Prelude: Tiento de medio registro de tiple (Francisco Correa de Arauxo)
Hymn: Easter Gloria (Marty Haugen/O FILII ET FILIAE, traditional French) GC †
Call to Worship
One: Love one another.
All: This is The Way of Christ.
One: Serve one another.
All: This is The Way of Christ.
One: Live in peace with one another.
All: This is The Way of Christ.
One: Seek justice for one another.
All: This is The Way of Christ.
One: We are called to walk, act, speak and live all of our lives with the love
of Christ Jesus.
All: Come, let us follow The Way, let us love one another, and let us worship
Christ our Savior.
Song: Dear Mother God (Janet Wootton/EM) RAEH (text)
Prayer of Confession
One: Most holy God, most of the time we see
ourselves as nice people,
who
are trying to do the loving thing in a difficult world.
We
try not to lie, cheat, malign, abuse or injure others.
We
try to serve you through the church and within the community.
We
pray for peace and justice, and we attempt to forgive those who sin against us.
By
the standards of love in the wider community we have not done so badly.
All: Yet deep within we know how far we fall short
of the love-standard set by Jesus,
and
we even fall beneath the level that our own ideals have set us.
We
feel compromised and mislead by this hustling world with its glitter.
We
become frustrated and undermined by a negativity within ourselves
which
diverts us and leads us into withholding love.
One: Loving God, we certainly need your pardoning
grace and humbly we ask for it.
But
also we need much more.
All: We seek the grace of self honesty, and a
sharper awareness of our own hearts.
We
need your illuminating Light, helping us to see through the humbug of society.
We
need to allow ourselves to become saturated with your love.
One: We ask for the spur of your Spirit
to
make us more eager for the art of true loving,
and
more determined to practice what we preach.
All: Grant us these graces we pray, for without
you we are as nothing.
Hear
our prayer, through Christ our Savior. Amen!
—Silent reflection—
One: Sisters
and brothers in the family of God, listen well for it is written of old: “You
are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding
in steadfast love.” What was
thus written was in the fullness of time made gloriously visible and accessible
in Jesus of Nazareth. In God’s name,
please welcome into your minds this living truth, and accept into your hearts
the saving grace of Christ Jesus.
All: Let it
be, dear Lord, let it be! Amen!
Song of Praise: Psalm 34, verse 1 (adapted John Bell/TALLA CRIOSDH, traditional Scots Gaelic) * †
Prayer of the Day
Most holy Friend, Three-person’d God, from whom
every family in heaven and on earth is named, please help the family of the
church to learn the way of love from you. Bring us together in spirit and
action, bearing one another’s burdens and sharing each others gifts, and
establishing here on earth colonies of heaven. In the name of Christ, our
Brother and Savior. Amen!
Sh'ma Israel (Max Helfman)
Reading from Hebrew Scripture: Isaiah 66:7-14 (non-lectionary)
Alleluia (Indonesia)
Gospel Reading: John 19:25-27 (non-lectionary)
Sermon: Good Friday as Mother's Day
Hymn: At the cross her station keeping (Stabat Mater, Jacopone da Todi/German traditional) Pius X Hymnal, alt. **
Litany for Mother's Day
One:
Midwifing God, the Prophet Isaiah declared that You are the one who delivers
us.
All: We remember that You are Mother and Father to all of us, all of us are
Your children.
One: Mothering God, You bring forth new life in our midst.
All: We honor the mothers around us, and all who care and love children.
One: Grandmother God, You comfort us in our time of grieving and sorrow.
All: We remember our mothers and grandmothers who have passed on, for all those
we miss on this day.
One: Teaching God, You have taught us to honor our mothers and fathers and have
taught us the ways of love.
All: We remember those who have been like mothers to us, giving wisdom and
guidance in our lives.
One: Creator God, we remember that we are all created in Your image
All: We honor and respect all women in our midst, mothers and aunts and sisters
and friends.
One: We honor and remember these great women, loving God, who You have sent
into our lives.
All: Mothering God, guide us into ways of honoring and respecting women around
our world, working towards justice and liberation, health and safety for all
women and girls. In the name of Christ, who like a mother hen desires to gather
us together, we pray. Amen.
Prayer Song: Psalm 34, verse 3 (adapted John Bell/TALLA CRIOSDH, traditional Scots Gaelic) * †
Prayers of the People
Announcements
Offerings (regular and food)
Song: Psalm 23 (Bobby McFerrin) MfL *** ††
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Hymn: O sons and daughters (François Tisserand/O FILII ET FILIAE, French traditional) NCH
Obviously Mother's Day got a lot of coverage today
*A cappella, the congregation singing the two supporting parts and the soprano cantor singing the melody.
**Verses sung in alternation by unaccompanied soloist and congregation with organ
***Sung by quartet
† seasonal songs (Easter)
†† click
here to hear Bobby McFerrin sing it
Forces:
Soprano
Tenor/Guitar
Tenor/Bass Guitar
Organ/Piano
