Lent is a period of 40-days leading to Easter when we practice letting go in order to receive from God. Sometimes this letting go looks like giving up something very specific - sweets, coffee, etc - and our cravings for those things might draw us to God. Sometimes the letting go is a more internal, daily practice as we listen to the Holy Spirit. Regardless, Lent is both a time of more intense spiritual practice and a season of open-handed surrender rather than tight-fisted discipline.
During Lent, Sundays are feast days. Days when we celebrate mini-resurrections on the way to the resurrection of Christ. For Lent this year at Timberline Old Town & Everyday Joe’s, we will enter into these mini-resurrections through the five senses in a series called Awakenings. The senses are signs of life, and we wonder what would happen if we were to be intentionally awake to them. This week, we enter into the sense of sight.
This particular Sunday as also a Movement Sunday. When a month has a fifth Sunday, we take it as an opportunity to break our normal pattern of worship, with the hopeful fruit being a breaking of tired patterns in our lives.
INVOCATION
The following poem by Malcolm Guite was inspired by the account in Mark of Jesus healing the deaf & mute man. Please receive it as our Lenten invitation to practice resurrection:
"Be Opened" by Malcolm Guite
Be opened. Oh if only we might be!
Speak to a heart that’s closed in on itself:
‘Be opened and the truth will set you free’,
Speak to a world imprisoned in its wealth:
‘Be opened! Learn to learn from poverty’,
Speak to a church that closes and excludes,
And makes rejection its own litany:
‘Be opened, opened to the multitudes
For whom I died but whom you have dismissed
Be opened, opened, opened,’ how you sigh
And still we do not hear you. We have missed
Both cry and crisis, we make no reply.
Take us aside, for we are deaf and dumb
Spit on us Lord and touch each tongue-tied tongue.
SONGS WE SANG
Deliverance by Strahan
Skeleton Bones by John Mark McMillan
Who You Say I Am by Hillsong
Oh How We Love You by United Pursuit
TEXT
Matthew 21:6-11
TAKEAWAYS
1 Reflect on a time you felt especially connected with the people around you.
2 Be curious.
3 Reflect on a time when you said "wow" to the mystery of Christ.
PRACTICE
This week, practice The Daily Examen. Ask the Holy Spirit moments in your day of connection and moments of "wow" to the mystery, whether you missed them or not.
RESOURCE
Watch this performance of "Wake Up" by The Arcade Fire
BENEDICTION
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!
Amen.
SONGS WE SANG
Give Me Your Hand by Aaron Strumpel
May You Find A Light by The Brilliance
I Lift My Eyes by Loud Harp
Relentless by Hillsong United
TEXTS
2 Corinthians 2:14 (MSG)
Psalm 23:1-3
READINGS
"The main thing about Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to look after, and it is the one thing that is being continually assailed."
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest
“Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup … If only I had known you better, I’d have come running with a bucket.”
Nancy Spiegelberg
TAKEAWAYS
1 How could beyond me hospitality make a difference in the life of someone you know today?
2 What do you need to exhale today? What can you inhale to take its place?
This week, consider making Breath Prayer a daily practice.
RESOURCES
Smell by Frederick Buechner
Lent is a period of 40-days leading to Easter when we practice letting go in order to receive from God. Sometimes this letting go looks like giving up something very specific - sweets, coffee, etc - and our cravings for those things might draw us to God. Sometimes the letting go is a more internal, daily practice as we listen to the Holy Spirit. Regardless, Lent is both a time of more intense spiritual practice and a season of open-handed surrender rather than tight-fisted discipline.
During Lent, Sundays are feast days. Days when we celebrate mini-resurrections on the way to the resurrection of Christ. For Lent this year at Timberline Old Town & Everyday Joe’s, we will enter into these mini-resurrections through the five senses in a series called Awakenings. The senses are signs of life, and we wonder what would happen if we were to be intentionally awake to them. This week, we enter into the sense of sight.
This particular Sunday as also a Movement Sunday. When a month has a fifth Sunday, we take it as an opportunity to break our normal pattern of worship, with the hopeful fruit being a breaking of tired patterns in our lives.
INVOCATION
The following poem by Malcolm Guite was inspired by the account in Mark of Jesus healing the deaf & mute man. Please receive it as our Lenten invitation to practice resurrection:
"Be Opened" by Malcolm Guite
Be opened. Oh if only we might be!
Speak to a heart that’s closed in on itself:
‘Be opened and the truth will set you free’,
Speak to a world imprisoned in its wealth:
‘Be opened! Learn to learn from poverty’,
Speak to a church that closes and excludes,
And makes rejection its own litany:
‘Be opened, opened to the multitudes
For whom I died but whom you have dismissed
Be opened, opened, opened,’ how you sigh
And still we do not hear you. We have missed
Both cry and crisis, we make no reply.
Take us aside, for we are deaf and dumb
Spit on us Lord and touch each tongue-tied tongue.
ORDER OF SERVICE
HOPES FOR THE DAY:
SONG: Beautiful by Phil Wickham
MOVEMENT 1: What Do You Want Me To Do For You?
Text: Luke 18:35-43
Quote: "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." - Helen Keller
Prayer:
Close both eyes see with the other one.
Then we are no longer saddled by the burden of our persistent judgments
our ceaseless withholding
our constant exclusion.
Our sphere has widened and we find ourselves quite unexpectedly in a new, expansive location
in a place of endless acceptance
and infinite love.
Amen.
(Father Gregory Boyle)
SONG: Be Thou My Vision
MOVEMENT 2: How Do You See?
Text: Matthew 5:3-8
Prayer:
Close both eyes see with the other one.
Then we are no longer saddled by the burden of our persistent judgments
our ceaseless withholding
our constant exclusion.
Our sphere has widened and we find ourselves quite unexpectedly in a new, expansive location
in a place of endless acceptance
and infinite love.
Amen.
(Father Gregory Boyle)
SONG: I Lift My Eyes by Loud Harp
MOVEMENT 3: Who Do You See?
Reading:
"What this means is that even if you are socially shy and generally inarticulate about spiritual matters -- and I say this as someone who finds casual social interactions often quite difficult and my own feelings about faith intractably mute -- you must not swerve from the engagements God offers you. These will occur in the most unlikely places, and with people for whom your first instinct may be aversion. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says that Christ is always stronger in our brother's heart than in our own, which is to say, first, that we depend on others for our faith, and second, that the love of Christ is not something you can ever hoard. Human love catalyzes the love of Christ. And this explains why that love seems at once so forceful and so fugitive, and why, "while we speak of this, and yearn toward it," as Augustine says, "we barely touch it in a quick shudder of the heart."
Prayer:
Close both eyes see with the other one.
Then we are no longer saddled by the burden of our persistent judgments
our ceaseless withholding
our constant exclusion.
Our sphere has widened and we find ourselves quite unexpectedly in a new, expansive location
in a place of endless acceptance
and infinite love.
Amen.
(Father Gregory Boyle)
SONG: Brother by The Brilliance
RESOURCE
This TED talk about how we learn to see
and this TED interview about how going blind gives you vision
BENEDICTION
May your soul beautify
The desire of your eyes
That you might glimpse
The infinity that hides
In the simple sights
That seem worn
To your usual eyes
Amen
John O’Donohue
SONGS WE SANG
Deliverance by Strahan
Skeleton Bones by John Mark McMillan
Who You Say I Am by Hillsong
Oh How We Love You by United Pursuit
INVOCATION
"Be Opened" by Malcolm Guite
Be opened. Oh if only we might be!
Speak to a heart that’s closed in on itself:
‘Be opened and the truth will set you free’,
Speak to a world imprisoned in its wealth:
‘Be opened! Learn to learn from poverty’,
Speak to a church that closes and excludes,
And makes rejection its own litany:
‘Be opened, opened to the multitudes
For whom I died but whom you have dismissed
Be opened, opened, opened,’ how you sigh
And still we do not hear you. We have missed
Both cry and crisis, we make no reply.
Take us aside, for we are deaf and dumb
Spit on us Lord and touch each tongue-tied tongue.
TEXT
John 1:35-39
TAKEAWAYS
1 What is a food I used to hate and now I’m crazy about it?
2 What is a change I made in my life that surprised me?
3 What is a change I’ve wanted to make for a long time? What is a move I’ve been putting off and it’s time to take the first step?
PRACTICE
Try one new taste per day. Give an old taste another chance. Keep a taste journal for the week.
RESOURCE
Watch Babette's Feast! You can watch the trailer here.
BENEDICTION
And when you partake
Of food and drink,
May your taste quicken
To the gift and sweetness
That flows from the earth.
Amen
John O’Donohue
ISONGS WE SANG
Centuries by Aaron Strumpel
Great Are You Lord by All Sons and Daughters
Broken Vessels/Amazing Grace by Hillsong
King Of My Heart by John Mark McMillan
INVOCATION
"Be Opened" by Malcolm Guite
Be opened. Oh if only we might be!
Speak to a heart that’s closed in on itself:
‘Be opened and the truth will set you free’,
Speak to a world imprisoned in its wealth:
‘Be opened! Learn to learn from poverty’,
Speak to a church that closes and excludes,
And makes rejection its own litany:
‘Be opened, opened to the multitudes
For whom I died but whom you have dismissed
Be opened, opened, opened,’ how you sigh
And still we do not hear you. We have missed
Both cry and crisis, we make no reply.
Take us aside, for we are deaf and dumb
Spit on us Lord and touch each tongue-tied tongue.
TEXT
Matthew 9:18-26
Mark 10:13-16
Matthew 8:1-4
TAKEAWAYS
1 If applicable, hold you’re partners hand more.
2 If you don’t have a partner, hold a friend’s hand occasionally.
3 Pay attention to those who are alone.
PRACTICE
Keep a touch journal this week. What did I feel? How did I feel? What did I learn about creation, about me, about the creator?
RESOURCE
TED Talk: Why We Hold Hands by Dr. James Coan: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1UMHUPPQ96c
BENEDICTION
May the touch of your skin
Register the beauty
Of the otherness
That surrounds you.
Amen
SONGS WE SANG
Great Are You Lord by All Sons & Daughters
How Beautiful by Mosaic
Dirt by The Collection
How He Loves Us by John Mark McMillan
INVOCATION
"Be Opened" by Malcolm Guite
Be opened. Oh if only we might be!
Speak to a heart that’s closed in on itself:
‘Be opened and the truth will set you free’,
Speak to a world imprisoned in its wealth:
‘Be opened! Learn to learn from poverty’,
Speak to a church that closes and excludes,
And makes rejection its own litany:
‘Be opened, opened to the multitudes
For whom I died but whom you have dismissed
Be opened, opened, opened,’ how you sigh
And still we do not hear you. We have missed
Both cry and crisis, we make no reply.
Take us aside, for we are deaf and dumb
Spit on us Lord and touch each tongue-tied tongue.
TEXT
Luke 1:39-45
1 Samuel 16:14-18, 23
TAKEAWAYS
1 What am I hearing that I need to stop hearing?
2 What am I not hearing that I need to start hearing?
3 Listen to the birds of the air
4 Listen to music without words
5 Listen to a voice that you wouldn't ordinarily
BENEDICTION
May your listening be attuned
To the deeper silence
Where sound is honed
To bring distance home
Amen.
(John O'Donohue)
SONGS WE SANG
All Creatures Of Our God And King by St. Francis of Assissi
Satisfied In You by Sing Team
(27) Take Heart by Loud Harp
Build My Life by Housefires
TEXT
Mark 4:1-20
TAKEAWAYS
The seed is good
We feel like fools
It’s not a secret to be de-coded. It’s a mystery to be experienced
Hold space (Our soil)
- confess weakness and sin
- Receive love and grace
- Cultivate gifts
- Pay attention
BENEDICTION
Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.
Amen.
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
SONGS WE SANG
Who You Say I Am by Hillsong
God Is So Good by Pat Barrett
Almighty God by Sandra McCracken
Immanuel by Loud Harp
TEXT
Mark 2:15-16
TAKEAWAYS
1 Go where you go, but go differently.
2 Questions To Consider:
Who am I avoiding?
Who am I keeping separated?
With whom do I need to have a 21 minute conversation?
3 Have coffee with two of your friends who've never met each other
4 Throw a party and invite people you're not sure will like each other
BENEDICTION
A Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Melissa Carmon is the Bolt Gallery featured artist for February and March 2019. She joined us on Sunday to talk about her series of portraits titled Eternal Color, what eternal echoes reach from their lives to ours, and how we might go with all of it.
SONGS WE SANG
Brother by The Brilliance
Too Proud by Enter The Worship Circle
How Beautiful by Mosaic
Build My Life by Housefires
TAKEAWAYS
Go where you go, but go differently.
BENEDICTION
A Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
SONGS WE SANG
Divine Romance by Phil Wickham
How Beautiful by Mosaic
Reckless Love by Cory Asbury
From The Inside Out by Hillsong
TEXT
Matthew 18:21-35
TAKEAWAYS
1 Practice generous thinking
2 Where might I have a scarcity mentality?
3 Practice paying attention to the gifts we receive, great and small.
4 What do I need to pass on?
5 Truly generous people know who they are and embody mercy
BENEDICTION
Read more at http://timberlineoldtown.libsyn.com/darren-fred-words-for-the-year-pray#Ud7TrDKXJxem02Hy.99
SONGS WE SANG
Mightier by Aaron Strumpel
Too Proud by Enter The Worship Circle
Fire And The Flood by Loud Harp
Relentless by Hillsong United
TEXT
Luke 18:9-14
TAKEAWAYS
1 Prayer is an antidote (a medicine taken or given to counteract a particular poison) for my brain’s chaos and despair including but not limited to anxiety, fear, jealousy, hate, disorientation, insecurity, and saying or doing stupid stuff.
2 Find your prayer(s)
3 Join us Wednesday at noon for midweek prayer at the shop, or join online here.
RESOURCES
Podcast: Jill Bolte Taylor "My Stroke Of Insight"
BENEDICTION
SONGS WE SANG
Free by Gungor
Beautiful Things by Gungor
SONGS WE SANG
Spirit Move by Bethel Music
Nothing I Hold Onto by United Pursuit
King Of My Heart by John Mark McMillan
TEXT
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
TAKEAWAYS
1
The worst suffering is suffering alone.
2
The curse of rugged individualism is isolation.
3
What needs to be re-integrated?
4
What needs to be unwrapped?
RESOURCES
Video: Psalm 29 by Shawn Keefer
Podcast: The Miraculous Healing Power of Mustard Seeds
BENEDICTION
PRACTICE
This week, set aside 30-60 minutes to reflect on 2 Corinthians 1:3-7.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what needs to be unwrapped and what needs to be re-integrated.
SONGS WE SANG
Build My Life by Housefires
Nothing I Hold Onto by United Pursuit
How Beautiful by Mosaic
Reckless Love by Bethel
TEXT
Matthew 17:14-20
TAKEAWAYS
1
Helpful and Helpless may be ego narratives
2
Be present
3
Bear Witness
4
Check In
5
Pray
RESOURCE
Video: As If with Malcolm Guite
PRACTICE
This week - in moments of feeling helpful or feeling helpless - recite the Jesus Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
Have mercy on me.
Amen
SONGS WE SANG
Woke Up This Mornin'
It Is Well With My Soul
Mightier by Aaron Strumpel
How Great Thou Art
TEXT
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
TAKEAWAYS
Everything Belongs
Everyone Belongs
Everything is Now
RESOURCE
Podcast: The Bible For Normal People "Episode 2: Richard Rohr- A Contemplative Look At The Bible"
PRACTICE
This week it will be nice weather. Find some sweet music. Put in earbuds. Look at everything. Ponder.