Peace Mennonite Home-Based Worship: May 16, 2021

Welcome to worship with Peace Mennonite Church. If this is your first time worshiping with us, please watch this welcome video from our pastor. You can find our church announcements here.

Contact Pastor Joanna

Whether you are new to Peace or a regular participant, we are glad you are with us in worship and invite you to join us for our Zoom discussion and prayer time at 11:00 each Sunday morning. Simply click this link. We also invite you to our Wednesday night gatherings at 7:30.

Prelude: Siyahamba We Are Marching in the Light of God, Voices Together #793

Opening Scripture:

Call to Worship:

Gathering Hymn: Jesus Calls Us, Voices Together #30

Congregational Prayer:
You are invited to offer your prayers to God. For what are you thankful this morning? What would you ask of God for yourself? Who do you know who needs God’s loving presence right now? What are your prayers for our community, our country, and our world?

Feel free to share your prayers with people around you, in the comments below, or on our Zoom call at 11 Sunday morning.

With ongoing violence in the Middle East, let us offer this prayer from Mennonite Central Committee for the people of Palestine and Israel:

“Then justice will dwell in the land
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
The effect of righteousness will be peace
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.” — Isaiah 32:16-17

O God of life and love and peace,
We witness the violence and injustice in your Holy Land
And our hearts break.

Our hearts break for all Palestinians—
For the victims of violent attacks from Israelis
For those who have endured decades of occupation and oppression
For those whose homes and olive orchards have been demolished
For those who languish in Israeli prisons and in the “open air prison” of Gaza
For those without nearly enough water and electricity and medical care
For those who are refugees, long displaced from their homes.

Our hearts break for the Jewish people of Israel—
For the victims of violent attacks from Palestinians
For those who live with fear and insecurity
For those who re-live the trauma of the Holocaust over and over.

Our hearts break for the wider world—
For those who are indifferent to the pain and suffering in your Holy Land
For those who distort or turn their eyes from truth
For those who fail to see the humanity of all your children.

Heal us all, O God.
Heal the broken and comfort the sorrowful.
Give hope to the hopeless and courage to the fearful.
Strengthen the peacemakers and reconcilers.
Confront those who practice injustice and commit violence.

We especially pray—
That weapons of war be laid down
That walls of separation and the machinery of occupation be dismantled

That prisoners be released

That demonizing of “the other” cease

That political leaders seek the good of all people in Palestine and Israel.

We pray also for ourselves—
That our eyes will be opened to the ways in which our beliefs and actions have contributed to injustice and to violence.

O God, whose heart breaks for the world,
May your justice dwell in the land
May your righteousness abide in fruitful fields
May the effect of righteousness be quietness and trust forever
May the effect of justice be peace — enduring peace.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer:

Hymn: Christ is Arisen, Hymnal Worship Book #267

Scripture Reading: Galatians 3:1-9, 23-29, read by Katie Hobson

Sermon from Joe Casad

Offering

You are invited to mail your financial contributions to the church (615 Lincoln St., Lawrence, KS, 66044) or to the home of our treasurer, Roberta Renz (address in the church directory).

See the “How and Where to Give” section of our announcements page for information on giving to other organizations who need funding at this time.

Closing Hymn: Draw the Circle Wide, Voices Together #802