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.
Be Still and Know
Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled
Laudate omnes gentes
My Help Comes From the Lord (Psalm 121)
Reading 1 John 3:1-3
See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us. 2 Dear friends, now we are God’s children, and it hasn’t yet appeared what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him because we’ll see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves even as he is pure.
Be Not Afraid
Reading Matthew 5:1-12
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him. 2 He taught them, saying:
3 “Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
4 “Happy are people who grieve, because they will be made glad.
5 “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.
6 “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full.
7 “Happy are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy.
8 “Happy are people who have pure hearts, because they will see God.
9 “Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.
10 “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
11 “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me.
12 Be full of joy and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. In the same way, people harassed the prophets who came before you.
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.
Prayers
Together, let us pray to Christ our Lord, who intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father: Response
O Christ Savior, like the seed fallen to the ground, you suffered death. United to you, our life will bear much fruit. Response
O Christ, you went down to the lowest point of the human condition; you remain close to all who are abandoned. Response
In your love you took upon yourself our sins; innocent, you accepted death to free us from death. Response
By your love you conquered evil and hatred, and you live forever at the Father’s side. Response
You listen to us in your goodness and you visit us in our misfortune; fill our hearts to overflowing by revealing to us the light of your face. Response
Communion Song
Final Prayer – Jesus, joy of our hearts, you remain alongside us like someone who is poor and also as the Risen Lord. You want to turn us into people who are fully alive, not lukewarm. And every time a distance opens up between ourselves and you, you invite us to follow you by remaining close beside you. Amen.
Final song – Wait for the Lord
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