From Rev. Talitha –
Welcome to Lent. This is the first Sunday of the season and we will be working over the next forty days to “get ready to come close to the Mystery of Easter,” as we say with the children in Godly Play. It is a big mystery so it does take that long to get ready. Please join us this week! I will be preaching my second of a three-part series on Matthew 25, which is a three-part challenge we have accepted from the Presbyterian Church (USA), our denomination. In it we are committing ourselves to dismantle structural racism, eradicate systemic poverty, and build congregational vitality. This week we will be focusing on systemic poverty.
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View February 21st Celebration online
- Marcia provides this week’s prelude
- I will welcome us, and
- Francie Chan will read the Call to Celebration, which was written by Judy Chicago
- The opening hymn is “The Glory of These Forty Days”
- Linda Benson will share the Prayer for Peace, which is taken from the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 resources
- We have Godly Play this week! The children are hearing different stories on Wednesday, but we are also including a video of the Lent series, “The Faces of Easter,” this year with beautiful new art.
- The scripture, Matthew 25:14-30, is read by Cynthia Blumgart
- I will preach on the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 call to eradicate systemic poverty
- Kim, just back from Yosemite, shares this week’s special music, a setting of Psalm 121.
- I will lead us in prayer,
- The closing hymn, a new one written for use in Matthew 25 churches, is “Jesus, Be With Us”
- And we will close with some announcements, charge,
The Charge (say together) Go out into the world in peace. Have courage; hold on to what is good. Return no one evil for evil. Strengthen the faint-hearted, support the weak, and help the suffering. Honor all people. Love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.