture contains many sections, each phrase or sentence is labeled “a” “b.”

Resources:

Chalice: Online Chalice Hymnal: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/CH1995

TNCH: Online New Century Hymnal: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/NCH1995

HOL: Hymns of Life, bilingual hymnal. ©1986, China Alliance Press.

YouTube Music Videos: search by title AND one of the authors for best results

Worship Resources: All content prepared and written by Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber unless attributed to another source. (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version ©1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Chalice) The Chalice Hymnal and (New Century) The New Century Hymnal, among other worship publications, have suspended copyright restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Worship Credit: © 2020, Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber, Living Liturgies

Permission: Permission is not granted to share or distribute this resource beyond your community without additional permission from the author.

Donation for Use of Content: Due to the current coronavirus pandemic this content is offered free. However,  you may express your gratitude financially by making a donation to an organization which tends the souls of the thirsty. If you’d like to support the congregation I serve as pastor – Berkeley Chinese Community Church – we’d be most grateful for your support. Please send checks to: BCCC UCC, 2117 Acton Street, Berkeley, CA 94702, Attn: Diane Huie, Treasurer. Thank you!

Living Liturgies: www.inthebiglove.com; Facebook: “Living Liturgies”; YouTube: “Kathryn Schreiber”

prepared by Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber

Worship Note

As we continue the selfless practice of restricted physical contact, as we adapt and welcome new ways of being communities of faith, our souls need special care. This service is one of a series designed to align us with the Living God during these pandemic-impacted times as social justice reforms arise.

Preparations

• You may wish to arrange to worship distantly with others at the same time.
• Read through this service beforehand to assemble items needed.
• A “Christ Candle” can be any sort of candle or object which represents Christ’s presence.
• Choose songs to sing (our suggestions or your favorites). Assemble what you’ll need to sing.
• Ensure an uninterrupted place to worship.
• Decorate your space to welcome God’s presence as we do at church.

Time for Children of All Ages

“Out of the Bag: Wish Lists” on YouTube channel: Kathryn Schreiber

Worship Service

Please adapt to make this worship service your own. Your intention is what is important.

We Gather

Call to Worship

Let us come together – people hungry for human contact.

Let us come together – folks who find our way forward one day at a time.

Let us come together – worshippers eager for a community of hope.

Let us come together – believers held by God’s Big Dream for everyone. Amen.

Invocation

We call upon the ever-present presence of God:

The Creator of All That Is,

The Redeemer of All Who Have Sinned,

The Animator of All That Lives.

Holy God, be known to us this day as we gather in Your name. Amen.

Light the Christ Candle

Song for Welcoming the Presence of God

Suggestion: “Gather Us In” – M Haugen, GATHER US IN (#284 Chalice)

We Unburden and Gather Hope

Naming Our New Reality

Whether you are alone or with others, let this be a time of private reflection. How is it with you today? How is your heart, your mind, your body, your soul? What journey did you make this week, travelling with other pilgrims on our life journeys during this time of Covid-19? Review the past week noticing the best moments, the most unexpected moments, the most challenging moments. Through it all God was there and is here now, listening. Let us offer to God anything that asks to be shared – anything. God has heard it all many times before, and yet, God eager awaits hearing directly from each of us.

Silent Prayer

We shift from speaking to God to sitting with God silently. A helpful way to enter sacred silence is to offer this simple prayer based on Psalm 46:10:

Be still and know that I am God. (pause)

Be still and know that I am. (pause)

Be still and know. (pause)

Be still. (pause)

Be. (pause)

Try to sit quietly in a state of calm devotion. It can be very hard to still the mind. Our thoughts wander, feelings arise, our bodies wiggle. It can be shocking how quickly our good intentions go astray! Do not fret, dear one. The mind is like an antsy toddler. With compassion, acknowledge what rises but try not to engage any thought or feeling. (Important matters will return later.) Practice choosing to refocus on God. Take a breath and try again. Each time we choose to return to God, gently turning away from our over-active mind, is a gift we give God. Let’s be kind to ourselves. When you’re ready to move on take a moment to thank God saying, “Amen.”

Acts of Unburdening and Affirming

Place pebbles or small items at the base of the Christ Candle thinking or speaking whatever you wish to offer to God for release or gratitude. These offerings need not be named. The soul knows what to give to God and God knows what to receive.

God’s Grace 

Whenever the ancient ones lamented, they also praised the Living God. The psalms reveal a God who is always faithful, even during times of hardship and suffering.

God endlessly pours out divine mercy, forever giving us what we can never earn. This is grand evidence of God’s divinity, only a deity could do that, flawlessly forgive and uplift no matter what.

We dwell in the pool of God’s grace. There is no admission price, no ticket to punch. All that is required is an awakening to what has already been given. Receive the holy gift of grace today.

May it be so. Amen.

We Listen

Scripture Reading: Psalm 69: 13-18 (New Revised Standard Version)

But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord.

At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of Your steadfast love, answer me.

With your faithful help rescue me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.

Do not let the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the Pit close its mouth over me.

Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.

Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies.

May God add a blessing to the reading and reflecting upon God’s Holy Word. Amen.

Reflection Upon “God’s Ways of Answering Prayer”

(This content is created for private reflection. If your pastor has prepared a written or recorded message you may use it instead of, or with, this material.)

Jews, Christians, and Muslims are co-inheritors of a rich prayer book – The Psalter – also known as “The Book of Psalms.” These 150 songs (a psalm is a poetic song-prayer) cover the range of human discourse with God. They reveal the depts of suffering and the heights of joy. They carry the stories of individuals and nations.

Most of the psalms of lament, those that address God about painful matters, also contain praise. Today’s psalm, 69, is such a psalm of lament – blending words of adoration and faith in God amid the tale of disappointment and possibly, vengeful abuse.

At the center of this psalm is a powerful lesson about prayer – verse 13b:* “At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of Your steadfast love, answer me.” Read that sentence again: “At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of Your steadfast love, answer me.”

This is a very affirming expression about how God answers our prayers. God answers “at an acceptable time” – God knows when we need what we need. God answers from “the abundance of God’s steadfast love” – God responses from the depths of God’s dependable Big Love. God answers – God never ignores a prayer request. This passage assures that even when we are hurting, even when our people are suffering, God is listening and replying to our prayers, even if it appears that God is silent.

Country singer Garth Brooks co-wrote a ballad entitled “Unanswered Prayers.” It is sung by a fellow newly reunited with his high school sweetheart many years later. As a youth, he’d fervently prayed that God would make her his wife. That didn’t happen. His prayer wasn’t answered, so he’d thought. Upon seeing his former girlfriend many years later, he realizes that God had answered his prayer – by leading him to another woman, the one he married. The chorus ends with these words: “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” With that in mind, maybe, this long season of restricted human activity is God’s answer to some of our seemingly unanswered prayers?

When we pray to God, when we ask God for God’s help, we do so with our wishes in mind. We know the outcome we’d like. When we earnestly pray, however, we perform an act of surrender. We invite God into our lives to impact us in ways we mortals can’t imagine.

Right now, all around the world, because of Covid-19 our lives have been seriously changed. We have been forced to reconsider so much – even learning how to wash our hands! We are hearing each other in new ways especially the cries of those wounded by systemic racism. Parents know first-hand the many skills needed by those who professionally teach their children. Our fellow creatures have received a break from heavy human activities. We are testing our personal human connections – some are strong, others aren’t. Amazing reunions and heart-breaking separations have taken place, including deaths without tried and true rituals.

In just four months, globally, more people are cooking at home and spending time with members of their households – human and non-human. Our religious groups are learning who we are without our property and churchy things. Universal challenges to public health care are revealing which governing bodies are truly civic-minded and which aren’t. We daily witness the fragility of warehousing people in nursing homes, detention centers, and prisons and the enduring strength of the human spirit.

During this imposed time-out some of us have turned inward to clean out literal closets as well as meander beyond the closed doors of our hearts. We have learned the names of neighbors and the gift of virtual connection. We have gone for more walks and taken more photos appreciating the ever-changing beauty of nature. We’ve fed our curiosity by learning new things. Powerful songs have been written and performed by artists separated by space and time. Bold ideas have made new friends and created new communities of hope. Flexible businesses, organizations, and families have quickly learned to adapt and re-invent a “new normal.”

Not to diminish the devastation this coronavirus has brought – taking so many lives, wounding others; knocking out jobs and incomes with abandon; upending daily lifestyles and securities – not to mention to the human cost paid during this universal public health crisis — can we not also pause and see something more? Maybe, this pandemic is also a matrix for answered prayers? Look at all that has taken place in a few months. We could have never imagined so much change could happen in so few weeks. It’s downright biblical!

Like the psalmist who penned Psalm 69 we rightly lament what has hurt us in the past and what causes us suffering today, yet we also celebrate a God who hears our prayers and replies from great love in the perfect moment. Don’t we perceive God’s faithfulness rising up among us now in some places? Isn’t God currently answering generations of prayers for some peoples?

We will be forever changed by this time. Maybe God is inviting us to be transformed – to be the answer to God’s prayer for us? Dear ones, sit with this notion that God is using this time to answer many, many prayers. Listen for God’s Big Love as it responds to each prayer in its perfect season. Trust what the best and brightest in your soul and you’ll know what is true. Soli Deo Gloria.**

NOTES:

*When a verse of scripture contains many parts, or even more than one sentence, the different sections can be labeled “a” “b” “c”. In this case, in Psalm 69, verse 13b refers to the middle part of enumerated text.

**Latin for “Glory to God Alone.”

Special Music    

Suggestion: “Gebet” (Prayer) by Hugo Wolf, performed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 2018. Organist: Henry Lee. (used by permission, MP3 sent via email to BCCC folks)

We Pray

Prayers of Petition

Though distant, when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, we are connected one to another in the Holy Spirit. We never pray alone. What prayers does your soul ask to be lifted up – joys and concerns? Speak them. If your prayers don’t fit words today, use your body to give your prayers to God through movement or sound, dance, tears, or silence. If your community shares prayer requests please include them as you continue your prayers of petition.

Chant of Response

Suggestion: “O Lord Hear My Prayer” by Jacques Berthier of Taizé, performed by St Thomas Music Group (used without permission)

Lyrics:

O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord Hear my prayer. When I call, answer me.

O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord hear my prayer. Come and listen to me.

The Lord’s Prayer (unison)

Imagine a place where you feel close to God, maybe a sanctuary where you’ve worshipped. Welcome the memory of your Beloved Community filling your soul with companionship as we pray together the prayer Jesus taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

We Give Thanks

Offering

Who taught you how to pray? Maybe it was a family member who prayed grace at the dinner table or a nighttime prayer at your bedside? Maybe it was the Beloved Community praying together in worship? Maybe it was a bird singing on a branch proclaiming the wonders of God’s Creation? Maybe it was all of these and more? Offer a word of thanksgiving for your prayer teachers who have given you gifts which will last throughout eternity. (see donation footnote)

We Continue in Hope

Song of Hope

Suggestion: “Great is Your Faithfulness” – T O Chisholm, FAITHFULNESS (#86 Chalice) Performed by Selah, video by Epic Goblin Videos (used without permission)

Words of Hope

From On the Road with the Archangel, by Frederick Buechner

“Some prayers I hold out as far from me as my arm will reach, the way a woman holds a dead mouse by the tail when she removes it from the kitchen. 

Some, like flowers, are almost too beautiful to touch, and others so aflame that I’d be afraid of their setting me on fire  if I weren’t already more like fire than I am like anything else. 

There are prayers of such power that you might almost say they carry me rather than the other way around – the way a bird with outstretched wings is carried higher and higher on the back of the wind.

There are prayers so apologetic and shamefaced and halfhearted that they all but melt away in my grasp like sad little flakes of snow. 

Some prayers are very boring.”

Benediction

No matter how we pray, no matter what we pray, our prayers are heard by an Always-Loving God who always replies when the time is right, even if it takes years for us to realize the blessing in God’s response.

Go forth with hope, praying. God is Still Listening. Amen.

(the service is concluded)

Resources:

Online Chalice Hymnal: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/CH1995

Online New Century Hymnal: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/NCH1995

HOL: Hymns of Life, bilingual hymnal. ©1986, China Alliance Press.

YouTube Music Videos: search by title AND one of the authors for best results

Worship Resources: All content prepared and written by Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber unless attributed to another source. (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version ©1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Chalice) The Chalice Hymnal and (New Century) The New Century Hymnal, among other worship publications, have suspended copyright restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Worship Credit: © 2020, Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber, Living Liturgies

Permission: Permission is not granted to share or distribute this resource beyond your community without additional permission from the author.

Donation for Use of Content: Due to the current coronavirus pandemic this content is offered free. However,  you may express your gratitude financially by making a donation to an organization that is reinventing itself to better live its mission. If you’d like to support the congregation I serve as pastor – Berkeley Chinese Community Church – we’d be most grateful for your support. Please send checks to: BCCC UCC, 2117 Acton Street, Berkeley, CA 94702, Attn: Diane Huie, Treasurer. Thank you!

Living Liturgies: www.inthebiglove.com; Facebook: “Living Liturgies”; YouTube: “Kathryn Schreiber”

Prepared by Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber, (c) 2020.

Worship Note

As we continue the selfless practice of restricted physical contact, as we adapt and welcome new ways of being communities of faith, our souls need special care. This service is one of a series designed to align us with the Living God during these pandemic-impacted times as social justice reforms arise.

Preparations

• You may wish to arrange to worship distantly with others at the same time.
• Read through this service beforehand to assemble items needed.
• A “Christ Candle” can be any sort of candle or object which represents Christ’s presence.
• Choose songs to sing (our suggestions or your favorites). Assemble what you’ll need to sing.
• Ensure an uninterrupted place to worship.
• Decorate your space to welcome God’s presence as we do at church.

Time for Children

“Out of the Bag: Praying Down Peace” on YouTube channel: Kathryn Schreiber

Worship Service

Please adapt to make this worship service your own. Your intention is what is important.

We Gather

Call to Worship

Let us gaze upon all creation as God does – with love and amazement.

Let us peruse all peoples as God does – with love and blessing.

Let us look into our own selves as God does – with love and hope.

Invocation

Holy Christ, we name Your presence here, now. Call us to more fully awaken to the wondrous power of divine love by loving You, loving our neighbors, loving ourselves. Amen.

Light the Christ Candle

Song for Welcoming the Holy Spirit

Suggestion: “The Gift of Love” – H H Hopson, GIFT OF LOVE (#526 Chalice Hymnal)

We Unburden and Gather Hope

Naming Our New Reality

Whether you are alone or with others, let this be a time of private reflection. Jesus told us to love God, neighbor, and self. Let us be kind to ourselves as we review whom we have loved well and who we have failed to love well this past week. Let us dwell in God’s healing presence and name those moments when we have not been loved; when we have not been loving. Let us offer to God anything that asks to be shared – anything. God has heard it all many times before, and yet, God eager awaits hearing directly from each of us.

Silent Prayer

We shift from speaking to God to sitting with God silently. A helpful way to enter sacred silence is to offer this simple prayer based on Psalm 46:10:

Be still and know that I am God. (pause)

Be still and know that I am. (pause)

Be still and know. (pause)

Be still. (pause)

Be. (pause)

Try to sit quietly in a state of calm devotion. It can be very hard to still the mind. Our thoughts wander, feelings arise, our bodies wiggle. It can be shocking how quickly our good intentions go astray! Do not fret, dear one. The mind is like an antsy toddler. With compassion, acknowledge what rises but try not to engage any thought or feeling. (Important matters will return later.) Practice choosing to refocus on God. Take a breath and try again. Each time we choose to return to God, gently turning away from our over-active mind, is a gift we give God. Let’s be kind to ourselves. When you’re ready to move on take a moment to thank God saying, “Amen.”

Acts of Unburdening and Affirming

Place pebbles or small items at the base of the Christ Candle thinking or speaking whatever you wish to offer to God for release or gratitude. These offerings need not be named. The soul knows what to give to God and God knows what to receive.

God’s Grace 

God is love. God’s Big Love eternally calls us into communion with all that exists on earth and in heaven. God knows each moment we fail to live in love and God understands our mortal ways. Thankfully, God keeps calling us to love again. To try and love better than we did even a few moments ago.

Aren’t these the promises of Jesus Christ – to seek the Way of God’s Big Love? Let us be open vessels ready to be filled up with God’s merciful, abundant Big Love. Amen.

We Listen

Scripture Reading: Romans 13:8-10 (New Revised Standard Version)

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 

The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet;” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Sacred Writings: Clare of Assisi

We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of the Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the Beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God’s compassionate love for others. (coa)

May God add a blessing to the reading and reflecting upon God’s Holy Word. Amen.

Reflection Upon “St Clare’s Practice of Big Love”

(This content is created for private reflection. If your pastor has prepared a written or recorded message you may use it instead of, or with, this material.)

The Christian Writings in our Holy Bible reflect recorded Christian teachings from about fifty to ninety years after Jesus’ earthly presence – only forty years. What about the fifty years that preceded these writings and the 1,930 years since? There is a great deal of important Christian teachings recorded in writing and transmitted orally in addition to holy scriptures. These, too, are our spiritual inheritance.

Among the beloved Christians who went before us is St Clare of Assisi – a young Italian woman who was a peer-disciple of St Frances of Assisi. While little of her teachings have survived the ages, all carry a deep tone of devotion to Christ. Long before the German spread of “Pietism” which generated such Christian classics such as Thomas A ‘Kempis’s “Imitation of Christ” Clare sought to embody the way of Christ in all her actions and thoughts. She taught the women of her religious order, The Poor Clares, to do the same.

Clare was a seasoned master of love. One of the frequently-told stories about her is set in the cloistered motherhouse where she and her disciples lived. They were sheltered from the world – sound familiar? – by choice, not pandemic. They made vows to adore and worship God together as a community that they might better embody God’s Dream for humanity.

One day a band of warriors from a neighboring city-state arrived looting items of value, raping women, and killing those who stood in their way. The warriors arrived at Clare’s monastery and demanded access to the women. Clare heard God tell her to take them the Eucharist – the sanctified piece of bread – instead. For Clare and her sisters this was Christ’s actual presence. God told her to offer these violent men the grace of Christ’s presence.

Some would say that Clare was naïve and foolish. Those waring men didn’t want a holy experience, but Clare, so committed to loving Christ and loving others, could discern no other way to reply to their not-loving attitudes and behaviors. She became a vessel of God’s love to those hurt and hurting men. How did they react? They received the gift of Christ’s presence and left the monastery peacefully.

Let us call Clare of Assisi into our hearts and minds this week. Let us love those who frighten us. Let us love those who hate us. Let us practice, as we can, loving others as we would like to be loved. Let us become God’s Big Love embodied.

Special Music    

Suggestion: “Nigra Sum” by Pablo Casals, performed by Taliamondinebill Young SKEEN 2020, https://youtu.be/4YTmeLCBjz0 (used by permission)

We Pray

Prayers of Petition

Though distant, when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, we are connected one to another in the Holy Spirit. We never pray alone. What prayers does your soul ask to be lifted up – joys and concerns? Speak them. If your prayers don’t fit words today, use your body to give your prayers to God through movement or sound, dance, tears, or silence. If your community shares prayer requests please include them as you continue your prayers of petition.

Song of Response

Suggestion: “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” – K Medema, CHILDREN PRAYING (#305 Chalice)

The Lord’s Prayer (unison)

Imagine a place where you feel close to God, maybe a sanctuary where you’ve worshipped. Welcome the memory of your Beloved Community, filling your soul with companionship, as we pray together the prayer Jesus taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

We Give Thanks

Offering

Recall a significant moment of transforming love in your life. Maybe you witnessed someone loving another being in a life-changing way? Maybe you were the recipient of such love? Maybe God has empowered you to love beyond your comfort or skill? This is God in our midst, these cherished moments of  transforming Big Love. As we share our gifts this day and this week let us to do in love offering ourselves to God for the uplift of all beings. (see donation footnote)

We Continue in Hope

Song of Hope

Suggestion: “I Need You To Survive” by Hezekiah Walker & The Love Fellowship Choir, https://youtu.be/U1fz9htzIak

Benediction

Our sister Clare of Assisi told us: “We become what we love. Who we love shapes what we become.”

Let us spend the next week loving with abandon!

Let us love where we have been afraid to love!

Let us love open to being changed by such love!

Let us love in such a way as become more like Christ –

for the glory of God, for the uplift of The Many,

and for the deep blessing it brings to our own precious souls.

Amen.

a this concludes the service a

Resources:

Online Chalice Hymnal: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/CH1995

Online New Century Hymnal: https://hymnary.org/hymnal/NCH1995

HOL: Hymns of Life, bilingual hymnal. ©1986, China Alliance Press.

YouTube Music Videos: search by title AND one of the authors for best results

Worship Resources: All content prepared and written by Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber unless attributed to another source.

(coa) Clare of Assisi quoted in The Saints Little Book of Wisdom, by Andrea Kirk Assaf, © 2016. Used without permission. (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version ©1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (Chalice) The Chalice Hymnal and (New Century) The New Century Hymnal, among other worship publications, have suspended copyright restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Worship Credit: © 2020, Rev. Kathryn M. Schreiber, Living Liturgies

Permission: Permission is not granted to share or distribute this resource beyond your community without additional permission from the author.

Donation for Use of Content: Due to the current coronavirus pandemic this content is offered free. However,  you may express your gratitude financially by making a donation to a group which embodies Christ’s Big Love. If you’d like to support the congregation I serve as pastor – Berkeley Chinese Community Church – we’d be most grateful for your support. Please send checks to: BCCC UCC, 2117 Acton Street, Berkeley, CA 94702, Attn: Diane Huie, Treasurer. Thank you!

Living Liturgies: www.inthebiglove.com; Facebook: “Living Liturgies”; YouTube: “Kathryn Schreiber”