Worship at Home for April 19, 2020
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 a liturgy, complete with embedded songs and a sermon by guest preacher Rev. Patricia Hall, 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, and 4/12.
This Sunday, once again we are connecting as a church body using Zoom video chat. Here’s the schedule and instructions for joining in!
9:30-10:30 - Connect and informal checking in
10:30-11:00 - Prayers of the People & The Lord’s Prayer: Joys and Concerns
[**If you’re newer to Zoom or know that technology can be challenging, try signing on closer to 9:30am so that we can have plenty of time to help you figure it out before Prayers of the People starts. Paula, who helped organize this, will help you!]
To join in the Zoom event on your computer,
THE EASIEST WAY
1. Go to www.zoom.com
2. Click on "Join a Meeting"
3. Enter meeting ID#: 970 0418 6466 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
NOT AS EASY, UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE
1. Click on http://princeton.zoom.us/j/97004186466
2. Follow prompts, these can be a bit tricky if you've never used Zoom before.
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#: 970 0418 6466 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
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#: 970 0418 6466
NOTE: You do not need to create a Zoom account to sign into a meeting.
Opening Songs
Opening Prayer
Loving God,
Just like the disciples
As they huddled in fear in a locked room
Desperate for peace
We too long for peace
Just like Thomas
Full of crushing disappointment and doubt
Who did not dare to hope
We too long for hope
We long for your new life
Your resurrection power
To shine through us
So all the world may see
Amen.
Centering Song
Call to Worship
Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed!
Though we find ourselves isolated
in homes, apartments, and residential places,
yet, we would listen to the birds singing,
reminding us that the whole creation
rejoices in the love of our God.
Though we cannot reach out and touch
our friends and neighbors,
we would rejoice that Jesus is in our midst,
holding out hands of grace and hope to us!
Though we have to stand at a safe distance
from others, whispering hello through masks,
we know that the Spirit is all around us,
breathing peace on us in these moments,
surrounding us with grace and hope.
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
First, we pray that God continue to bless the efforts of the Westminster/Capital Area YMCA partnership as we help distribute breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday to over 100 youth 18 years and younger., Please pray for more food to be distributed in Trenton on the weekends.
Also during this time, we encourage you to pray for friends and family, neighbors, our city, our country, and the world. Particularly keep in mind those who are most vulnerable during this time: the elderly and immuno-compromised who are particularly vulnerable to infection, the poor who are particularly vulnerable economically as daycares and businesses close, and those without healthcare coverage.
Pray also for all our healthcare workers who face a daunting task ahead and who place themselves in harm’s way in love and service to their community.
Prays for Westminster nurses Rachel and Chiquera, and corrections officer Latipha; all three are caring for people with COVID 19.
Finally, take a moment to listen for the voice of God. How is God inviting you to seek the shalom of the city in light of the spreading corona virus? Perhaps there is someone who God is calling you to check in on, perhaps a text or call with encouragement for someone who is suffering, perhaps a donation to an organization on the front lines. Listen for God’s invitation and make plans to respond in love and obedience.
Call to Confession and Reconciliation
Like those disciples of long ago, we are filled with uncertainty, wondering what the next piece of news will bring, what awaits us today, tonight, tomorrow. Let us confess how hard it is to believe in the resurrection life and hope offered to us, by the One who offers us peace and healing, as we pray together, saying,
Hear the echoes of our locked hearts, Path of Life. We isolate ourselves from the struggles of the world and wonder if we will ever find our way back. Even in these moments, we could do more for others, but multiply their sorrows by our focusing more on ourselves and our needs. We see the ones who are risking their lives to care for those they don’t even know, and grumble that they could be doing more.
Have mercy on us, God whose Breath gives us life. Walk through the closed doors of our worries and doubts to stand in our midst, offering us that grace which can heal us, that hope which can enliven us, and that faith which enables us to follow Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Assurance of Pardon
It is God's great mercy through the resurrection of Jesus which gives us that hope which lives within us.
Thanks be to God for this precious gift by which we are able to believe and rejoice in our inheritance. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture and Sermon
by
Rev. Patricia Hall
Hymn of Response
Prayers of the People
Prayers of the People
This prayer is from the website of the Pacific School of Religion. It is adapted from “A Prayer for Persons Suffering from Ebola”, chausa.org.
A Prayer in the Days of the Coronavirus
As you pray this prayer aloud, imagine that many people are reading it along with you or hearing these words as you read.
Merciful God, hear our fervent prayer for all who suffer the effects of the coronavirus—its infection of sickness, fear, and anxiety.
God, in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.
May those who are infected receive the proper treatment and the comfort of your healing presence. God, in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.
May their caregivers, families and neighbors be shielded from the onslaught of the virus and give solace to those who grieve the loss of loved ones. God, in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.
Calm the anxiety and fear of those who fear its advent and protect those who are most vulnerable to its spread—the marginalized,
the un- and under-insured, the immune-compromised, the elderly. God, in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.
Guide those who strive to develop tests, vaccines, and cure—that their work may limit and conquer the virus and restore communities to wholeness and health. God, in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.
Holy One known by many names, help us rise above fear:
Assure us of your presence when we are fearful.
Calm anxieties with your holy Spirit.
Bring healing to all in need of it.
We ask all this through the intercession of your child, Jesus,
through the Holy Spirit, and in the name of all that is holy, just, and compassionate.
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be your 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors
And Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
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, may these gifts we give
Of our money
Of our time
Of our affection
Of our service
Be small ways that we participate in your resurrection life
Which is breaking into the world.
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