Upper Room Saturday Liturgy, September 24, 2022 - Presider: Kathleen Ryan

Please join us between 4:30 and 4:55 pm via Zoom

Here is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656

Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155

Welcome:  Whose child are you anyway?  David, who is said to have written the Psalms, reminds us that we are the child of the Holy One. 

Opening Prayer: 

 

Let us pray:  Holy One, we are a needy people.  We are constantly looking to others, our work, or things, to help us feel valued and loved.  And yet, we know by experience that You have always loved us and are always present to us. Thank you, thank you.  Amen.

 

Opening Song: Endless is Your Love by Tom Kendzia

https://youtu.be/hEkDQrN68ug

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: A Reading from Psalm 139

You created my inmost being and stitched me together in my mother’s womb. For all these mysteries I thank you—for the wonder of myself, for the wonder of your works—my soul knows it well.  My frame was not hidden from you while I was being made in the secret place, knitted together in the depths of the earth; your eye saw my body even there.

All of my days were written in your book, all of them planned before even the first of them came to be.  How precious your thoughts are to me, O God!  How impossible to number them! I could no more count them that I could count the grains of sand. But suppose I could?  You would still be with me!

This is a song of David, a son of man and servant of the Holy One.  The community affirms them. AMEN

Celtic Alleluia

https://youtu.be/o1rc7ojQtJU

 

Gospel: A Reading from the gospel of Luke

While they were all amazed at his every deed,
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” 
But they did not understand this saying;
its meaning was hidden from them
so that they should not understand it,
and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Our community affirms these words by saying AMEN!

 

Shared Homily:  The disciples heard Jesus say the “son of man” was to be handed over. What does Jesus mean?  After all this time, after all they witnessed, the disciples were afraid to ask.   Who is the son of man? Perhaps they were afraid or confused because in Hebrew and Aramaic, the expression son of man means “someone” or “a human being”. So is Jesus saying someone or a human being will be handed over.  Maybe they were afraid of losing Jesus, or maybe they were also afraid for themselves.

In the past most of us believed or were taught the son of man was Jesus and he was talking about his pending suffering and death. We could focus on what it means for Jesus to be handed over but focusing on Jesus being handed over leaves you and me out of the gospel. We most likely will never experience Jesus’ suffering and manner of death.   If you and I are going to live this gospel what does that mean for us today?  Are we not also the sons and daughters of man?  As we follow Jesus are we supposed to be handed over too?  For me today being handed over means letting go of my ego, my personal wants, my first attitudes.  That means doing things for others when I am really not in the mood or making time when I would prefer to sit and read a book or go golfing!   Jesus never demanded or asked that we suffer what he suffered, but he did ask us to live and love like he did.  Handing over myself for the sake of someone else, especially if I do not particularly care for that person is difficult.  When we do these types of things…we are living the gospel.  Jesus was able to hand himself over because he knew that he was unconditionally loved.  The only way we can continue to live the gospel, to live as Jesus asked us to, is to be sure within ourselves that we know we are also unconditionally loved, and always have been.  

 

 

Statement of Faith

All: We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery 
beyond all definition and rational understanding, 
the heart of all that has ever existed, 
that exists now, or that ever will exist. 
 
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, 
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, 
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's 
prophets, mystics, and saints. 

We believe that We are called to follow Jesus 
as a vehicle of divine love, 
a source of wisdom and truth, 
and an instrument of peace in the world. 

We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One, 
the life that is our innermost life, 
the breath moving in our being, 
the depth living in each of us. 
 
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now, 
stretched out all around us for those 
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it, 
and hands to make it happen. 

 

Eucharistic Prayer of Belonging

 

As we prepare for the sacred meal we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns.  Please feel free to voice your concerns beginning with the words “I bring to the table….”

 

We pray for these and all unspoken prayers and blessings. Amen.

 

We are a priestly people. We are anointed. With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:

 

All: O Nurturing, Mothering One, You are always with us. We are grateful for Your constant loving and unconditional presence. At times we forget that You are holding us, attending to us. We fall and You pick us up. You send strangers, friends and family to our aid. We are never without Your Light and Spirit.

 

We experience great joy and we experience great pain and suffering. You are with us in the joy and the pain and suffering. When we experience Your presence we long to sing our hymn of praise: 

 

 

Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in this Place –by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ

All: Creator and Lover of all beings, we cannot grow in the darkness of this world without Your Light. Our desire to be in Your light is a gift from You. Help us keep our hearts and minds open to You through our love and care for each other and all creation

 

Please extend your hands in blessing

 

All: This bread and wine is a sign of Your nourishment and a sign of Your great love. Your Spirit is upon usand we belong to You and one another.

 

We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, revealing us as one with you, and all creation.

 

On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for the supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet. Once again he showed us how to love one another.

 

(All lift the bread)

 

All: Back at the table, he took the bread, spoke the grace, broke the bread and offered it to them saying, Take and eat, this is my very self.

 

(All lift the cup)

 

ALL: Then he took the cup of blessing, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:

Take and drink of the covenant

Made new again through my life in you.

Whenever you remember me like this,

I am among you.

 

Bread and wine are transformed by Your Spirit, and we are transformed when we open ourselves to Your Spirit. Every time we share this bread and wine we choose to be transformed. We choose to love as You love us.

 

What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives: as we share communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge. 

 

Please receive the bread and cup with the words: I ama child of the Holy One.

 

Communion Song: How Could Anyone Ever Tell You by Shaina Knoll  

video by Denise Hackert-Stoner

https://youtu.be/Cr66u-fTxik

Communion prayer:

Loving Source of our being, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We live justly, we love tenderly, we walk with integrity in Your Presence Amen.

 

Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:

 

O Holy One, who is within, around, and among us, we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come. Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits, and we let go. You support us in our power, and we act with courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen.

The Prayer of Jesus as interpreted by Miriam Therese Winter

 

BLESSING

 

Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together

May we continue to be the Face of God to each other. May the certainty of our connectedness to one another and all creation ignite us to love more fully.May we know like Jesus did that we are loved. Andlike Jesus be a shining light and a blessing for all.  

All: Amen.

Closing Song The Summons: Will You Come and Follow Me

Bryan Field McFarland with Jacob's Join

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu7ihXeTsMQ

 

Moment of Oneness: Season of Creation 2022 - The Elements: Fire

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507551772
Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772

To connect by phone dial: +1 646 558 8656

The Element of Fire

Opening Prayer: All praise be yours, Holy One, through Brother fire, through whom you brighten up the night. How beautiful he is, how joyful! Full of power and strength. Amen.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Reading: The first human that counseled anyone not to “play with fire” was likely not a mother, but a Shaman who knew well the beauty and fury of the Fire Element. From a spiritual perspective Fire represents our passions, compulsion, zeal, creativity, and motivation (as in, “put a fire under it!”).

The Element of Fire has great power for forging will and determination. It is our inner light as well as a living symbol of the Divine fire that burns in every soul. Like other elementals, this means that Fire has a form in the Earth Plane and in spiritual realms. 

The Fire Element requires boundaries so you can tend it and feed it as the coals begin to dim. Be it the hearth fire, which is the heart of the home, to a ritual fire at which humans and Salamanders dance magic into being, the inherent nature of Fire is combustive and unbridled particularly when paired with the element of air. 

Fire consumes but not without giving back light and warmth. It shines without remorse, sparking the darkness with all manner of alchemical stirrings. It chants: “Come dance with me! Bring your drum! Sound out your heartbeat; give yourself to the trance.” 

(from Building Beautiful Souls by Bernadette King) 

Reading: Scripture is filled with images of light and fire as symbols of the ways in which God illuminates our world and our souls. Moses encountered God for the first time in a burning bush, and from those flames God speaks to Moses, telling him that God has heard the cry of his people and is calling upon Moses to help set the Israelites free. This vision of fire is also a call to freedom. After the escape from Egypt, God sent a pillar of fire to guide the Israelites across the desert by night as an ongoing beacon for guidance. 

In the gospel story of the transfiguration, it says that Jesus “shown like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white” (Mt 17:2). Fire and illumination again become a window onto the divine. The burning light that once appeared to Moses in the bush now radiates from Jesus himself. For Gregory Palmas, a fourth century orthodox monk, “it was the disciples who changed at the transfiguration not Jesus. Jesus was transfigured “not by the addition of something he was not, but by the manifestation to his disciples of what he really was. He opened their eyes so that instead of being blind they could see.”

(excerpt from “Brother Fire” in Water, Wind, Earth and Fire by Christine Valters Paintner)

Prayer of Thanksgiving for Fire

Holy One, we thank you for Brother Fire. 

We walk by Fire’s light. 

Even through darkened times and places, 

Fire illuminates each step along the path, 

Even when the distant view is unclear and in shadow. 

We thank you.

Fire purifies us, burning away the cluttered underbrush 

And making way for new growth to sprout forth from the ashes. 

We thank you.

Fire warms and comforts us, 

Dances for us and energizes us. 

Holy One, we thank you for Brother Fire. 

Blessing of Fire

Spirit of Fire, 

you revealed yourself through the burning bush 

and the fiery courage of Pentecost. 

Fiery Spirit, 

source of all creative power, 

kindle your holy spark within us, 

breathe into us your sacred passion, 

fill us with your flame until we have become fire, 

offering warmth and light to the world. 

Spirit of Refining Fire, 

help us to release what no longer serves us

to make room for your light to fill us. 

Blessings of Fire be upon us. 

May the light of God illuminate us 

and may the flame of love burn brightly in us. 

May we discover each day anew 

our own hidden fire and enter it fully. Amen.

Closing Song: Fire of Love by Kathy Sherman

https://youtu.be/P_6cILrBpJE

Upper Room Sunday Liturgy, September 18, 2022 - Presiders: AndreaGrace Weaver and Dennis McDonald

Season of Creation – Fire!

Welcome (Dennis): We gather this morning in continuation of our Season of Creation. Today’s theme is Fire, the fire that can consume us like the Burning Bush, as we recognize the presence of the Holy One within us.  The Holy One will, if we are open, ignite the fire of justice in our soul for creation and our brothers and sisters, who call out  to us in their pain and suffering. Let us “listen to the voice of creation” opening us up to a path of healing and reconciliation. 

Opening Song: Send Down the Fire by Marty Haugen

https://youtu.be/iWVq7Y22ti8

Opening Prayer: (AndreaGrace)

Creator God has placed each and every one of us here with purpose! 

Let us praise Creator God for the earth below our feet. 

For Mother Earth sustains us, and all creation cries out for justice. 

Creator God has given us the eastern direction:
the direction of vision, children, and the sun that rises on us each day. 

Let us view the world with child-like wonder—full of awe and humility. Thankful for the new day that dawns on us each and every morning, we give thanks for God who gives us new mercies every day. 

Creator God has given us the southern direction:
the direction of honesty, adolescence, and growth. 

Help us to speak only the truth and open our hearts to hear the stories of others. 

Inspire us to grow in the image of Christ who teaches us to walk the good path. 

Creator God has given us the western direction:
the direction of adulthood, harvesting, and deep spiritual understanding. 

Give us the tools we need to act on the knowledge we are gathering, 

allowing us to act with maturity and grace. 

Creator God has given us the northern direction:
the direction of Elders, achievement, and a deep connection to spirituality. 

Empower us to learn from the past, and to move forward to create your companionship of empowerment* here on Mother Earth.

Holy Spirit, give us the teachings we need to correct any wrongs,
and to live lives full of love, peace, and hope.
Be with us now, Creator God, as we worship you in awe-filled praise. Amen. 

2017 The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada

1^st Reading: Sacred Ground by Joy Cowley

We are standing on Sacred Ground.

Let our hearts take off their shoes

and come bare, trembling with awe, 

into the Presence which burns too bright

and too close for ordinary vision. 

Only a naked heart can see

that all round us, each clump of grass, 

every leaf, twig, stone, and flower, 

is a blazing torch, incandescent

with the one fire which has no name 

except “I am.”

And only a naked heart can know

that it too is a burning bush, 

all of us caught in the one fire, 

“we are” burning into “I am.”

Brighter than a galaxy of suns. 

Words cannot contain the moment;

but let’s take it with us, 

the feeling of awe and wonder.

Tomorrow’s path might be dark,

difficult and sharp with stones, 

but in this sacred place we feel

we may never wear shoes again.

These are the inspired words of Joy Cowley and we affirm them by saying, Amen. 

2^nd Reading: A reading from Pope Francis

“So, what does that word of Jesus mean for us, for each one of us – for me, for you, … It invites us to rekindle the flame of faith, so that it does not become a secondary matter, or a means to individual wellbeing, enabling us to evade the challenges of life or commitment in the Church and society… In short, faith is not a “lullaby” that lulls us to sleep. True faith is a fire, a living flame to keep us wakeful and active even at night!”

Alleluia

Before the reading of the 3^rd reading, let us take a moment to reflect on this image. 

Painting by Sandy Hall

3^rd Reading: A reading from 2^nd Timothy

I’m reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois, then in your mother Eunice, and now, I’m certain, in you as well.  

That’s why I want to remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God didn’t give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, of self-discipline.

These are inspired words from 2^nd Timothy and we affirm them by saying, Amen. 

Homily Sharing

Dennis: As we continue celebrating the Season of Creation and the elements, today we focus on Fire. This year the International theme for the Season of Creation is Listening to Creation and the logo is the Burning Bush. Let’s take a closer look at the image of the burning bush and the fiery presence of the Divine in our hearts and in our souls which call us to action. 

In the first reading Joy Cowley shares that ordinary vision cannot view the brightness of the Holy of Holies, it is only the naked heart, that which opens itself completely to the awesome awareness of the Divine that resides within me, that allows me to realize I also am a “burning bush” caught up in the one fire, the fire of creation. 

Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast day was yesterday, says it this way: “I am the fiery life of the essence of God; I am the flame above the beauty in the fields; I shine in the waters; I burn in the sun, the moon, and the stars. And with the airy wind, I quicken all things vitally by an unseen, all-sustaining life.” “We are ‘burning into’ I Am”, having “the essence of God” within us, brightly ablaze with our vision through faith. Building on what St. Hildegard suggested, We have the opportunity to reflect on our images of ourselves. Do we see ourselves as a part of the great I AM? How do we finish our sentences – what words do we put after I AM? Do the words we choose reflect our Divinity?

Pope Francis encourages us to “rekindle the fire of faith” through our understanding of Jesus message of love and compassion for all of creation. Like Hildegard he reminds us that in faith we are a “living flame”, a flame that enlivens us and moves us to action even in the darkest of times.  Acting out of this fiery faith means being awake to the challenges that confront our sisters and brothers through discrimination and injustice, and to the destruction that is happening to this planet we call home.  We see the rights and the roles of women attacked and discarded, and we see them marginalized, treated as second class citizens. We see minorities and certain ethnic and religious people assaulted, and their lives and basic freedoms threatened. We see disregard for the environment, and denial of the human toll on the planet,  with a focus of domination rather than stewardship. 

Jan Phillips approaches the word “fire” from another angle in her poem, “I found Jesus”. She says, “If our home wasn’t in flames, I could let it go, that myth about God with the whole world in his hands.” Recall the image in the liturgy document of the flames descending into hands. One way we can see this is as that flame, that fire of faith, coming into our hands, awakening us to action. It is not “God with the whole world in his hands”, it is God in us, the “I am” in our hearts that calls us to be those hands with a “spirit of love, of power, of self-discipline”. Like Moses, let us remove our shoes, make naked our hearts, and stand with and for our sisters and brothers , and Mother Earth. 

Please share your thoughts/reflections on the readings or the homily starter.  

Statement of Faith 

 

We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery 
beyond all definition and rational understanding, 
the heart of all that has ever existed, 
that exists now, or that ever will exist. 
 
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, 
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, 
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's 
prophets, mystics, and saints. 

We believe that We are called to follow Jesus 
as a vehicle of divine love, 
a source of wisdom and truth, 
and an instrument of peace in the world. 

We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One, 
the life that is our innermost life, 
the breath moving in our being, 
the depth living in each of us. 
 

We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now, 
stretched out all around us for those 
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it, 
and hands to make it happen. 

Intentions (Dennis): As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns beginning with the words, I bring to the table.

Intentions shared

We bring these and all deeply held blessings, cares, and concerns to the table of friendship and peace. 

Liturgy of Fire – Eucharistic Prayer

AndreaGrace: O Divine Fire of Love, your glowing embers dance in our hearts. Your passionate presence kindles our souls. You purify us with the searing truth that ignites our spirits. As the glowing embers of fire penetrate the cold around us, so your tenderness sets our hearts aglow. 

How often have you loved us tenderly, without limits or boundaries! How often have you forgiven us freely and healed us of afflictions! How often have we been consumed with delight by human touch!  How often have you embraced us through Earth's beauty! How often have you affirmed us as your beloved creation! How often have you energized us to work for justice and peace in our world! Renewed in spirit, we raise our voices with grateful hearts as we sing:

Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in the Place by Christopher Grundy

https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ 

Dennis: Passionate One, kindle your fire of enthusiasm within us. Speak to us with assurance and excitement. Reveal to us the infinite, boundless, depths of your love for us. Awaken us to your promises to be always present in our lives, no matter what the obstacles or setbacks we experience. Consume us with such a hunger and thirst for justice that our words and actions may inflame others to become signs of your justice. Give us eyes to see human need, hearts to care for our sisters and brothers and hands and feet to lighten others' burdens.

Shekinah, we thank you for sending Jesus, your strong, but gentle presence, to bless and transform our lives. Jesus came to pour forth the love from your heart on all of us and show us how to live as your new creation.

The night before Jesus died, he gave us a special gift of love divine. He took bread, broke it and shared it with friends who gathered around the table saying:

Take this all of you and eat, this is bread that nourishes and kindles passion for God and for all God's creatures.

(pause)

AndreaGrace: Then Jesus took a cup of wine, praised God, shared the cup saying:

Take this all of you and drink from it; this is the cup of blessing that will energize you with Spirit love; it will be poured out as kindling for the transformation of all.

(pause)

As we celebrate this memory of Jesus, let us experience, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, in the sharing of the bread and the cup of blessing, the divine presence in our midst. 

Thank you for this holy meal which reminds us of your willingness to give of yourself completely. Fuel our hearts with your divine energy that we may share your love with all of creation. May we live always as instruments of your faithful love. 

Please pass the bread with the words: You are a spark of the Divine. 

Communion Meditation: Truth to Power by OneRepublic

https://youtu.be/h4DFXUndvbw  

Dennis: May our hearts be merry on our journey as we dream new dreams and see new visions. May we recognize Christ present in every person and as we care for each other, may we encounter the Divine who dwells with us anew. May we become Spirit-Fire, as  we fan the flames of love over the entire cosmos.

Shekinah, be with our families and friends, the young and old, the sick and dying and all those who need your nurturing love this day. Reconcile all those who experience the pain of discrimination in our church. Bless, protect, heal, encourage, and comfort each person here today and those we hold in our hearts. 

AndreaGrace: Open us to Spirit-Fire igniting the Earth. May all creation dance in your  presence. May we become one heart, one mind, one spirit with everything. May we touch the earth with reverent awe and live in harmony with all creatures. May we turn away from all efforts to dominate anyone or anything. May we see your face shining in the stars and in the sun. May we embrace the universe's treasures and celebrate life's simple pleasures each day. May your love kindle our friendship with all life. O Fire of Love, we dwell as one in you.

Let us pray the Prayer of Jesus: 

O Birther! Father- Mother of the Cosmos

Focus your light within us - make it useful.

Create your reign of unity now-

through our fiery hearts and willing hands

Help us love beyond our ideals

and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures.

Animate the earth within us: we then

feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all.

Untangle the knots within

so that we can mend our hearts' simple ties to each other.

Don't let surface things delude us,

But free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.

Out of you, the astonishing fire,

Returning light and sound to the cosmos. May it be so.

Translation by Neil Douglas-Klotz 

Final Blessing: 

(Invite everyone to extend hands)

AndreaGrace:  Shekinah, you show us the sacredness of Earth and all her creatures. You reveal yourself in wind, fire, earth, and water. May we celebrate with burning hearts the warmth of your passionate love in the outpouring of your miracles everywhere. 

May the Fire of Love ignite our hearts so that the passion of God radiates through us; may the Spirit of truth and justice burn within us forever. Amen.

Closing Song: Tell Me How Long from Chasing Coral

https://youtu.be/I7vOQ3M_FJY

Photo by AndreaGrace Weaver

Opening Prayer Notice: 

2017 The United Church of Canada/L’Église Unie du Canada. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca. Any copy must include this notice.