Worship at Home for
January 10, 2021
Due to the spread of Covid-19, we are taking a sabbatical from our normal Sunday morning gathering, but unity and community are more important than ever before in this season of uncertainty. To help facilitate this, we are providing an online service so that, one in heart, we can worship together even as we maintain distance out of love for our neighbors. This is designed to be used on your own or together as a family or community. We hope this resource is a blessing to you. Remember to check in on friends and neighbors with calls or text, especially the elderly among us and others who are particularly vulnerable. You can also check out the services from 3/15, 3/22, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10, 5/17, 5/24, 5/31, 6/7, 6/14, 6/21, 6/28, 7/5, 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2, 8/9. 8/16, 8/23, 8/31, 9/6, 9/13, 9/20, 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/22, 11/29, 12/6, 12/13, 12/20, 12/27, and 1/3.
Prayers of the People on Zoom at 10:30am!
To join in the Zoom event by online computer,
THE EASIEST WAY
1. Go to www.zoom.com
2. Click on "Join a Meeting"
3. Enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957 and Click "Join"
4. Follow prompts, including entering your name.
5. Here is a video tutorial that will take you through the steps, if you want to view this first: https://youtu.be/L5zzE-HGQko
or
NOT AS EASY, UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE and A ZOOM ACCOUNT
1. Click on https://princeton.zoom.us/j/6294864957
2. Follow prompts, these can be a bit tricky if you've never used Zoom before.
or
To join in the Zoom event using your Smartphone/Iphone:
1. Download the Zoom Cloud Meeting app
2. Open the app.
2. Enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957 and Click "Join"
3. Follow prompts, including entering your name
4. Here is a video tutorial that will take you through the steps, if you want to view this first: https://youtu.be/lO206_NezaY
or
To dial in by phone:
+1 (646) 558 8656 (New York--please note this may be a long-distance call if you are using a landline)
Then at the prompt, enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957
NOTE: You do not need to create a Zoom account to sign into a meeting.
Opening Songs
Centering Song
Call to Worship
We have been claimed by the God who calls us children.
We, the redeemed, have been called by name.
As with the Israelites, God promises to pass with us through the water.
We will not fear, for God is with us!
The rivers shall not overwhelm us for God is our guide and our protector.
Through God’s saving grace, the waters that tested us
are now the waters that wash us and nourish us.
Great is the Fount of Every Blessing,
ever flowing, ever redeeming, ever claiming us as God’s children.
Come, let us worship the God who washes us in grace.
Rev Stephen M. Fearing, Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, NY
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
ANTIRACIST ADJUSTMENT FOR THE WEEK of 1/3/2021
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8
To begin 2021, we’ll be exploring the book “I Bring the Voices of My People” by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes who is the Associate Professor of Practical Theology at the Mercer University McAfee School of Theology. In her publication, Dr. Walker-Barnes presents a Womanist vision of racial reconciliation which centers the experience of black women and their intersectional perspective on systemic racism, reconciliation movements and white supremacy.
In season 4 of The Distillery, which is a podcast produced by Princeton Seminary as part of the Thread, Dr. Walker-Barnes shares some of her insights and observations after years of racial justice work. She offers a course enhancement to the Christian church’s paradigm of racial reconciliation focused on the building/growing of relationships between black and white individuals and on forgiveness flowing from the victim to the oppressor. She notes that relationships built on unequal power dynamics will not lead to equity. Dr. Walker-Barnes challenges the Church to actively engage systemic racism and to advocate for restorative care for all.
Reimagining Racial Reconciliation — The Thread (ptsem.edu)
As you sit with this week’s offering, remember to pay attention to the sensations that arise in your body and to where they are located. Do you notice agitation, constriction, release, pressure, energy, numbness, relaxation, warmth, coolness, softness, tightness? What statements resonate and which ones challenge? No judgment or analysis, just notice and let them go.
Body Settling/Soothing Practice: Humming (“My Grandmother’s Hands” page 142)
Pick a simple melody that feels comforting to your body such as the hymn Amazing Grace. Hum the first stanza all the way through from beginning to end using deep belly breaths. Repeat two more times. When you’re done stop and pay attention to how your body feels. What body sensations have changed from before you started humming? What has stayed the same?
Please feel free to forward any thoughts to me at the email listed below or by requesting to join the private Facebook group Antiracist Adjustments with the following link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1819196591561542/?ref=share . Blessings as you continue your antiracism spiritual practice.
(submitted by Pat Deeney, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Trenton NJ, pjdeeney@hotmail.com)
Call to Confession and Reconciliation
We are incredibly stubborn, O Lord.
We have entered the season
in which Your Light has been given to the world,
your blessings have been poured out on the world,
and yet all we can think about is our own problems,
our own needs, our own desires.
Help us to desire you, Lord.
Help us to yearn for your presence.
Pour your baptismal waters over us again,
cleansing us from our self-pity and arrogance.
Nourish and heal us so that we may joyfully serve you.
Wash away our jealousy, greed,
and all negative thoughts and behaviors
that stand in the way of our truly being
the people you have called us to be.
Again let us receive the blessings offered in creation,
in the birth and baptism of Jesus,
and in the ministry of the saints of light.
We ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Ministry Matters
Assurance of Pardon
The love of God is always offered to us,
freely, joyfully, for all eternity.
Rejoice, dear friends,
this is the Good News of our Lord. Amen
Ministry Matters
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Reading by
Lexi Aligarbes
Sermon by Pastor Karen
A Prayer for the Nation’s Way Forward:
During this Time of Crisis
Hymn of Response
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever
Amen.
Offering
Even as we are unable to gather for our Sunday morning worship services, many of the church’s expenses remain the same, and now more than ever we want to have the resources to bless the community around us. Your gracious donation will ensure that Westminster continues to Seek the Shalom of the Capital City of Trenton and beyond.
Westminster can receive donations via a simple text:
Text to 609-438-8828 the word “Give”
Westminster’s online giving number will respond asking how much you’d like to give, and steps to follow
Westminster can receive donations online:
Westminster can receive donations by check:
Westminster Presbyterian Church
PO Box 3719
Trenton, NJ 08629
Prayer of Dedication
Jesus, we hear your voice calling us
To love
To serve
To give
These gifts are our response to your call
Keep our hearts and ears open to continue to listen
Today and every day
Amen
Closing Song
Benediction
The Lord be with you
And also with you
La paz de Dios sea con-ti-go
Y tam-bien con-ti-go
Sa-wa-bona
Si-ko-na
Pyeong-hwa
Pyeong-hwa