What we know


 
 

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you. (1 Thessalonians 1:4)

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

 

Intergenerational Call to Worship

(based on Psalm 13)

We’ve come to worship,
to sing and pray and hear God’s Word, because:
God’s love lasts forever!

Even when God seems far away, we know:
God’s love lasts forever!

Even when nothing is going right,
and we’re ready to give up, we know:
God’s love lasts forever!

When people treat us badly, we know:
God’s love lasts forever!

When we’re all alone,
and we feel like no one loves us, we know:
God’s love lasts forever!

Let’s worship God together!

 
~ Christine Longhurst, re:Worship
 

May we know the hope – here, now


Detail of stained glass window in Ontmoetingskerk, Krimpen aan de Lek, NL
 
 
 
So that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. (Ephesians 1:18)
 

Blessing of Hope

So may we know
the hope
that is not just
for someday
but for this day—
here, now,
in this moment
that opens to us:

hope not made
of wishes
but of substance,

hope made of sinew
and muscle
and bone,

hope that has breath
and a beating heart,

hope that will not
keep quiet
and be polite,

hope that knows
how to holler
when it is called for,

hope that knows
how to sing
when there seems
little cause,

hope that raises us
from the dead—

not someday
but this day,
every day,
again and
again and
again.

— by Jan Richardson, from paintedprayerbook.com
 


From the blog
Theme: Come to the waters  [prayer sheet]
Song in the night
People of the way

 

How do we know?


 

A quote by Madeleine L’Engle to ponder:

It is a frightening thing for many people to let go, to have faith in that which they cannot completely know and control.
      But how do we know?
      We’ve lost much of the richness of that word. Nowadays, to know means to know with the intellect. But it is a much deeper word than that. Adam knew Eve. To know deeply is far more than to know consciously. In the realm of faith I know far more than I can believe with my finite mind. I know that a loving God will not abandon what he creates. I know that the human calling is cocreation with this power of love. I know that ‘neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, not things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
      But in this limited world we tend to lose this kind of knowing, and this loss has permeated our fiction as well as our prayer.

 
~ from Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith & Art, p. 173
 

We know … we know not …


 

Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.
Psalm 139:14, The Voice

 


Call to Worship

(based on Psalm 126)

Let us begin this day by rejoicing!
The Lord has done such wonderful things for us.
Let us be glad!
The day before us is uncertain.
We know not what we will encounter on our way.
Wherever we go, we go forth as people of the living God,
and we go forth to touch the lives of all with his healing touch.
Let us begin this day with rejoicing!
and return to our homes with gladness!

~ from re:worship
 


From the blog
Yield as sacrifice
Beyond
In the school of prayer with Ann Lewin