Instructions: The words and videos below are meant to be read and played in sequence, together forming one complete worship service. Begin by pressing play on the first video.
God Bless!
You may hear people these days talking about “being woke.”
Statements like these, “to be woke,” “I am woke,” etc., have many implications, originating in African American dialects and social justice concerns.
But at its heart, the phrase means one thing: To have become aware and concerned about the needs and concerns of another group of people.
In other words, to get over ourselves, and to see beyond our own community.
As Christians, we believe that God first woke us, to the needs, the lives, and the value of others.
Skandalon:
From the Greek: an object placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall.
Figuratively: a thing or person that challenges preconceptions and is often, therefore, rejected.
In other words, a person who disrupts our lives, introduces new things, and tells us to get over ourselves…
Certain spaces in the prayer are left open for you to add whatever is on your heart to add.
And Let Us Pray…
Lord God, Creator, Redeemer,
We lift before you the concerns that we share with our world…
… with our nation …
… with our communities …
… our families …
… our friends …
… our neighbors …
… and ourselves …
Watch over us, and guide us in these times of uncertainty and fear, into your promise and your future.
Forgive us for all the wrong that we have done,
Willingly and unwillingly,
Knowingly or unknowingly.
Give us your grace, to resist tomorrow whatever temptation we have given into today,
To persevere in challenges we have yet to face,
To live beyond fear.
In the name of Jesus Christ, who challenges us, always Amen.
Now, I’m pleased to introduce my father, Pastor Norman Bude, and his message for this Sunday.
God is always working.
God is always doing a new thing.
The only question is how we respond. Do we hold on to how things have always been, to our own notions of what is best, right, and comfortable? Do we stand in God’s way?
Or do we make way for God, become “The voice crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord!” (Matthew 3:3, from Isaiah 40:3)?
As you go out this week, be that voice, get out of the way, see what God is doing today!
Thank you Pastor Norman, Shanna, Sharon and all who are making this video possible.
Our pleasure, Barb!