UNRAVELED
Mid-Week Lenten Services
2022
What happens when our world falls apart? How do we press onward when our tightly-knit plans unravel into loose threads? What do we become when our identity—or the path we're on—comes undone? What if all of this is not the end we fear it will be? In our unraveling, sometimes life surprises us with unexpected joy, love, and hope— with a new beginning we couldn’t have imagined. Sometimes we need God to unravel us, for we long to be changed. This Lent we will encounter stories of unraveled shame, identity, fear, grief, dreams, and expectations. These are stories where God meets us in the spiraling, unraveling our plans—and us—into something new.
Tonight, we begin by acknowledging the thread-bare places in our lives and frayed ends of the world around us. We place this before God and pray that God mend all that is broken. As we begin worship this night, let us take a moment to center ourselves in God’s merciful presence.
Greeting
We gather in the name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Call to Worship
One: Gracious God, we bring you the broken parts of ourselves.
All: Hem us in before and behind.
One: Creator God, we bring you the joyful parts of ourselves.
All: Weave us together in hope and praise.
One: God of new life, we bring you doubt and faith knotted up in our hearts.
All: Unravel our doubt. Weave faith into our hearts.
Draw us together and point us toward you.
One: In hope and faith we pray. In hope and faith we worship.
All: Amen.
Opening Hymn: 656 Blest Be the Tie that Binds
Prayer of Confession (Read in unison)
God we confess—we are loose ends.
You give us the gift of community,
And we weave walls of exclusion and isolation.
You give us the gift of a new day,
And we spend more time unraveling justice than sewing seeds of peace and unity.
You give us the gift of holy surprises and unimaginable beauty,
And we shut off our hearts and our blindfolded eyes.
Forgive us for our frayed ends and self-centered hearts.
Unravel the sin in us and replace it with love.
Gratefully we pray,
Amen.
Silence for Reflection
WORD
Prayer of Illumination
God of unending surprises, this life is a tapestry of moments woven together, and we long to be weavers of love. Today we gather and pray that you would unravel our bias. Unravel our assumptions. Unravel whatever it is that keeps us from you. And as you do, clear space in our hearts for your Word. We are listening. We are praying. Amen.
Reading & Sermon
Affirmation of Faith
I believe in God, the Great Sew er—
Who weaves us together in community,
Collecting our loose ends and turning them into belonging.
I believe in the Holy Spirit—
Who hems us in before and behind,
Catching us when we fall and writing us into God’s holy narrative.
And I believe in Jesus Christ—
Who loved and claimed the people society had thrown out, refusing to disregard
anyone as scrap.
I believe God has woven part of God’s self into the fiber of our being,
Making us inherently worthy of love and belonging.
I believe the fabric of my life is weak,
That I am prone to error and need God’s handiwork to remind me of love.
I believe in the Church, and that like a quilt of different fabrics,
She is designed to be as diverse and beautiful as God’s creation.
And I believe that when life unravels,
God is there to stitch my wounds together,
To hold me in the palm of God’s hand, to tell me of love,
And to invite me into a new journey. Amen.
Prayer Song – 814 Take, Oh, Take Me As I Am (sing through twice)
Lord’s Prayer
SENDING
Blessing – A Blessing to be Unraveled
May all that binds your heart be unraveled in the days to come.
May the fear and pain and suffering be released to the Holy One.
May God go with you as you put down your brokenness.
And may God fill you with all hope and joyfulness.
For Christ will gather you once again. This is the blessing for the unraveled one.
Amen.
Sending Hymn 710 Let Streams of Living Justice
Dismissal
Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness;
Be of good courage;
Hold fast to that which is good;
Render to no one evil for evil;
Strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak;
Help the afflicted; honor all people;
Love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spriti.
Thanks be to God.
Comments