t has been a church day! I have spent more then five hours in two different churches today. It has been a great day and now I am fairly exhausted (probably because Ive not been sleeping). It has also been a day filled with the Holy Spirit!
The morning started with the adult forum at my home church, the Community Congregational Church of Pacific Beach, where there was a lively discussion about current events and what the future may hold for the church. Then there was the worship service. Although I had a rough time waking up this morning, participating and helping to lead parts of the worship service was invigorating. I clearly felt the Holy Spirit lifting me up and moving through me as I read the scriptures for worship. The special music and spirituals were also very up lifting and energizing!
After church and lunch, I went home to work on a worship response that I had been asked to give as part of a Jubilee 2006 arts worship service at the East Village Community Church. (In true grad school form, I finished it minutes before leaving for the service.) I had visited the church once before. The congregation is one you can feel has been touched by the Spirit. My dear friend Delores is one of their Ministers of Music. D had done a lot of work in helping to put the service together. There were several gospel/spiritual singers, a choir, poets, a flutist, pianists, and a theater skit. I was excited to see how it would all come together. It was a very Spirit filled worship experience unlike anything Id ever seen beforeit made my poets heart smile. What a great experience!
Here is the response I contributed to the service:
Almighty Creator and Master of the Universe
We come before you today in celebration of and thanksgiving for
the various gifts you have endowed each individual with. We know that it is the gifts You give that allow us to fill our world with Beauty, with Joy, with the sounds of prophecy and truth!
In the overwhelming chaos of life, it can sometimes be difficult for us to use our gifts for Your Glory and for the good of the World. It is so easy Lord, for us to become so wrapped up in the trouble of the day. Some days we may become so weary that we neglect to use our gifts. Forgive us this trespass of your creation. Help us to use our gifts without ceasing in thanksgiving!
The Psalms teach us to sing endlessly in praise to you O God. The Proverbs tells us to become the platters upon which your gifts can be served to the world. Help us to be joyful and unceasing in our Thankfulness. Help us to make each day a celebration of dedication to you with rejoicing, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. (Neh 12:27)
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