Worship at Home for
January 24, 2021
Due to the spread of Covid-19, we are taking a sabbatical from our normal Sunday morning gathering, but unity and community are more important than ever before in this season of uncertainty. To help facilitate this, we are providing an online service so that, one in heart, we can worship together even as we maintain distance out of love for our neighbors. This is designed to be used on your own or together as a family or community. We hope this resource is a blessing to you. Remember to check in on friends and neighbors with calls or text, especially the elderly among us and others who are particularly vulnerable. You can also check out the services from 3/15, 3/22, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10, 5/17, 5/24, 5/31, 6/7, 6/14, 6/21, 6/28, 7/5, 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2, 8/9. 8/16, 8/23, 8/31, 9/6, 9/13, 9/20, 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/22, 11/29, 12/6, 12/13, 12/20, 12/27, 1/3, 1/10, and 1/17.
Prayers of the People on Zoom at 10:30am!
To join in the Zoom event by online computer,
THE EASIEST WAY
1. Go to www.zoom.com
2. Click on "Join a Meeting"
3. Enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957 and Click "Join"
4. Follow prompts, including entering your name.
5. Here is a video tutorial that will take you through the steps, if you want to view this first: https://youtu.be/L5zzE-HGQko
or
NOT AS EASY, UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE and A ZOOM ACCOUNT
1. Click on https://princeton.zoom.us/j/6294864957
2. Follow prompts, these can be a bit tricky if you've never used Zoom before.
or
To join in the Zoom event using your Smartphone/Iphone:
1. Download the Zoom Cloud Meeting app
2. Open the app.
2. Enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957 and Click "Join"
3. Follow prompts, including entering your name
4. Here is a video tutorial that will take you through the steps, if you want to view this first: https://youtu.be/lO206_NezaY
or
To dial in by phone:
+1 (646) 558 8656 (New York--please note this may be a long-distance call if you are using a landline)
Then at the prompt, enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957
NOTE: You do not need to create a Zoom account to sign into a meeting.
Opening Songs
Centering Song
Call to Worship
The Word of the Lord came,
hope for all people cradled in his arms.
the Word of the Lord comes,
calling us out of our comfort zones,
to go where grace is needed most.
The Word of the Lord will come,
gathering all the outsiders and insiders
into one community of the kingdom.
Rev. Thom M. Shuman
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
ANTIRACIST ADJUSTMENT FOR THE WEEK of 1/24/2021
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8
We will continue this week with spiritual commitments five and six provided by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes, in “I Bring the Voices of My People,” as signposts for our ongoing racial reconciliation journey. They are: Cultivating Grace and Watching God.
Grace includes dimensions of compassion, accountability and humility, and it shapes how we view the other and ourselves. With compassion, we seek to see beyond the superficialities of a person’s being and stereotypes and to embrace a cultural curiosity for different stories and understandings. Our humility assists us in approaching these contexts with care and respect, knowing that in our listening to those on the margins, we gain an expanded perspective. Grace aims for restorative justice while knowing that the magnitude of white supremacy’s debt in the United States is so great that full compensation is impossible. (page 228)
Watching God is an act of holy observation and subversive hope. It spurs a moral imagination capable of holding the tension between the challenges of systemic racism and the new possibilities beyond the boundaries of race. This imagination dives into a community of equals, embraces complexity, maintains hope, and is willing to endure discomfort and insecurity. In our Divine watching, we are aware of reality and open to a vision of what ought to be. (page 230)
As you sit with this week’s offering, remember to pay attention to the sensations that arise in your body and to where they are located. Do you notice agitation, constriction, release, pressure, energy, numbness, relaxation, warmth, coolness, softness, tightness? What statements resonate and which ones challenge? No judgment or analysis, just notice and let them go.
Body Settling/Soothing Practice: Breathing (“My Grandmother’s Hands” page 142)
Breathe in and out, slowly and deeply. Follow your breath as it flows in through your nose, down your throat and fills your lungs completely. (imagine inhaling through a straw if you’re having trouble expanding your lungs). Follow it as it flows back out again. Continue this way for several minutes. When you’re done stop and pay attention to how your body feels. What body sensations have changed from before you started paying attention to your breathing? What has stayed the same?
Please feel free to forward any thoughts to me at the email listed below or by requesting to join the private Facebook group Antiracist Adjustments with the following link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1819196591561542/?ref=share .
Blessings as you continue your antiracism spiritual practice. (submitted by Pat Deeney, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Trenton NJ, pjdeeney@hotmail.com)
Call to Confession and Reconciliation
God of Hospitality and Wonder,
you welcome us to a table that invites those who are different than us.
This invitation has made us uncomfortable, unsettled, and defensive.
Our discomfort comes from an unwillingness to see other peoples’ perspectives.
Our unsettledness comes from a dependence on the status quo.
Our defensiveness comes from a belief that our image of you is the only one that matters.
Help us to surrender ourselves to the abundance of your invitation.
Inspire us to embrace the fact that diversity is strength, not weakness.
Gather us to welcome the stranger, care for the oppressed, and feed the hungry.
Forgive us for our short-sightedness and open us to your Gospel
that we might better embody the Beloved Community you call us to be.
In the Wild and Wonderful name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Rev. Stephen M. Fearing
Assurance of Pardon
Friends, we are ALL invited to this table.
I am here to announce to you
that whatever you think disqualifies you from God’s love
has been washed away by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
I announce to you that our sins have been forgiven.
Alleluia! Amen.
Rev. Stephen M. Fearing
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Reading by
Lexi Aligarbes
Sermon by the Rev. Elizabeth “Liz” Alexander
Hymn of Response
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever
Amen.
Offering
Even as we are unable to gather for our Sunday morning worship services, many of the church’s expenses remain the same, and now more than ever we want to have the resources to bless the community around us. Your gracious donation will ensure that Westminster continues to Seek the Shalom of the Capital City of Trenton and beyond.
Westminster can receive donations via a simple text:
Text to 609-438-8828 the word “Give”
Westminster’s online giving number will respond asking how much you’d like to give, and steps to follow
Westminster can receive donations online:
Westminster can receive donations by check:
Westminster Presbyterian Church
PO Box 3719
Trenton, NJ 08629
Prayer of Dedication
Jesus, we hear your voice calling us
To love
To serve
To give
These gifts are our response to your call
Keep our hearts and ears open to continue to listen
Today and every day
Amen
Closing Song
Benediction
The Lord be with you
And also with you
La paz de Dios sea con-ti-go
Y tam-bien con-ti-go
Sa-wa-bona
Si-ko-na
Pyeong-hwa
Pyeong-hwa