Worship at Home for
March 21, 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, 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/21, 2/28, 3/7, 3/14/21, and 3/21/21.
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
L: Jerusalem, at last! We join the crowd streaming to the mountain. We watch Jesus approach on a lowly donkey. We hear the crowds cry "Hosanna!"
P: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"
L: There is a joyful song in the air: the people cheer and the palms wave. But the adulation of the crowd is shallow.
P: Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna to the blessed of God. Son of David, save us now.
L: The crowd grows- the people want to be part of something important.
P: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
L: Let us pray.
All: God of all times, we have followed Jesus into the crowded city. We too want to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Reveal to us what true glory, leadership, and obedience look like under your reign. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.
Adopted from original written by the Rev. Mary Whitson
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
ANTIRACIST ADJUSTMENT FOR THE WEEK of 3/28/2021
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8
As we move into Easter week, let’s consider what needs to die within our American culture so that a more equitable system can be resurrected. For hundreds of years, we have perpetuated an artificial construct which ranks the value of the presumed supremacy of white individuals against the presumed inferiority of nonwhite groups. This assignment is based on ancestry and other immutable traits, which while arbitrary, often carry life-and-death meaning in their hierarchical placement. These boundaries serve to keep the ranked groups apart, distinct from one another and in their allotted places. Race has served to maintain the infrastructure of our divisions and the subconscious code of instructions needed to preserve the social order of our forbearers. While the definition of white has shifted over the years, the supremacy of whiteness has remained fixed. In her book “Caste”, Isabel Wilkerson equates race in the United States to the visible agent of the unseen force of our caste system. “Caste is the bones, race the skin.”
Fear of “the other” has indeed seeped into our bones and nervous system. Author and trauma therapist Resmaa Menakem has highlighted the speed with which the vagus or soul nerve sends messages throughout our body based on an unconscious sense of danger or safety. In “My Grandmother’s Hands,” he provides numerous body practices to bring these messages to a conscious level and strategies to employ during high-stress situations. We can choose to work through the historical racial trauma held within our bodies or pass that pain onto the next generation.
The transformation of our white supremacy culture must largely be led by white Americans. These white individuals are committed to extending white privileges and opportunities to people of all colors so that every American gets to enjoy them in equal measure. They are guided by the touchstones of interdependence, abundance, collaboration, compassion, equity, responsibility, trust, creativity and joyous wonder.
As you settle your body after this week’s offering, remember to pay attention to the sensations that arise in your body and to where they are located. Do you feel agitation, constriction, release, pressure, energy, numbness, relaxation, warmth, coolness, softness, tightness? Accept any discomfort and notice when it changes. Stay present with your experiences of ambiguity and uncertainty. No judgment or analysis, just observe and then move your body to release any remaining energy if needed. (“My Grandmother’s Hands “ page 168)
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
Let us come together to a moment of confession. Imagine Jesus entering our presence just as he entered Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago. Envision the palm branches, the donkey, the shouts of "hosanna." Understanding who he is and knowing who we are…
Leader: …we pray together…
All: O God, you know us well. We are quick to speak of faith, but slow to live it fully. We shout "hHosanna" as Jesus approaches, as did the people of Jerusalem many years ago; but we do not want him to come too close -- not close enough to really see…
Silent Confession
L: And we pray together…
All: O God, you know us well. We are quick to claim faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior; but, like the throng who greeted his entry into Jerusalem, we are fickle, slow to live fully and everywhere as faithful disciples. We know where we fail…
Silent Confession
Leader: And we pray together…
All: O God, you know us well. We are quick to want the blessings of faithfulness; but, like the Twelve who spent the last week with him, we are slow to the action of authentic Christ-like living. Forgive our weakness and fear…
Silent Confession
Assurance of Pardon
L: The Lord is God. The Lord brings light to those in darkness, forgiveness to those who truly confess, and pardon to all who seek to follow Jesus. Rejoice that the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever and ever. In the name of Jesus the Christ, receive the love that never dies and never fails. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture: Mark 11:1-11
Sermon by Rev. John White
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