DOWNLOAD PDF ORDER OF WORSHIP DAY 2
DAY TWO – “COLLECTIVE DREAMING”
Genesis 20:10-16; Genesis 32:24-28
Tuesday, July 29th at 9:00 PM
Preacher : Bruce Reyes Chow and “Five by Five”
PRELUDE – Steel Drum Band from Trinidad
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Because heaven and earth belong to God, we may worship in any place.
The Old Testament describes stone altars, tabernacles, temples, and other places
where the people gathered and encountered God.
People: The Gospels tell us that Jesus worshiped at the synagogue and
temple, but he also worshiped in the wilderness, on hillsides, and at
lakeshores demonstrating that God cannot be confined to any one place.
Leader: The first Christians worshiped at the temple and in synagogues, homes,
catacombs, and prisons.
People: The important thing was not the place, but the gathering of Christ’s Body –
the people of God and the presence of Christ among them.
Leader: Space that is set apart for worship should encourage community, be accessible to all,
and open us to reverence for God.
People: It is not to be an escape from the world, but a place for encountering the God of
all creation who gathers us in and sends us out.
SONG – Uyai Mose / Come All You People
CALL TO CONFESSION
A pastor tells the story of taking her youth group on a retreat to the mountains of NC. While there, some of the youth encountered something they had never before experienced- fireflies. They went out to the meadow and it was an absolute dreamscape filled with magical twinkling lights. One youth exclaimed that she had never seen anything so beautiful and amazing. Until… one of the fireflies landed on her shirt. “EWW!” What is that?” The pastor replied, “That’s a firefly.” The youth cried out, “But how can something so beautiful also be so awful?!”
Sometimes we can ask the same thing about us as God’s people. How can something so beautiful also be so awful? The apostle Paul wrote: If we claim to be without sin we’re just fooling ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” Let us seek God’s forgiveness and renewal in prayer…
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Lord, we admit that while we were created in your image we can, at the same time, be so beautiful and so ugly. There are so many times in our lives in which we have felt alienated, downtrodden, alone. It is easy for us to wallow in our misery, to whine about all the perceived injustices that have been heaped upon us.
But you encourage us to stand strong; to seek the blessings that you have provided for us; to recognize the many ways that you are with us, giving us strength and courage.
Be with us again, precious Lord. Guide our lives. As we have brought our prayers before you for those near and dear to us, seeking healing and hope for them; let us also remember that those same mercies are lavished upon us, not because we deserve them, but because of your great and generous love for us.
Help us receive these blessings and, in turn, be a blessing to someone else. For we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Friends, this is the good news of the gospel, in Jesus Christ WE. ARE. FORGIVEN.
Thanks be to God!
SONG – My Lighthouse
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Wrestling
Struggling, resisting
Powers beyond understanding
Embracing, reconciling
Sacred
Let us wrestle
Let us worship
that which is sacred.
Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING Genesis 28:10-16, Genesis 32:24-28
PROCLAMATION: “FIVE BY FIVE”
(Seven individuals or groups speaking for up to seven minutes. Still to be confirmed. May be amended.)
- Krystal Torres & Diego Cordero introduce & share testimony
- Samuel Son – Slam Poetry
- Alex Wells shares testimony
- Haus of Us – Dance movement to “Carry Me” by Belly
- Bruce Reyes-Chow, Preacher
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Prayers from Dream Trees in Prayer Center
SONG – “Reckless Love”
BENEDICTION/BLESSING by Bruce Reyes Chow
Go forth into the world with compassion and justice in your heart
Hear voices of the long-silenced
See strength in that which has been deemed weak
See one another
Hear one another
Care for one another
And love one another
It’s all that easy
And it’s all that hard
Now may the grace of Christ
The love of God
And the power of the Holy Spirit
Be with us all, now and forevermore
And all God’s people say,
AMEN
