Sunday, January 17, 2021

CALL TO WORSHIP
Psalm 19

MUSIC
Curated by Nathan Gutzmann
The Belonging Co. - Peace Be Still
Hillsong Worship - It Is Well With My Soul
Phil Wickham - Living Hope
Bethel Music - Sing His Praise Again

REFLECTIVE PRAYER
Written by Yelena Pakhomova

As part of our liturgy today, we want to create space to check in with ourselves through a prayer of reflection.
We are a couple of weeks into the new year, and the January energy with all the expectations and hopes is definitely there.

Yet, the sadness we've been carrying around and the uncertainty of what this year will bring are very much part of the picture too.

So, as we pray, I invite you to sit with this tension and be gently present to how your heart is today. We'll have a moment of reflection and a word of blessing at the end. Let us pray:

Our loving God,
To you all hearts are open and all desires known,
As we take a moment to be still and turn our eyes inward,
Would you help us see ourselves as you see us --
With all the compassion and grace. God, we choose to move forward with hope,
But we are mindful of the deep sense of loss
that has been marking our life for a while now:
Dinners and celebrations that could not happen,
Deeply loved, and much-needed, jobs that have been lost,
The restlessness of not knowing how to plan ahead,
The amount of energy it now takes to care, to protect, to stay well.
God, we choose to move forward with hope,
but right now, we'll take a moment to pause
and be present to the tension and grief and pain
that are also part of our journey.

Loving God,
As we move forward with hope, we ask:
Circle us with your love,
Keep courage within,
and fear without.
Bless the work of our hands,
and grant us your peace,

Amen.