Sunday Worship Service: The Space Between Fear and Hope

Worship Guides

View the Worship Guide PDF:
The Space Between Fear & Hope

FOR REFLECTION
“In difficult times it takes effort to stay grounded in the present, but it is only there that we will find a place unclouded by hope and fear.”
— Beyond Fear and Hope, Margaret Wheatley

CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 109: 21-24

But you, Sovereign Lord,
    help me for your name’s sake;
    out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is wounded within me.
I fade away like an evening shadow;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees give way from fasting;
    my body is thin and gaunt.              

OPENING HYMN “Gather us In”

PASSING OF THE PEACE

Pastor Don: May the Peace of Christ be with you.  
Congregation at Home: And also with you.

Introduction and Welcoming a New Member: Vicki Lukich

CHILDREN’S TIME “Building an Airplane in the Sky”

CHRISTIAN READING Luke 17:11-19

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.  Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”                          

THEME VIDEO “Be Not Afraid” by Catholic Artists from Home

SERMON
“The Space Between Fear and Hope”
Rev. Don Ludwig

To read the sermon text or listen to the audio recording, click here.

SHARING THE PEACE

  1. What is one of your fears in regard to current social realities?
  2. What has given you a sense of hope in the midst of despair?
  3. What is your manuscript? OR What do you need to stay grounded in the present?

GUIDED MEDITATION & PRAYER

Naming Joys & Concerns:
“God is our refuge and strength. We will not fear” (Psalms 46:1-2).

Guided Meditation & Pastoral Prayer: 
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Reflecting on Quotes from Victor Frankl

CORPORATE PRAYER / AFFIRMATION OF FAITH

Loving God,
May the hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
May the way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen

TIME FOR OFFERING

As we reflect on all of our blessings, individually and as a community, may we consider how we may give of ourselves so that the work of Christ’s love and peace may continue throughout our world.

(Please contact staff@southmin.org, to discover simple ways you may give electronically or via mail.  Thank you for supporting the staff and on-going ministries of Southminster Presbyterian Church).

RESPONSIVE HYMN “Be Not Afraid”, Choristers Guild – Taylor Davis

FINAL BLESSING & BENEDICTION

May you know the bonds and power of community. 
May you not be clouded by fear or hope but find meaning and purpose in the here and now.
May each of you, and all of us at Southminster, write our own manuscript.  Amen.

HYMN “Here I Am”