Mother’s Day
VISUAL ARTS (PARAMENTS, GENERAL DECORATIONS, SPECIFIC DECORATIONS)
Brim: Creative Overflow in Worship Design
Banner Designs for the Church Year
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CALL TO WORSHIP
One: The Bible speaks of mothers who have cared for and defended our Biblical forebears.
Many: Thank to be God for the care of our mothers.
One: We raise up Eve, the mother of humankind, who birthed the first human and suffered the first loss of a child.
Many: Thanks be to God for Eve, the mother of us all.
One: We raise up Sarah, the mother of God’s people, who believed in God’s promise even amidst impossible circumstances.
Many: Thanks be to God for Sarah, the mother who laughed.
One: We raise up Rebecca, the mother of Israel, who worked to bring about God’s will even at the risk of favoring one child over the other.
Many: Thanks be to God for Rebecca, the mother who had to be strong.
One: We raise up Mary, the mother of Jesus, who experienced the joy of the birth of the Messiah and the deep grief of his death at the hands of his enemies.
Many: Thanks be to God for Mary, the mother of our savior.
One: We thank you for these mothers and our own mothers or those who have acted as our mothers who have carried us, nurtured us, who have laughed and cried with us, who have taught us to be strong and gentle, and who have shown us to our faith.
Many: Thanks be to God for all mothers, biological and spiritual, young and old, all imperfect yet formed in the image of God. Thanks be to God!
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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INVOCATION
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MUSIC (HYMNS, SONGS, ANTHEMS)
- I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry
- Child of Blessing, Child of Promise
- Let Us Build a House (All are Welcome)
- Woman in the Night
- My Soul Gives Glory to My God
- Like a Mother Who Has Borne Us
- O God, You Search Me
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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CALL TO CONFESSION
In Matthew 23:37, Jesus laments, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Just like Jerusalem, we have not come under God’s wings, but have been unwilling and wanted to go our own way. Let us confess our sins to God.
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Loving God, like an errant child we must come back to you again and again because we continue to sin and walk in our own way. Yet, we know that we need to come back to you to repent and set things right. You have created us and we shame ourselves because we are not the perfect person society says we should be. You have formed us in your image and we want to form ourselves because we think we know best. You have shown us how to love sacrificially, fully, deeply and we don’t offer that love to our families, friends and even the stranger in our midst. Forgive us O God. Help us to care for ourselves. Help us to create with you a world as you would have it. Help us to show others love whether we know them as ourselves or whether we don’t know them at all. Forgive us O God, as a mother forgives her child, by wiping away the tears, by forgiving us, and by loving us. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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ASSURANCE OF PARDON
How can this possibly be? We have confessed our sins and God being faithful to the covenant, has forgiven our sins. Does Jesus condemn us? No, we know that he died for us and rose for us and lives with God to save us. Believe this good news! In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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CHILDREN’S SERMON
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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Loving Parent, like a little child, we bring this book to you that you might open it to us, that you might help us read it, that you might help us understand it. Teach us through the reading of this scripture, through the preaching of the word, and through the interpretation to us through the Holy Spirit.
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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SCRIPTURE TEXTS/SERMON IDEAS
- The 3 Faces of Mary (or a Mother)—Luke 1:39-56 (Mary’s Song); John 2:1-12 (Wedding in Cana); and John 19:16-30 (Jesus’ Crucifixion)—As a change from Proverbs 31 about a capable wife, these scriptures can be woven together to show the joy of expecting the baby and sharing that with family, the pride and belief in their children to the point of nudging children to reach their potential in ministry, and the sorrow of having to be present with children when they are going through the worst crises of their lives, in Jesus’ case even to death.
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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SOCIAL MEDIA HELPS (VIDEOS, TAPED SONGS)
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PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Like a loving mother, O God, you are waiting for us to come to you with thanks for meeting our needs and with petitions on behalf of others and ourselves. We know you will listen, you will hear, you will answer, you will help. We know with you in our presence, we are not alone, even amidst a pandemic.
Holy God, you are know to us and so we confidently approach you and ask that you help us as we pray.
We pray for those in our church community who are not with us today whether they are sick or have distanced themselves from you. Make us aware of them and give us the insight to reach out and be your hands and feet to them;
We pray for those in our neighborhoods, who need us to share the good news with them. Give us opportunities to show our love and hospitality and in doing so reflect your love and hospitality.
We pray for those in all Cumberland Presbyterians church here in the United States and in the world. Give us a presence in the world that can speak to those who need us and need you.
We pray for country and its leaders. We pray that you would give each and every politician a Damascus experience that their eyes will be open to your truth and that they will not make decisions according to their party, but according to your will.
We pray for the division in our world. We know you would have us live in peace as the lamb and the lion lie down together. Convict us and reveal to us how we can bring unity and peace and quiet the voices of division and hate.
We thank you for the presence of your Holy Spirit with us. Allow us to feel its nudge to go and do and be for you. It is in Jesus’ name that we pray all these things. Amen.
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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LITANY
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INVITATION TO THE OFFERING
God says to put out a feast for all to come. God calls us to mend and sew clothes for those who do not have any. God asks to heal the sick. God needs us to give comfort to those in prison. But how can we do all these things? By first bringing our gifts to God. Not just a meaningless burnt offering that is not really a true sacrifice. One that we have thought through, counted the cost and measured the need, and bring to God willingly and happily. Let us bring our gifts to the God who has brought even our precious savior to us.
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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OFFERTORY PRAYER
God of abundance, we bring our gifts and pray that they are pleasing to you. We ask that our church, like a mother to her children, can fulfill the basic needs of those you bring our way. Bless these gifts that they may bring blessings to those they touch. Amen.
—Elinor Swindle Brown
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CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
Now go! Treat everyone you meet like they are your child, in need of the gifts you have to offer.
And as you go,
may the God of life and birth create in you a newness every morning,
the God of salvation give you opportunities to save others,
and the God of comfort and love nudge you to those who need your love and comfort.
Go in peace! Amen.
—Elinor Swindle Brown