2nd Sunday of Lent—Season of Self Examination—Taking Inventory—Repentance—Making Amends
Westport Presbyterian Church—March 5, 2023, 11:00 am
(Video will be posted LIVE on the church’s FB page at 11am and then cross-posted here. If the video doesn’t load properly here, you should be able to click on the Watch on Facebook link and watch as a guest, even if you don’t have Facebook)
PRELUDE: Amazing Grace—Setting by Hal H. Hopson
CALL TO RETURN TO OUR SOULS
Pastor: What brings you joy?
People: What slows you down?
Pastor: What gives you hope?
People: What makes you think?
Pastor: What invites you to wonder?
People: What makes you change?
Pastor: What voice speaks truth you cannot find words to say to yourself?
People: Might it have something to do with looking through the God window?
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN TO BEGIN A COMMUNION SERVICE: Let Us Break Bread Together GTG#525
UNISON CALL TO CONFESSION AND COMMITMENT
Pastor: With Gandhi, we confess the 7 deadly, modern sins, what he later said are “the seven blunders that human society commits, and that cause all the violence.”
ALL: Wealth without work. Pleasure without conscience. Science without humanity. Knowledge without character. Politics without principle. Commerce without morality. Worship without sacrifice. —Mahatma Gandhi, India
SUNG BLESSED ASSURANCE OF GOD’S ACTIVE GRACE: Jesus, We Are Here (1st stanza, English & Shona) GTG #392
BIBLE READINGS: Mark 8:1-21 – Luke Gilmore
ANTHEM: Down Galilee’s Slow Roadways—Michael Burkhardt
PRAYER BEFORE SERMON
Pastor: May the words of my mouth
People: And the meditations of our hearts
Pastor: Be acceptable to you, O Lord
People: Our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
SERMON— The Miracle Worker : A Bible Study Communuion Meditation
SUNG PREPARATION FOR COMMUNION: Amazing Grace GTG#649
SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Pastor: Let’s gather around this planet friendly, holy table, With holy bread & drink
People: The promise of Christ being alive among us
Pastor: This is the welcome table of God where all who intend to experience the non-physical experience spiritual dimension of life—
People: And live in relationships of freedom and peace with neighbors!
Pastor: Hunger no more! Come to eat! Here, all who longs for otherwise elusive grace
People: May enjoy the strong love of God in Jesus Christ.
Pastor: Here you are embraced and held by Self Giving Love!—
People: One of God’s great and holy names!
Pastor: Come to drink, you are invited into this holy mystery.
People: We are ready!
Pastor: Jesus said: “I am the bread of life. All who come to me shall not hunger, and all who believe in me shall never be thirsty.”
People: We are hungry for Your Love, O God, We are thirsty for Your Deep Peace, O Lamb of God. We seek an unusual gift— an experience of wonder and joy.
Pastor: Come, Holy Spirit. Come. Open our eyes to the mystery of The living Christ’s presence in our midst. Through the broken bread…
People: We are becoming the Body of Christ—
Pastor: Feeding the hungry!
People: Giving showers and clothes to people who are homeless and extremely poor!
Pastor: Becoming anti-racist! Getting into Good Trouble!
People: Let us praise and pray to God by singing an African hymn!
CONGREGATIONAL SUNG PRAYER: Come, Bring Your Burdens to God GTG #851
Pastor: Lift up names of people we wish to pray for, concluding with The Lord’s Prayer (GTG, page 35)…
BREAKING & SHARING OF BREAD, POURING & SHARING OF WINE
Pastor: The Grace, Peace, Love and Joy of Jesus Christ be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Let us pray the prayer of thanksgiving together….
ALL: Gracious and loving God, You have united us into a body of Christ, and nourished us at Your table with holy food and drink. Thank you for feeding our hunger and relieving our thirst. Now send us into the world to do the great work You have called us to do; To find the lost and lonely! To heal wounded souls! To free people, including ourselves, who are not at all free! To give compassion to the vulnerable and marginalized! To love Beauty, the Planet & Sky, To persist in resisting evil, o share by what we say and do The Message of Jesus Christ, Who is The Light in the World. Amen.
WELCOMING
OFFERTORY: Shepherd Me, O God—Marty Haugen, arr. Mark Hayes, Joshua Stark, bass
Offering link
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
May we know the honor of being a human being. (Jake Swamp, Haudenosaunee/Iroquois) May we share the honor of being a human being. Let us unite a frightened world by acts of kindness. (early pandemic, viral social media post) Hate has no home here. (a 9 year old Muslim child wrote these words on a sign for a protest at Chicago’s airport when the January 27, 2017 travel ban from Muslim countries was announced) Let hate have no home where you are.Love your enemies. (Jesus) Replace apathy with curiosity! Violence with community. (Fred Culver) May our capacity for God be reborn. Never forget that what you give, you have. (Roman soldier) Amen.
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN: Down in the River to Pray (stanzas 1-4)
BENEDICTION
SUNG BENEDICTION RESPONSE: Down in the River to Pray (stanza 5)
POSTLUDE: Amazing Grace—setting by Charles Szczepanek
CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS
· Next Sunday, March 12 Pot O’ Gold Potluck Brunch and Conversation after worship. The recent Session/Congregation “Affinity Process” suggested some specific follow up discussions about what people hope to talk about and see happen this Spring and the rest of the year. This will be woven into the worship service and the pot luck table talk on Sunday, March 12.
· Rehearsals for the original Black History Play Only the Wounds and Weapons Have Changed by Jacqee Gafford and Scott Myers, have begun here. Opening night is Friday, March 17 at the Just Off Broadway Theater, 7:30 p.m. 9 performances. 1 Sunday matinee. Say WESTPORT at the box office to receive Buy 1, Get 1 Free tickets (you get two tickets for $20). Groups of 10–$75 total. ($7.50/ticket)
• #GoodTrouble KC met with the new KCPD police chief recently. We will meet again. We also spoke to the Board of Police Commissioners and we met with Mayor Lucas’ Deputy Chief of Staff this past week. We are discussing and thinking together about how to hire and promote more Black and Brown police officers, especially women, and how to achieve an audit that will change what the chief called “the good ol’ boy” culture in the KCPD.
· We are involved with Steptoe Lives in an effort to honor and preserve WHAT remains of the historic Black Westport community of Steptoe. A major event now being planned is Juneteenth in Steptoe, on the Sunday afternoon, June 18, the day before the new national holiday. Events will be held in the neighborhood (parade), at the St. James Missionary Baptist Church (music and Dancing Word) and here at Westport Presby (film) Want to join in the effort? Stan Morgan & Rev Scott are participating so far.
· Still need all kinds of winter clothing for Westport Showers. Water! Bread! Fruit!—too!
· Want to join folks here for a group visit after church one Sunday to a world class art exhibit coming to the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum? The exhibit is—Alberto Giacometti: Toward the Ultimate Figure, opens on March 18. Sign up sheet on the back table for some Sunday after the opening. We need as many people who have memberships to sign up so you can bring someone who doesn’t have a membership. If we need some extra tickets, we can use “arts and spirituality” funds in the budget to supplement. We haven’t done this in some time. Sign up. It will be fun!
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