What to say?

What to say to God?

How do we frame our fears?

Do we understand

That we need not fear?

What to say to God?

What protection

Do we want?

Do we know God is near?

What to say to God?

Do we really understand

That God trusts

And loves us all?

A Guide

Lost in the dark,

Finding no way out.

I cannot see

To find my way;

Oh where is there

Someone to show me

The way home?

A light in the distance,

And comes a figure,

Reaching out a hand,

Offering to guide me

Along the path home.

And as we come

To where there is light,

I look to see

Who is my guide,

And find Jesus

Standing there.

I Wonder

I wonder if God cries

Over the way we treat

The world created for us

To use and enjoy?

I wonder if God cries

Over the way we treat

The folks around us

Oppressing and hurting each other?

I wonder if God cries

Over the hatred and wars

Seen upon this world

And the lack of love?

 I wonder if God cries,

Are the raindrops tears?

Detours

Our lives are full

Of many detours

That seem to be

Not the right way.

But stop and look,

See the detour

Might be better,

And God can use it.

Wait for God

To come to you,

For we are never

Left alone.

Hope

Hope is a seed

That needs to be

Planted carefully.

Hope is a plant

To be tended carefully

To help it grow.

Hope can be a flower

Sending sweet smells

Throughout the world.

Peace

Photo by: Ronald Caldwell 

Help us, oh God,

To learn your peace.

Show me

That you love

Is for all people,

And no one

Is ever

Pushed aside.

God of Wonders

photo of Cacapon river by Don Robinson, Frostburg, MD

God of wonders,

Creator of all,

Come to us now

And help us

To understand

Who you are.

God of wonders,

Creating still,

Help us all

To see that

You are still working

In our world.

God of wonders,

Open our eyes

That we will see

Your hand

In everything

Around us.

Priceless

What do you

Value most?

What is there

In our lives

That is without price?

Can we see

That is really

God’s love

That is priceless.

Where?

Where are you, oh God,

Where have you hidden?

         I am right here,

         Standing beside you,

         Loving you.

But I cannot see you,

Where are you standing?

           I am here, beside you.

           Even though you cannot see,

            I am here.

Sent?

Who do we serve?

Where are we sent?

Sent to different places

To different folks,

People who are not

Accepted by most.

Sent to proclaim peace,

God’s peace is there

For all people,

Even those we think

Are our enemies.

Come, See

Come and see,

Come and know,

God is here,

Among us.

Celebrate now

For our God

Dwells always

With us all

And loves us all.

Stop

Stop and listen

To the word;

Stop and hear

What is said,

God is always near!

Stop the fighting

With each other;

Stop, really hear

What you are told,

God really hears!

Stop and learn

The lesson here,

Stop and begin

To learn together

God loves all!

In the Dark

Photo by:  Arthur Clark

In the dark of the night

I begin to feel

That no one cares.

There is no answer

To my pleas,

And it seems

 No one to hold

My hand.

I am ignored

When I call for help

Or reach out

To try to help others.

Is there any person here

Who will care for me?

It seems sometimes

Only God is there!

 In the dark of the night,

I find myself wondering.

In the light of day,

I remember

That there are always

Folks who care.

The Shepherd

There is a Shepherd

Who stands so near

And His voice

I long to hear.

Other shepherds try

To lead me astray

But only that voice

Will I obey.

Now my Shepherd

Calls me to come,

Calls me by name

To lead me home.

Value?

What do you

Value most?

What is there

In our lives

That is without price?

Can we see

That is really

God’s love

That is priceless.

Declare

I will declare

To the whole world

That all people

Are my brothers

And my sisters

And all children

Are my children.

For God is my parent,

Mother and Father

To all people,

And God loves all.

Joy

photo by:  Betty Q Smith

Nature sings

For pure joy

In being;

Where have we

Lost that joy?

And how can

We get it back again?

Dear God:

I hear your people

Talking in the day.

Their questions haunt me

By the night.

Come to us now

And show us all

What your answers are.

Questions

God is always near us,

Will we take the time

To stop and hear?

Will we open our souls

So that God can talk

And we can hear clearly?

Joy in life can be ours,

Can we learn

To let it be in us, always?

Became

photo by:  Ronald Caldwell

The word became flesh

And dwelt among us

And within us

But was not diminished.

The Light became one

With us all,

Dwelling within all

And became greater.

 Love became flesh

Living within all,

But was not weakened,

But became stronger.

God Will Do

Stop and think

Before you do,

For God has plans

That may not be

What you dream.

For God will always

Do the unexpected

In our lives.

For God has

Greater plans

For our lives

If we will stop

And let God do

What is needed.

Some Questions

How many times

Do we turn away

From those

Who are needy?

How many

Do we turn away

Because they are

Too ”different”.

Are we willing

To help those

Who are not

“Like us?”

Are we willing

To go out

And feed

The deeper hunger?

A Prayer

Dear God,

Show me how

To best use

The gifts

That you have

Given me.

Show me the path

That is mine,

That will help me

To do the work

That you have

Set me to do.

AMEN

Dreams

Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream. Well, I too have a dream. Even
though I'm just a scribe, noticing and reacting to current events, I
can dream. I can dream that maybe one day it won't matter to anyone
who a person loves or marries. I can dream that one day it won't matter
whether a person is transexual or asexual. I can dream that just maybe
none of this will matter at all, and ALL of God's children will finally
be free and be able to live side by side without any kind of fear. I
can dream that black, white, asian, hetreosexual, GLBT, asexual and
all other people will live side by side and no one will be attacked or
killed just because they are "different." I too can dream big dreams.

God is Working A service of worship

Call to worship:

From sandy deserts

To the snow-capped mountains,

     God is working - yet.

From the rolling plains

To the prairies:

      God is working – yet.

Call to prayer:

There is beauty

All around us

That we do not see.

But God is working yet

Creating life all around us. 

Prayer:

Loving God,

Forgive us

When we do not see

The beauty all around us.

Forgive us

When we destroy

Instead of preserving.

Forgive us

When we do not realize

That you are creating yet

Each and every day

God is near,

Forgiving us all

And loving us yet.

In all things

Can God’s hand be seen.

The world that we see

Is beautiful

And shows that

In all places

God is working – yet.

Charge:

Go out into the world

And look around you

To really see the beauty

And find where

God is working – now.

Benediction:

God’s peace and love

Be with you always

And remember:

God is working – always.

God is Working

See the rugged,

Snow- capped mountains

Reaching for the sky.

See the deep, green valleys

Laying far beneath

See the rolling plains and prairies

Stretching onward mile by mile

See all the signs and know;

God is working – here.

See the trees growing upward

See the green grass beneath.

See the glowing flowers

With all the colors

Of the rainbow.

Look all around you now

And know that again:

God is working – here.

See the small streams

And the wide rivers

Flowing onward to the sea.

See the wider sea

And the restless waves

Beating on the shoreline.

See all this and remember:

God is working – here.

See the people gather,

Young and old, short and tall.

See them in all colors

And all persuasions

Mixing freely all around.

See all of this

And always remember:

God is working – here.

Feel the wind a blowing

Wherever it will

See the rain coming down

Always upon one and all.

See the bright sun shine

Every day, even through the clouds.

Look around you day by day

And know that always and ever:

God is working – here.

Together

Together,

One with the other,

We are friends

And it is God’s love

That binds us

Together.

Celebrate Love!!

Photo by:  Arthur Clark

Celebrate, Celebrate
The love given to us
And the love given
To each other!
Come now
And let us
Celebrate love!


for those couples celebrating their marriages being legal!

Share

Come together

And share

The bounty that God

Has given us.

Come, remember

What Jesus did

In God’s name for all

And share abroad.

Come know

That Jesus

Is here with us

When we share.

So come now

And know

That this communion

Is here for all;

Share it!

Knowing God?

God, where are you?

Show us where

You now dwell.

God, who are you?

Teach us who

You really are.

God, are you near?

Let us know

That you are here.

Take

Take me seriously,

Care about me

And about those

Whom I love.

Take me seriously

Listen to me

And my cares,

And really hear.

Comfort

Comfort the people,

Tell them all

That God is near!

Comfort the people,

Say to them

That God is love!

Comfort the people

And feed them,

For all are God’s!

The Children of One God

Jerry Browning

We have wandered through the desert like the chosen of God did

We have lived in dark confusion like the face of God was hid

We have searched to find our Sinai while the world kept closing doors

Far too many chose to turn away, gave up and searched no more.

They chose to live in silence, in the darkness of their dreams

In solitude and oneness and in loneliness it seems

Then the light came to a chosen few and wounds began to heal

The time was right, the truths of God began to be revealed.

CHORUS:

We are children of one God Who made humanity from clay

We are worthy, we are loved, we’re whosoevers who've been saved

And we join our hands to form a ring around the world

We are loved, we are the children of one God.

There was a sound to follow, flute and drum began to play

The lady and the troubadour stepped out to lead the way

They carried truth and light into the darkest of the nights

And eyes began to open, wrongs began to be made right.

One by one, at first with caution, children stepped into the light

Joining hands in quiet boldness, standing firm in heaven’s light

Then a hundred came to join them, pretty soon a thousand more

And the children of one God stood where they never stood before.

CHORUS: