On Sunday, July 1st we explored Luke 4 at our worship gathering at The Freeway. We don't usually re-cap our worship gathering experiences online because they are unique, contextual, live experiences with our community that don't fully translate elsewhere, but people asked specifically for this one, so here you go:

We had a station set up at the front with the sound board, a laptop, a monitor, an iPod, Two TVs and a projector on it. Three of us who were leading sat behind the table and led from there.

We opened with prayer. We asked Jesus to transform our thinking, but more importantly our living as it relates to the gospel being incarnated amongst marginalized people.

Then we watched this video by Canadian rockers, Nickleback as a "teaser":



Following the video, we read the scripture passage aloud in the groups we were sitting in. We read short sections of the passage and then paused, taking time to reflect in between.

We sang together, corporately Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman and then You're Everything by David Crowder led by two acoustic guitars and a djembe.

Then we watched this video of footage of a worship moment in a U2 concert followed by part of Bono's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast:



Then we reflected with a digital segment on Bono's words as part of his speech at the NAACP awards:

“God has a special place for the poor. The poor are where God lives. God is in the slums… in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is where the opportunity is lost and lives are shattered. God is with the mother who has infected her child with a virus that will take both their lives. God is under the rubble in the cries we hear during war time. God, my friends, is with the poor. And God is with us if we are with them. This is not a burden, this is an adventure.”

Then three women from our community led us in a litany of lamentation, which was made up of excerpts from a peace prayer vigil:

Voice 1: "There is no peace because there are no peacemakers. There are no makers of peace because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war - at least as exigent, at least as disruptive, at least as liable to bring disgrace and prison and death in its wake."
-- Father Daniel Berrigan

Voice 2: "True peace is not merely the absence of tension, but the presence of justice and brotherhood."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Voice 3: "Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up, but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed with all the tension its exposure creates to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

(Pause)

Voice 1: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
(Psalm 22:1-2)

Voice 2: Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
(Psalm 16:1-2)

Voice 3: Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit.
(Psalm 17:1)

(Pause)

Voice 3: Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house… Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly.
(Isaiah 58:6-8)

Voice 2: Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
(Psalm 34:14)

Voice 1: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18) “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help me… I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
(Psalm 22:11, 14-15)

(Pause)

Voice 2: Cry aloud to the Lord! …let tears stream down like a torrent, day and night! Give yourself no rest, your eyes no respite! Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street.
(Lamentations 2:18-19)

(Pause)

Voice 1: For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying "Peace, peace," when there is no peace.
(Jeremiah 6:13-14)

Voice 3: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
(Psalm 34:18)

(Pause)

Voice 3: But you, O Lord, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword!... I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters. In the midst of the congregation, I will praise you… For God did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted. God did not hide from me, but heard when I cried. From you comes my praise in the great congregation… The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
(Psalm 22:19-28)

Voice 2: …until a spirit from on high is poured out on us, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.
(Isaiah 32:15-16)

Voice 1: My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
(Isaiah 32:18)

Voice 3: God shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
(Isaiah 2:4)

(Pause)

ALL: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And we said, "Here we are: send us!"
(Isaiah 6:8)

Following the litany of lamentation, we sang God Of Justice by Tim Hughes.

I offered some brief thoughts on the passage from Luke 4. I spoke of the significance of what Jesus said: "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favour has come."

I told everyone that we (the church) are to carry on bringing the Good News to the poor as Jesus' representatives in the world. I then told them stories of people from our community at The Freeway who - in the past twelve months - have made significant moves toward Jesus and helping those who are marginalized, oppressed, poor, overlooked. I could have told more people's stories, but I chose eight. I hoped that they would inspire us all to be more Jesus-y and to be about the Good News. I showed pictures of each of the people I spoke about as a visual reminder of the significant stories represented.

After telling their stories we talked about how many of us want to give ourselves fully to Jesus and to give ourselves for the sake of the world, but that it is hard because we have so much fear about what that really means. It is very difficult as we often struggle with consumerism, self-centredness, fear, and insecurity. But we recognize that Jesus wants us as we are, to join him in his mission to redeem everything.

To end the "formal" part of the gathering we watched this:



...We offer ourselves for the sake of the world...

( Thoughts from a visitor to The Freeway at this gathering. )

Labels: justice, speaking, the freeway, worship resources

Tony Campolo was interviewed by George Snuff-all-up-a-gus on "The Hour" last night. My brother sent me the link and said it reminded him of my blog post from yesterday.

Labels: justice, videos, worship resources

"God, my friends, is with the poor and God is with us if we are with them."
"The poor is where God lives."
--- Bono, NAACP acceptance speech

"You will always have the poor with you."
"Whenever you give a drink to someone who is thirsty, I am there."
"The Kingdom of God exists in the poor."
--- Jesus, [paraphrased by me]

These ideas have been grabbing a hold of me as of late. There will always be poor with us. God is in the poor. God is always with us.

Hmmm...

Labels: justice, worship resources

Tony Campolo on changing the world:

"When you become a Christian, Jesus will invade your life and make you into somebody he can use to change the world. Through you, he will challenge racism. Through you, Jesus will attack sexism, poverty, and militarism. That was never taught to me when I was growing up. I never heard that I could be an instrument that God could use to change the world. All I was told was that being a Christian meant I would go to heaven when I died. I was never told that the primary reason Jesus saved me was to make me into somebody whom he could use to change the world into the kind of world he willed for it to be when he created it."

Labels: justice, worship resources

A New Year's Prayer:

This year has ended, O God, and we seek a new beginning. Gracefully grant us the gift of careful reflection. Where we have harboured bitterness, give us the ability to put into words our deepest feelings. Where we have nursed grudges, give us the strength to let them go. Where we have lacked the courage of our convictions, give us the ability to stand up and be counted. Where we have failed to work with others in community, give us the sense of joy in a common cause. Where we have questioned our life of faith, give us the insight to turn doubts into fresh commitment.

Your grace is sufficient, O God. And as we look into this new year, gracefully grant us a new vision.

• A vision of friendships deepened.
  
• A vision of care, for ourselves and our relationships.
• A vision of renewed service with the faith community.
• A vision of a world where your realm is worked into reality.

Amen.

Labels: prayer, worship resources

I will answer the question today. But first:

Labels: justice, videos, worship resources

I met a stranger today
I invited him over to my place
I prepared food for him in the kitchen
We ate in the dining room
Then we drank in the sitting room and listened to music

In the holy name of the Trinity
He blessed myself and my house
My stuff and my family

Often, often, often
Goes Christ in a stranger's disguise

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Redeemer, open our hearts
to peace, reconciliation and healing between all people.

Father, open our hearts
to guide, love and care for those you have entrusted to us.

Creator, open our hearts
to respect the earth, and everything you have created.

Saviour, open our hearts
to end exclusion, violence, and fear among all.

Spirit, open our hearts
to rid ourselves of self-absorption, greed, and selfishness.

Jesus, open our hearts
that we might see the world as you do, and act accordingly.

Amen.

Labels: prayer, worship resources, writing

Jesus - the One who hears and understands:

Please rescue me from the need I have to be...

first
honoured
recognized
praised
thanked
right
approved
consulted
chosen
loved

Please rescue me from the fear I have of being...

humiliated
forgotten
wrong
ridiculed
vulnerable
suspected
sorry
despised
quiet
poor

Jesus, give me grace & humility. Rescue me from who I have been so that I can be more of who you want me to be.

Amen.

Labels: prayer, worship resources, writing

I do not thank you, Jesus
that I have food to eat, while others starve.
Neither do I thank you for work to do
while empty hands solicit your help.
I don't thank you for a strong body
while others lay flat on their back in sheer pain.
I give you no thanks for these things whatsoever.

But I am grateful today
because I can divide the food I have and share it.
I can use my skills and talents and time
to meet someone else's need.
I can use my strength
to steady one who is weary, and who faints.
For all of this, I give you thanks.

Give me a heart for sharing what I have.
Give me a desire to bear another's burdens.
Give me a will to live a life of Love.
Give me your eyes. Your ears. Your hands.
So that I might respond to those you love
as if it was you, yourself who responded.

Amen.

Labels: prayer, worship resources, writing

Christianity began in Palestine as a relationship, moved to Greece and became an idea, went to Rome and became an institution, then came to North America and became an enterprise.

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