Monday, March 12, 2018

Where two or three gather

Worship on Sunday, March 11

 As we explore those spaces and circumstances where we grow closer to God and God grows closer to us, we come to understand the people of God gathered in worship as a “thin place!”
╬ Where two or three gather … 
Jesus promises presence.  “Where two or three gather in my name, I am there among them.”  (Matthew 18:20)  We gather in worship seeking presence with God in the Word and sacraments and prayers of our liturgy.  We celebrate God’s grace in our baptism and the fellowship of God’s table, in song and prayer in offering and reflecting on Scripture.  Worship is a “thin place” where God forms us as people of faith and sends us in mission for the sake of the world.  We gather here to know ourselves “en theos,” in God.

Below are Readings and the Prayer of the Day.

 Our weekly and special gatherings for worship are a blessing to me and our whole community, thanks in large part to all of you!

 Love and blessings,
- Pr. Brad Highum
bhighum@abidinglove.org

 PRAYER OF THE DAY -------------------

 God of life, we seek you at the center of our gathering here.  Speak to us in your Word.  Refresh us in remembrance of your grace in baptism.  Restore us and renew us in the blessing of your table.  Draw close to us in worship that we may find ourselves in you.  Amen

 READINGS ---------------------------

 First Reading:  Isaiah 56:1-8
6 Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. 2 Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil. 3 Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, "The Lord will surely separate me from his people"; and do not let the eunuch say, "I am just a dry tree." 4 For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.  6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant — 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.8 Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

 Psalm 27:1-5
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 2 When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh — my adversaries and foes — they shall stumble and fall.

 3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.

 4 One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

 5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.

 Second Reading:  Revelation 19:6-10
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunder peals, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.  7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; 8 to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure" —  for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.  9 And the angel said to me, "Write this:  Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God." 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

 Gospel:  John 14:18-24
18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.”
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