Please use this outline as you participate in our online worship.  Our online worship will begin at 10:30am central on Sunday morning.  Grab something that you can use for communion so that you are ready, and if you are able, grab a candle to recall the light of Christ.  See you at 10:30!

Words of Welcome

Gathering in the Light

Prelude

Invitation to Worship - your response is "We have been in the wilderness."

Invocation

Song of Welcome - Come Awake by David Crowder Band

Scripture - Jesus Makes Lazarus Alive Again (John 11:1-45)

Scripture - Ezekiel 37:1-14 (Good News Translation)

I felt the powerful presence of the Lord, and his spirit took me and set me down in a valley where the ground was covered with bones. 2 He led me all around the valley, and I could see that there were very many bones and that they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal man, can these bones come back to life?”
I replied, “Sovereign Lord, only you can answer that!”
4 He said, “Prophesy to the bones. Tell these dry bones to listen to the word of the Lord. 5 Tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: I am going to put breath into you and bring you back to life. 6 I will give you sinews and muscles, and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and bring you back to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been told. While I was speaking, I heard a rattling noise, and the bones began to join together. 8 While I watched, the bones were covered with sinews and muscles, and then with skin. But there was no breath in the bodies.
9 God said to me, “Mortal man, prophesy to the wind. Tell the wind that the Sovereign Lord commands it to come from every direction, to breathe into these dead bodies, and to bring them back to life.”
10 So I prophesied as I had been told. Breath entered the bodies, and they came to life and stood up. There were enough of them to form an army.
11 God said to me, “Mortal man, the people of Israel are like these bones. They say that they are dried up, without any hope and with no future. 12 So prophesy to my people Israel and tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am going to open their graves. I am going to take them out and bring them back to the land of Israel. 13 When I open the graves where my people are buried and bring them out, they will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put my breath in them, bring them back to life, and let them live in their own land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I have promised that I would do this—and I will. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Meditation

Prayers of the People and Our Lord's Prayer
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 forever. Amen.

Invitation to Stewardship - Click Here to Donate

Celebration of Communion
Words of Institution: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. 24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” 26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.

Invitation to the Faith Community

Closing Song - Come Alive (Dry Bones) by Lauren Daigle

Blessing & Benediction
One: Although we worship in different spaces...
All: We worship together in spirit and truth! Amen!

Changing the Light

Postlude

As we experience the stay at home order together across the metro KC area, I realized that many of us may not have sacred spaces in our homes to create a place for worship. We are, and will be, doing everything in our lives right now in our houses - working, raising our families, going to church etc... With all of these activities running together in one place it may be difficult for us to find sacredness in things like online worship and daily prayer. So, I wanted to share some simple ideas for finding items around the house that you can use to create a sacred space to meet with God while you are #stayinghome during the COVID-19 outbreak. 
 
If you have children that have journeyed through Children Worship & Wonder at any point, they may recall this as a “Focus Shelf.” Sacred Space or Focus Shelf, no matter what you call it, or where you choose to keep it, it can help us to focus some time and space for God when life swirls around us.  You are not trying to recreate the physical space you find at church because we know that is nearly impossible, but what we can recreate is the sanctuary of peace and calm you find in your community of faith.
 
Step 1: Choose a space in your home where you can set up your space for worship. Perhaps a small table or bookcase. Even just a small square of flat space with some natural light will be inviting to you in this time.
 
Step 2: Clear the space of its usual items. Even if you intend to use some of them in your sacred space, have a moment of beginning to honor this sacred space.
 
Step 3: Find items from around the house that have meaning to you, to place in your sacred space. Perhaps a cross, a Bible, a candle, other decorative items etc... Find items that will make this sacred space one in which you can worship the Divine.  Perhaps something that reminds you of the world, or places you have traveled, as our global family is connected through this shared experience.  Perhaps something else that reminds you of your specific community. 
 
Step 4: Create your altar by covering your table with some sort of table covering; maybe a tablecloth, or scarf. The liturgical color for the Lenten season is purple, though that is not necessary if you do not have anything purple. The liturgical color for the coming Easter season is white. 
 
Step 5: Arrange the items you gathered on your table/shelf, space the items out so that they spread across your table and enable you to engage with the space as you come to worship. 
 
Step 6: Use candles and prayer to invite the presence of the Holy Spirit and mark your time spent in your sacred space as special. 
 
Step 7: Set a special time each day to come to your sacred space to spend some time with God. You can do this as a family, or as an individual. In your sacred space, you can pray, sing, cry, scream, laugh, read scripture, sit quietly, listen to music, draw, etc... however you might need to experience the presence of Jesus that day, you can trust that God will meet you there in your sacred space just the way God meets you in the sanctuary at the church building. 
 
Building sacred spaces was a common practice in the Old Testament for the Israelites (see Gen. 12:7; Exodus 17:14-15; Joshua 22:26-27) One of the first altars was built by Noah as a thanksgiving. Altars were built by Abraham & Sarah, Isaac & Rebekah, Moses, Joshua & Miriam. All of these our faithful ancestors lived before the temple was built so they had to meet with God, and worship outside of a building, finding sacred space outside of a physical place. 
 
So friends, we are in good company.
 
Take heart in these days, as we meet with God in spaces that are unfamiliar, in online zoom meetings, on phone calls and across the information superhighway, I wholeheartedly believe that the Spirit of God is with us in these days as well, journeying with us, holding us close, spurring us onward, and keeping us together with grace, mercy, and love. 

Many thanks to the Rev. Andrea Curry who started this conversation about Sacred Spaces!

Please use this outline as you participate in our online worship.  Our online worship will begin at 10:30am central on Sunday morning.  Grab something that you can use for communion so that you are ready, and if you are able, grab a candle to recall the light of Christ.  See you at 10:30!

Words of Welcome

Sharing Christ's Peace

Gathering in the Light

Invitation to Worship - your response is "We worship the God of wilderness spaces."

Invocation

Musical Response - Psalm 23

Scripture - The Good Shepherd (Psalm 23)

Scripture - John 9:1-41 (CEB)
As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who was blind from birth. Jesus’ disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned so that he was born blind, this man or his parents?”

Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents. This happened so that God’s mighty works might be displayed in him. While it’s daytime, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  After he said this, he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and smeared the mud on the man’s eyes.  Jesus said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (this word means sent). So the man went away and washed. When he returned, he could see.

The man’s neighbors and those who used to see him when he was a beggar said, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”

Some said, “It is,” and others said, “No, it’s someone who looks like him.”

But the man said, “Yes, it’s me!”

So they asked him, “How are you now able to see?”

He answered, “The man they call Jesus made mud, smeared it on my eyes, and said, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

They asked, “Where is this man?”

He replied, “I don’t know.”

Then they led the man who had been born blind to the Pharisees.  Now Jesus made the mud and smeared it on the man’s eyes on a Sabbath day.  So Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.

The man told them, “He put mud on my eyes, I washed, and now I see.”

Some Pharisees said, “This man isn’t from God, because he breaks the Sabbath law.” Others said, “How can a sinner do miraculous signs like these?” So they were divided.  Some of the Pharisees questioned the man who had been born blind again: “What do you have to say about him, since he healed your eyes?”

He replied, “He’s a prophet.”

The Jewish leaders didn’t believe the man had been blind and received his sight until they called for his parents. The Jewish leaders asked them, “Is this your son? Are you saying he was born blind? How can he now see?”

His parents answered, “We know he is our son. We know he was born blind.  But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who healed his eyes. Ask him. He’s old enough to speak for himself.”  His parents said this because they feared the Jewish authorities. This is because the Jewish authorities had already decided that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ would be expelled from the synagogue.  That’s why his parents said, “He’s old enough. Ask him.”

Therefore, they called a second time for the man who had been born blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know this man is a sinner.”

The man answered, “I don’t know whether he’s a sinner. Here’s what I do know: I was blind and now I see.”

They questioned him: “What did he do to you? How did he heal your eyes?”

He replied, “I already told you, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

They insulted him: “You are his disciple, but we are Moses’ disciples.  We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don’t know where this man is from.”

The man answered, “This is incredible! You don’t know where he is from, yet he healed my eyes!  We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners. God listens to anyone who is devout and does God’s will.  No one has ever heard of a healing of the eyes of someone born blind.  If this man wasn’t from God, he couldn’t do this.”

They responded, “You were born completely in sin! How is it that you dare to teach us?” Then they expelled him.

Jesus heard they had expelled the man born blind. Finding him, Jesus said, “Do you believe in the Human One?”

He answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”

Jesus said, “You have seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

The man said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshipped Jesus.

Jesus said, “I have come into the world to exercise judgment so that those who don’t see can see and those who see will become blind.”

Some Pharisees who were with him heard what he said and asked, “Surely we aren’t blind, are we?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t have any sin, but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Meditation

Prayers of the People and Our Lord's Prayer
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 forever. Amen.

Invitation to Stewardship - Click Here to Donate

Celebration of Communion
Words of Institution: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. 24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” 26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.

Invitation to the Faith Community

Closing Song - We Are Walking (Siyahamba)

​Changing the Light

Blessing & Benediction
One: Although we worship in different spaces...
All: We worship together in spirit and truth! Amen!

Please use this outline as you participate in our online worship.  Our online worship will begin at 10:30am central on Sunday morning.  Grab something that you and whoever's with you, can use for communion so that you are ready, and if you are able, grab a candle to recall the light of Christ.  See you at 10:30!

Words of Welcome

Sharing Christ's Peace

Gathering in the Light

Invitation to Worship - response is "Jesus gets us where we are."

Invocation

Response - O Lord Hear My Prayer

• 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.

Scripture - Jesus and the Woman at the Well

Scripture - Exodus 17:1-7 (CEB)
17 The whole Israelite community broke camp and set out from the Sin desert to continue their journey, as the Lordcommanded. They set up their camp at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people argued with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses said to them, “Why are you arguing with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But the people were very thirsty for water there, and they complained to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with this people? They are getting ready to stone me.”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of Israel’s elders with you. Take in your hand the shepherd’s rod that you used to strike the Nile River, and go. 6 I’ll be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Hit the rock. Water will come out of it, and the people will be able to drink.” Moses did so while Israel’s elders watched. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites argued with and tested the Lord, asking, “Is the Lord really with us or not?”

Meditation

Prayers of the People and Our Lord's Prayer
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 forever. Amen.

Invitation to Stewardship - Click Here to Donate

Celebration of Communion
Words of Institution: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. 24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” 26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes.

Invitation to the Faith Community

Closing Song - Bless the Lord, My Soul

• Bless the Lord, my soul,
• and bless God's holy name.
• Bless the Lord, my soul,
• who leads me into life.

Changing the Light

Blessing & Benediction
One: Although we worship in different spaces...
All: We worship together in spirit and truth! Amen!