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.

QSee 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.

Service 9 7-4-00

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.

Written after a visit to Glacier National Park  July 2000

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

By Rev Micah G Hartung 

A triumphal entry that Holy man made,
moving forward a path of branches they laid.
They said He had come to set us free,
to bind the corruption, injustice and greed.

Some in the crowd looked familiar to me,
the paralytic, the blind and the deaf were now free.
The woman with the issue of blood was now clean
and she walked with her head held high as a queen.

The fisherman, farmers and tax collectors one
followed that carpenter known as God's Son.
The children brought back from death as we know
carried a message of love as they ran to and fro.

The scowlers and doubters were all perched there,
they scoffed at the crowd as they sensed their despair.
They sought to bring this carpenter's demise
but could not stop the hosannas they cried.

As night fell the Passover Feast would begin,
and the loved ones of Jesus could not see the end.
They ate and drank and told stories until late,
then drifted to sleep peaceful, full of the meal they ate.

Many years later in my mind's eye I see,
this parade I have described and in it was me.
Me, the observer of this One they called great,
felt touched in my soul and healed of my hate.

A Prayer

Oh God, how I love you!
You are love and I find
I cannot hate
Any person I meet,
No matter what
They might do to me.
Ob God, how I love you!

Let Me Show Love by Jerry Browning

When the righteous people point a finger and accuse me,
Let me forgive them,Lord, let me show love.
When the friends I've come to know turn 'round and they abuse me,
Let me forgive them, Lord, let me  show love.

CHORUUS:
Now I know how much God really loves me
And I know how much God really cares
When people say they don't want me around them
I know that my God is always there.

When a stranger unlike me seeks love and understanding
Let me be patient Lord, let me show  love.
Help me share the things I have with those of lesser standing
Let me be giving, Lord, let me show love.

And God made love and God made beauty,
              If only the whole world had seen
That God's the One Who planted the maple
               In the middle of the evergreens.

Let me forgive them, Lord, Let me show love...

Where To Go

Rejected,
Turned away
Every place
I go.
And then
Comes God,
Hands held out
In love,
Welcoming me
And telling me,
"Come with me,
Come home! "

Elitism -

We are the best,
No one else
Need apply
To get in here!

But God comes
To knock at the door
And tells us
To come out
And serve
All the people.

We are comfortable here
And the new person
Will upset
All that we
Have established!

But God comes again
And knocks us all
For a loop
By reminding us
That the church
Is for ALL people.

Have You

Have you ever talked with God
And heard His voice
Upon the breeze?
Have you seen His face
And felt His hand touch yours?
I have.
I have heard God's voice
Whispering on the breeze
Comforting me
And letting me know
That He is there.
I have seen God's face
In the face
Of every neighhbor
Whether near or far;
And in every tree
Or blade of grass;
Yes, I see Him everywhere .
I have felt His hand
Touch and comfort and guide.
He is there, all around
Inside, outside,
Everywhere I look.

Show

Show me the path,
Oh God,
That I should
Walk upon
And keep me safe
Until the tine
You call me home.