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.
Living Room Worship
Welcome to worship. God welcomes you here, as does this community. In tonight’s worship, you will be invited to offer a song, poem, essay, reflection, photograph, story, or letter around the theme of “rules” Be brave! We are all enriched by your sharing.
GATHERING SONG
Grace Like Rain
Verse 1
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see so clearly
Chorus
Hallelujah grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
(They’re washed away)
Verse 2
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Interlude
Yeah
Verse 3
When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing Your praise
Than when we’d first begun
Ending
Hallelujah yeah
Hallelujah yeah
Hallelujah yeah oh yeah
Hallelujah all my stains are washed away
They’re washed away
Chris Collins, Edwin Othello Excell, John Newton, Todd Agnew, William W. Walker
CCLI Song #3689877
© 2003 Ardent/Koala Music
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License #20897483
Prayer
O God our strength, without you we are weak and wayward creatures. Protect us from all dangers that attack us from the outside, and cleanse us from all evil that arises from within ourselves, that we may be preserved through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Mark 7:1-23
The Pharisees and some legal experts from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. 2 They saw some of his disciples eating food with unclean hands. (They were eating without first ritually purifying their hands through washing. 3 The Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat without first washing their hands carefully. This is a way of observing the rules handed down by the elders. 4 Upon returning from the marketplace, they don’t eat without first immersing themselves. They observe many other rules that have been handed down, such as the washing of cups, jugs, pans, and sleeping mats.) 5 So the Pharisees and legal experts asked Jesus, “Why are your disciples not living according to the rules handed down by the elders but instead eat food with ritually unclean hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah really knew what he was talking about when he prophesied about you hypocrites. He wrote,
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
7 Their worship of me is empty
since they teach instructions that are human words.
8 You ignore God’s commandment while holding on to rules created by humans and handed down to you.” 9 Jesus continued, “Clearly, you are experts at rejecting God’s commandment in order to establish these rules. 10 Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and The person who speaks against father or mother will certainly be put to death. 11 But you say, ‘If you tell your father or mother, “Everything I’m expected to contribute to you is corban(that is, a gift I’m giving to God),” 12 then you are no longer required to care for your father or mother.’ 13 In this way you do away with God’s word in favor of the rules handed down to you, which you pass on to others. And you do a lot of other things just like that.”
14 Then Jesus called the crowd again and said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. 15 Nothing outside of a person can enter and contaminate a person in God’s sight; rather, the things that come out of a person contaminate the person.”
17 After leaving the crowd, he entered a house where his disciples asked him about that riddle. 18 He said to them, “Don’t you understand either? Don’t you know that nothing from the outside that enters a person has the power to contaminate? 19 That’s because it doesn’t enter into the heart but into the stomach, and it goes out into the sewer.” By saying this, Jesus declared that no food could contaminate a person in God’s sight. 20 “It’s what comes out of a person that contaminates someone in God’s sight,” he said. 21 “It’s from the inside, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come: sexual sins, thefts, murders, 22 adultery, greed, evil actions, deceit, unrestrained immorality, envy, insults, arrogance, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from the inside and contaminate a person in God’s sight.”
Time of Sharing
What are rules you have always had to follow? What rules do we really need to not follow?
Hymn of the Day
Instead Of A Show
Chorus
Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
Verse 1
I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
They hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Verse 2
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stop up my ears when you’re singing ’em
I hate all your show
Verse 3
Your eyes are closed when you’re praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
But there’s blood on your hands
Verse 4
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don’t fit in your plans
Quit playing religion games
There’s blood on your hands
Bridge
Ah let’s argue this out
If your sins are blood red
Let’s argue this out
You’ll be white as the clouds
Let’s argue this out
Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can’t love at all
Give hope to the ones who get no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can’t stand at all
Instead of a show
I hate all your show
Jon Foreman
CCLI Song #5295719
© 2008 Rubadub Rublishing Publishing
For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com
CCLI License #20897483
Prayers
Communion
LORD’S PRAYER
Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever.
Amen.
Communion Hymn – Let Us Break Bread Together ELW 471
Announcements
Sending Song
Blessing
In the coming week,
may you experience the presence of God with joy.
May the holy cloud comfort you.
May the divine voice encourage you.
May the power of the Spirit transform you,
transform us, transform our world. Amen.