Bulletin for Sunday, May 9, 2021

Trouble Won’t Go

Trouble won’t go, peace won’t stay
Oceans roar, levees break (Hmm, hmm)
Trouble won’t go, peace won’t stay
Bridges fall, earth gives way (Hmm, hmm)

Ain’t no refuge but You my God
Ain’t no safe place, but in Your arms
Ain’t no refuge but You my God
Ain’t no safe place, but in Your arms
I’m gonna be still
I’m gonna be still

Trouble won’t go, peace won’t stay
Landmines wait where children play (Hmm, hmm)
Trouble won’t go, peace won’t stay
In this old world, no safe place (Hmm, hmm)

Ain’t no refuge but You my God
Ain’t no safe place, but in Your arms
Ain’t no refuge but You my God
Ain’t no safe place, but in Your arms
I’m gonna be still
I’m gonna be still

Ain’t no refuge but You my God
Ain’t no safe place, but in Your arms
Ain’t no refuge but You my God
Ain’t no safe place, but in Your arms
I’m gonna be still
I’m gonna be still

At the Table

I went the ways of wayward winds
In a world of trouble and sin
Walked a long and crooked mile
Behind a million rank and file
Forgot where I came from
Somewhere back when I was young
I was a good man’s child

‘Cause I lost some nameless things
My innocence flew away from me
She had to hide her face from my desire
To embrace forbidden fire
But at night I’d dream
She’s singing over me
Oh, oh, my child

Come on home, home to me
And I will hold you in my arms
And joyful be
There will always, always be
A place for you at my table
Return to me

Wondering where I might begin
Hear a voice upon the wind
She’s singing faint but singing true
Son, there ain’t nothing you can do
But listen close and follow me
I’ll take you where you’re meant to be
Just don’t lose faith

So I put my hand upon the plow
Wipe the sweat up from my brow
Plant the good seed along the way
As I look forward to the day
When at last I see
My Father run to me
Singing oh, my child

Come on home, home to me
And I will hold you in my arms
And joyful be
There will always, always be
A place for you at my table
Return to me

Come on home, home to me
And I will hold you in my arms
And joyful be
There will always, always be
A place for you at my table
A place for you at my table
A place for you at my table
Return to me

Christ the Rock

On Christ the solid rock I stand
No double minded shifting sands
On Christ the rock I plant my feet
A firm foundation for me

On Christ the rock I place my heart
And trust in who You say You are
No circumstance that blows my way
Will never move this solid place

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy

On Christ the solid rock I stand
Leaving behind the fear of man
With Christ the truth I will agree
Forsaking lies that come for me

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy

On Christ the rock I lay my dreams
Come with Your fire consuming me
With Christ the rock I make my plans
Partner with Your purposes

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy, You are Holy O God

On Christ the solid rock I stand

Dawn to Dusk

Lord as we turn to You
Come free us from our sin
We only have today
So let us now begin

From dawn to dusk
We’re waking up
From dawn to dusk
We’re waking up

Tomorrow’s freedom is today’s surrender
We come before You lay our burden’s down
We look to You as our hearts remember
You are the only God
You are our only God

Lord as we give You more
Your Spirit swells within
‘Cause You are holy, holy Lord
So let us now begin

From dawn to dusk
We’re waking up
From dawn to dusk
We’re waking up

Tomorrow’s freedom is today’s surrender
We come before You lay our burden’s down
We look to You as our hearts remember
You are the only God
You are our only God

Tomorrow’s freedom is today’s surrender
We come before You lay our burden’s down
We look to You as our hearts remember
You are the only God
You are our only God

So Will I

God of creation
There at the start
Before the beginning of time
With no point of reference
You spoke to the dark
And fleshed out the wonder of light

And as You speak
A hundred billion galaxies are born
In the vapour of Your breath the planets form
If the stars were made to worship, so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made
Every burning star
A signal fire of grace
If creation sings Your praises, so will I

God of Your promise
You don’t speak in vain
No syllable empty or void
For once You have spoken
All nature and science
Follow the sound of Your voice

And as You speak
A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath
Evolving in pursuit of what You said
If it all reveals Your nature so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You say
Every painted sky
A canvas of Your grace
If creation still obeys You, so will I

If the stars were made to worship, so will I
If the mountains bow in reverence, so will I
If the oceans roar Your greatness, so will I
For if everything exists to lift You high, so will I
If the wind goes where You send it, so will I
If the rocks cry out in silence, so will I
If the sum of all our praises still falls shy
Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times

God of salvation
You chased down my heart
Through all of my failure and pride
On a hill You created
The Light of the world
Abandoned in darkness to die

And as You speak
A hundred billion failures disappear
Where You lost Your life so I could find it here
If You left the grave behind You, so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You’ve done
Every part designed in a work of art called love
If You gladly chose surrender, so will I

I can see Your heart, a billion different ways
Every precious one, a child You died to save
And if You gave Your life to love them so will I
Like You would again a hundred billion times
But what measure could amount to Your desire?
You’re the One who never leaves the one behind

Proverbs 24:17

“Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.”

Obadiah 1:11-14

On that day you stood there and didn’t do anything. Strangers took your brother’s army into exile. Godless foreigners invaded and pillaged Jerusalem. You stood there and watched. You were as bad as they were. You shouldn’t have gloated over your brother when he was down-and-out. You shouldn’t have laughed and joked at Judah’s sons when they were facedown in the mud. You shouldn’t have talked so big when everything was so bad. You shouldn’t have taken advantage of my people when their lives had fallen apart. You of all people should not have been amused by their troubles, their wrecked nation. You shouldn’t have taken the shirt off their back when they were knocked flat, defenseless. And you shouldn’t have stood waiting at the outskirts and cut off refugees, and traitorously turned in helpless survivors who had lost everything.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

– – – – – – – – – –

Reader: The word of the Lord.
Ekklesia: Thanks be to God.

Construction → Deconstruction → Reconstruction

Orientation → Disorientation → Reorientation

Law → Prophet → Wisdom

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“Is one of my themes attacking Christianity? No. I don’t attack Christianity. I berate evangelicalism. Fundamentalism. It’s a destructive narrow-minded worldview. And one of the most destructive, narrow-minded aspects of it is that its adherents feel as if they are the entirety of Christianity rather than the tiny sliver of it that they actually are. Evangelicalism is a toddler tradition that’s cousins with Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, and it’s the snot-nosed little sibling of mainline Protestant denominations. So yes, I’m out here saying that fundamentalism is bizarre [and] anti-intellectual. But that’s not me attacking Christianity. Christianity is a big family. I’m just saying that one of the kids is being kind of a brat. And most of the rest of the family agrees.” — Abraham Piper

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Proverbs 24:17. “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.”

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“… as I read these stories, I wanted the darkness to be even darker still.”

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“Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one’s first feeling, ‘Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally we shall insist on seeing everything — God and our friends and ourselves included — as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed forever in a universe of pure hatred.” — CS Lewis

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Love doesn’t hope the darkness to be darker still.

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(1) PRAY.

“There is nothing so satisfactory as finding that some man is better than we thought; there is no sensation so pleasant to a generous spirit as being convicted of underestimating another’s character.” — GK Chesterton

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(2) You are not immune from failure and missteps.

Sow grace to reap grace.

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(3) THIRD. TRUST GOD.

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A liturgy for Resisting the Dark Pleasures of Another’s Fall.

Jesus, here i am again,

But You, O Christ, are not pitted against them;

Given the choice between grace or gloating

To know the one who judges us most finally

But how can this be? how did i arrive here?

Be my strength.

Amen.

Brother

When I look into the face of my enemy
I see my brother, I see my brother
When I look into the face of my enemy
I see my brother, I see my brother

Forgiveness is the garment of our courage
The power to make the peace we long to know
Open up our eyes
To see the wounds that bind all of humankind
May our shuttered hearts
Greet the dawn of life with charity and love

When I look into the face of my enemy
I see my brother, I see my brother
When I look into the face of my enemy
I see my brother, I see my brother

Holy Water

God, I’m on my knees again
God, I’m begging please again
I need You — Oh, I need You

Walking down these desert roads
Water for my thirsty soul
I need You — Oh, I need You

Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey on my lips
Like the sound of a symphony to my ears
Like holy water on my skin

Dead man walking, slave to sin
I wanna know about being born again
I need You — Oh, I need You

So take me to the riverside
Take me under, baptize
I need You — Oh, I need You

Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey on my lips
Like the sound of a symphony to my ears
Like holy water on my skin

I don’t wanna abuse Your grace
God, I need it every day
It’s the only thing that ever really
Makes me wanna change
(repeat)

Your forgiveness
Is like sweet, sweet honey on my lips
Like the sound of a symphony to my ears
Like holy water on my skin
Like holy water on my skin
Like holy water on my skin