To long-time Lutherans, Christians from every tradition, and people new to the faith.
We welcome you
To all who have no church home, want to follow Christ, have doubts or do not believe.
We welcome you
To people of every age and size, color and culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, and marital status, ability, disability, and challenge.
We welcome you
To believers, non-believers, questioners, and questioning believers.
This is a place where you are welcome to: celebrate and struggle, rejoice and recover.
AMEN
We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Sana and Tonkawa peoples. It is also important to acknowledge that we are here today due to the exclusion and erasure of many indigenous people from their native land, including the land on which we stand today. We honor with gratitude the land itself and its original people.
Taizé Worship
Welcome to worship at Treehouse. Tonight we will worship in the style of the Taize Community in France, an ecumenical monastic community committed to peace. This style of worship is quiet and contemplative, with a “grand silence” in the middle for your own prayer, meditation, or reflection. Allow your spirits to settle into the mystery and stillness of this worship. God welcomes you here tonight.
Psalm 19
The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth
and their words to the end of the world.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens
and its circuit to the end of them,
and nothing is hid from its heat.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
But who can detect one’s own errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless
and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Gospel: Luke 4:14-21
Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
The Grand Silence
You are invited to enter into a time of silence, prayer, and contemplation. If you are unsure how to do this, you might a) try speaking to God as if speaking to a friend; b) quiet your mind by slowly repeat a phrase from one of the songs or readings from tonight; or c) allow your mind to wander back over your day, asking yourself where you felt most full of life and where you felt most drained, then considering how God was present in both of those experiences.
Eternal God,
you are the maker of us all, and we are your creation,
people formed in your image, as individuals, as community;
formed and fed and furnished with understanding of who you are
and of who and whose we are.
We worship you today in recognition of your calling,
of your communicating,
of your caring to invite us to share in your creative and healing work.
We are here because we have heard you speak in us and through others.
Help us, dear Lord, to ever respond to you
and your invitation to your grace…
Lord hear our prayer…
God of all our moments, of our days and our nights,
you speak and you act in the world around us,
not only to call all people to you,
but also to direct and guide us in the way of healing and wholeness.
Awaken us Lord, to hear what you would say to us.
Help us to open our ears, our eyes, and our hearts to your presence.
Help us to know when it is your voice we are hearing
and it when it is our prejudices and desires to which we are paying heed….
Lord hear our prayer…
Lord, we pray that your church may rise up with renewed commitment
in answer to your call,
that your people may be instruments of your grace and love….
Lord hear our prayer….
We pray for those who consider themselves inadequate
and dismiss or avoid your calling in their lives.
Give them a new vision,
a vision in which you are their strength and their hope…
Lord hear our prayer….
We pray for those who, in answering your call,
must leave the known for the unknown,
the oasis for the desert, the comfortable for the uncertain.
Grant them courage and steadfast faith…
Lord hear our prayer….
We pray too, today, O Lord, for those in want and need –
for those of us and of the larger community who suffer in body or in soul.
We remember before you…[various intercessions]
Lord, hear our pray…..
Loving Father, bless us all with an abundant faith,
a fruitful ministry, a joyful life.
Bless us and all those who gather together to continue the work of Jesus,
who came to heal, save, and deliver us all,
and who taught us to pray as one family, saying…
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
You are the body of Christ.
May you have the heart of Christ,
tender for mercy.
May you have the eyes of Christ
to see a world in need.
May you have the feet of Christ
to bring good news.
Go in peace!
And God go with you.
