NOTE: During the season of Lent you may want to have the following items available for your gathering space: a candle and matches, a cup of water, a roll or a piece of bread, a cut out of a heart, a cross and a piece of purple cloth.
Welcome
Invite various persons to bring a designated item and use this liturgy as a way to begin your time of learning together.
One: This is the season of Lent, 40 days of remembering and prayer, worship, and thinking deeply on the ways we can
All: Follow in the ways of Jesus
One: He came as a baby to bring light to the world and how us how to
(Place a candle on a table in your gathering place and light it.)
All: Follow in the ways of Jesus
One: The Bible tells the story of the way he called disciples when he was on earth and how he still calls disciples today who will
(Place an open bible on a table in your gathering place.)
All: Follow in the ways of Jesus
One: When people were hungry, he gave them food. When people were thirsty, he gave them water. When people needed love, he loved them — even those the world thought were unlovable and called us to do the same as we
(Place the bread, the cup of water and the heart in your gathering place.)
All: Follow in the ways of Jesus
One: When it became obvious that we still had trouble being faithful, he made his way to Jerusalem and to the cross so that through his grace we would be able to
(Place a cross on a table in your gathering place)
All: Follow in the ways of Jesus
One: And so, each year, for the 40 days leading to Easter we remember what Christ did for us, pray for forgiveness for our unfaithfulness, worship the God who loved us enough send us the Son and think deeply on how we can
(Drape the cross with the purple cloth)
All: Follow in the ways of Jesus
One: We are here, Holy Spirit, ready for your leading
God sightings and prayer offerings
Invite each person to share where they saw or experienced God this week. Invite each person to share something – a person, community, experience, event, etc. – for which they want to offer prayer.
Good and gracious God, we thank you for all the ways you were and are present in our lives and in the world…[invite each person to say aloud the sighting they named earlier]. We bring our prayers to you, prayers for…[invite each person to say aloud the prayer need they named earlier]. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Connecting with Scripture: Psalm 27 (NRSV, CEB)
Read the scripture aloud the first time using the New Revised Standard Version or the Common English Bible.
Choose a character from the story and put yourself in their place as you listen to the scripture read a second time.
Connecting through story
Watch this clip from the 2019 version of the Lion King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjKpX-axoBU
- Where did fear appear in the story?
- Who do you think Simba turned to when he was afraid? Where did Mufasa look when he needed help?
- Why do you think Mufasa looked to the ancestors?
Connecting with our Lives
Engage in dialogue
- What do you think the Psalmist meant by “the Lord is my light and my salvation?”
- Why do you think the Psalmist opens with that phrase and ends with the question, “of whom shall I be afraid?”
- The Psalm is filled with reasons why the Psalmist trusts God will provide strength and shelter when life is hard. Read through the Psalm and identify them.
- What is this comforting and empowering?
- What makes you fearful?
- When you are afraid, to whom do you turn or look?
- Where do you think God is when you are afraid or are facing difficult things?
- What does God provide?
- How do you know God is with you?
- Today’s Psalm ends with “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”
- In what ways does God give you courage?
Teaching Points that can be incorporated into your discussion
- Today’s lectionary Psalm is an interesting one as we consider it in the context of Lent. The theme of fear presents itself in several ways during these forty days leading to Easter.
- Since we believe Jesus was fully human, as well as fully God, we can imagine there was some fear when he was tempted (last week’s text) and even from the cross when we cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” (Actually, the words from Psalm 22.)
- The Pharisees and other religious leaders must have been afraid of the changes Jesus was bringing and perhaps their fear led to their desire for him to be crucified.
- The Roman governors and leaders were likely afraid of Jesus’ influence and preaching of a kingdom where they were not in power.
- Surely fear motivated Peter to deny Jesus three times on the night of our Lord’s arrest.
- Scripture is filled with everyday humans, like you and I, who experience fear.
- Psalm 27 reminds us, just as the psalmist has reminded believers throughout the ages, that we can be assured that God is with us always – even, and especially when we are afraid.
- If there are times we feel afraid and wonder where God is, we have only to remember all the times God consistently and faithfully showed up with our foremothers and fathers in faith to guide and accompany them through difficult and scary times.
- While faith does not promise to shield us from human experiences and feelings, like fear, failure, pain, grief or danger, the promise of God’s constant presence, care, comfort and strength through all those experiences and feelings is true and reliable.
During the first five hundred years of the second millennium, people of faith illuminated manuscripts. Sometimes they were pages in the bible or a book, other times it was simply around the first letter of a sentence. (Here are some examples: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/illuminated-manuscripts)
Pick one phrase from Psalm 27 that will remind you that the Lord is your strength, your shelter, your guide and is with you in very emotion and experience.
Prayer
Close your time together by praying for one another, your neighbor, your community and the world.
