"Covenant, Kindom, & Commonwealth:

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship! Worship is often the first place that new people come into contact with this growing community of faith. And so, if you are joining us for the first time, I say to you what is said every Sunday: You are welcome here. Here is a place where all are welcome. For such is the love of God for God’s Very Good Creation.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below; praise God above, ye Heav'nly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

(Note: We resume with the Lord’s Prayer after the conclusion of the Season of Creation.)

God of creation and community, in your love we have been made equal, beautiful, and diverse. In this time of worship, place into our hearts a spirit of reciprocity, recognizing that as we have been called into relationship with you, so too are we called into relationship with one another. Your sacred calling to use our diverse gifts to support, uplift, and care for one another. We know that alone we are limited, our resources scarce, but in cooperation with one another, in cooperation with our earth, in cooperation with you who give us life and breath, there is bountiful flourishing to be found. That through cooperation, all creation may live in joyful interdependence fully able to embrace your joyful love and peace. Amen.

Inspired by the prayers of Rev. Richenda Fairhurst and Rev. Paul Mitchel

Good and Holy God, who strengthens the mountains and calms the roaring seas! God, you are among us, you make the earth abundant, providing grain, and drenching farmland to bless the growth of the food that feeds us.

Yet the world tells us “Compete to thrive.”

We have degraded the land, cut down the forests, and blasted the mountain for eager gain.

Yet the world tells us “Consume to thrive.”

This destruction cannot last!

Restoring God, you are with us. You bring everything that is good! You have heard our cry! Our strength flows from you!

By the hummingbird and the bear, the lizard and the firefly, you crown the year with your goodness.

You who have made life in balance.

The desert, the hills, and the meadowlands burst with dew! The farmland grows lush.

Hear, and shout, O human! Break out in song! Amen.

God of life, by the power of your Spirit come to us now. Plow our hearts with your living Word until we who are broken become fertile with your love, for we long to bear fruit in a world that is wasting. In the name of Jesus who showed us the Way. Amen.

¹ Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ² So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ ³ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ ⁷ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ ⁸ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹ And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes. ¹⁰ “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹ If, then, you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³ No slave can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Investing in Relationships, Part 1” — Rev. Johan Dodge

What are the structures that we are still upholding that are unjust? What does it mean to invest in community instead of in the structures that are unjust? What is the change in the manager’s actions that is praised by the master as shrewd?

May God’s grace be upon the user of this garment of care. Warming, comforting, and embracing. As it is used to gently wrap the body, may the recipient be surrounded with the love knit into it. Amen.

Togiveistolove. Toloveistolive. Toliveis togrow. Togrowis toflourish.

May we who follow Jesus enter into Covenant with God’s self-giving love. May we sing the life and love of Christ in the world this day and beyond.

Triune God, whose life is shared in perfect unity, you created all things to be part of one living whole. Help us see ourselves not as separate from creation but woven into its web of life. May our offerings reflect our deep connection to all your creatures. Bless us and our gifts so that we may nourish both human and more-than-human communities; in Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Siblings, however dark the night gets — whenever you have given in to fear and held back from community — know that you are held in a love like this: the creator who made you still claims you in covenant love; the redeemer is the Christ, in whom we yet abide; the sustainer of all creation yet breathes courage into your heart. Go then, and serve boldly, for God’s love encompasses the whole of creation. Amen.