01 Sunday Sep 2019
Posted in Prayers, Worship Liturgy
A morning prayer for the Spirit to move us:
Tender powerful Spirit,
who goes wherever you will,
like a flowing fountain soothe us,
like a mighty river transport us,
like a mountain lake enchant us,
like a gentle rain wash over us,
like a boundless ocean draw us into the deep. Amen.
Words (c) 2019 Mark Lloyd Richardson
20 Wednesday Feb 2019
Posted in Worship Liturgy
Tags
God, God's mercy, grace, healing, Holy Spirit, hymns, praise, promise, silence, wholeness, worship
Early in my pastoral ministry in Los Osos, California, I was already falling in love with the varied topography and weather patterns of coastal living, when I wrote this hymn text inspired by my new physical surroundings. It’s been sung a few times in worship settings since then, but I just this week shared the words with friends who are in a covenant group with me. I told them about this place I loved (and still do, though we don’t currently live here) and what was significant about it in the feeding of my soul. It was only as I searched for the text that I realized I had never shared it here in my blog.
“God of Still Mornings”
(May be sung to the tune of “Be Thou My Vision”)
God of still mornings draped softly in mist,
we sing your praises upon grateful lips.
Heirs of your promise you clothe us in grace.
Call us in silence as we seek your face.
God of flower’d bluffs swept by winds off the sea,
we pray your mercies upon bended knee.
Children of dust to the earth we return.
Call us in beauty your gifts to discern.
God of deep valleys brought forth by your hand,
we share your healing and with you we stand.
Bearers of love by your Spirit made whole.
Call us in witness of grace overflowed.
Words (c) 2001, Mark L. Richardson
12 Thursday Jun 2014
Posted in Prayers, Worship Liturgy
Tags
Christ, Creator God, discipleship, Gospel, grace, gratitude, Holy Spirit, hope, Invocation, praise, salvation, Savior, Trinity, worship
A prayer for worship on Trinity Sunday:
Creator God,
in you all of nature sings of heaven.
In this sacred time and space
may our hearts join the chorus of praise
that already resounds in the rocks and trees,
the skies and seas of this amazing world.
Christ our Savior,
in you our eternal inheritance is secure.
In this sacred time and space
may our souls stir with the joy of salvation,
as we surrender to the holy love
at the center of your gospel.
Gentle and powerful Spirit,
you carry us on the generous winds of grace.
In this sacred time and space
may we fully embrace the freedom
that meets us on paths of discipleship
and invites us into faithful and whole lives.
Fill us with hope and gratitude this day,
knowing that wherever we go
there you are with us. Amen.
Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson
03 Tuesday Jun 2014
Posted in Prayers, Worship Liturgy
Tags
Affirmation of faith, Call to Worship, grace, Holy Spirit, loving God, peace, Pentecost, risen Christ, Worship liturgy
Here is some liturgy I’ve written that we will use in worship on Pentecost Sunday this week. Feel free to use or adapt the words below.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Today we worship in the love of God,
a love that will not let us go,
a love that touches the deepest parts of our lives,
a love that sends us into the world.
Today we worship in the grace of Jesus Christ,
a grace that saves us and sets us free,
a grace that relieves our fears and worries,
a grace that leads us home to God.
Today we worship in the peace of the Spirit,
a peace that the world cannot give,
a peace that assures us we are not alone,
a peace that goes with us where we live and serve.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (unison)
We believe in a loving God,
who is life’s breath for all of earth’s creatures,
who is the ground in which our lives flourish,
who is the mystery toward which we are drawn.
We believe in the risen Christ,
whose life is the way we see God made real,
whose death bears witness to the power of love,
whose presence nourishes our spirits each day.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
who flows as a refreshing spring of life,
who comes as divine fire to energize the faithful,
who creates communities of joy and justice.
(Permission is granted to use or adapt these words in worship with credit noted)
Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson
26 Sunday May 2013
Posted in Reflections, Sermon portions
Tags
Brennan Manning, Community, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love of Christ, Mystery, theology, Trinity, truth
Here is a small portion of my sermon today on the Trinity.
Christians, of all people, ought to have an expansive view of God. We, of all people, ought not to be trying to put God in a box. Even the revered theological concept of the Trinity can do that. Unless we see it for the mystery that it is, our doctrine can become a straightjacket in which God is neatly wrapped up by our small minds.
In speaking of the mystery of the Trinity the closest comparison may be the mystery of community. When a group of people becomes a community – when they risk sharing their questions, their sorrows, their dreams, and their hopes with one another, and when they do not hide their true selves, warts and all, from one another – then they are known for who they are. They become part of one another, just as the risen Christ is said to be one with God the Father/Mother and God the Spirit.
This is indeed the mystery, how the triune God draws all of creation into a dance where the melody of Christ’s love unites them in the Spirit. Some say unity can only occur when people conform to a prescribed set of beliefs. But God says no – unity is available to those who have open minds, open hearts, and open spirits to what the Spirit is saying in our day.
Each Sabbath, we gather in worship where the community of God meets our human community. We give thanks for the Spirit of truth that guides us into all truth – the truth about ourselves, the truth about our world, the truth about God’s ways in the world.
We celebrate the self-giving love of Jesus of Nazareth who willingly laid down his life because he had been drawn so completely into God’s vision of reconciliation and peace.
We bless the Spirit who is the breath of life, the source of love, the ground of all being.
We seek to match our beliefs to our actions in Christ-like fashion by being a voice for those on the margins of life, by being instruments of peace in a violent, war-torn world, by being open to the truth, and by embracing the higher calling of self-giving love.
The mystery and community of the Trinity invites us into an expansive view of God, calls us to justice-seeking and peacemaking, and unites us in one faith, one baptism, one Spirit, and one Lord, so that we may live for God.
A prayer by the late Brennan Manning speaks of how we meet this triune God:
“May all of your expectations be frustrated,
May all of your plans be thwarted,
May all of your desires be withered into nothingness,
that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child,
and can only sing and dance in the love of God,
Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
Words and photo (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson
12 Sunday May 2013
Posted in Reflections, Worship Liturgy
Tags
Christ, forgiveness, grace, healing, Holy Spirit, joy, Maranatha, peace, prayer, Revelation, silence, spiritual renewal, water of life
This morning in worship at our church I included a time of prayer and silent reflection on the scripture text for the day, Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21. We had a water display in front of the altar and I preached my sixth and final sermon in a series on the book of Revelation from the very close of the book, which is also the culmination of the biblical message. Following the service, some of the worshippers asked me to share this text on my blog. So here it is:
A Time of Prayer & Reflection
“Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.” (Rev. 22:17) God in Christ wants to quench your spiritual thirst. Christ offers living water to those who seek it. This time of prayer and silent reflection is an opportunity for you to reflect upon the words of scripture, and to ask Christ to come and renew your spirit. We begin by singing verse 1 of song #2076, “O Blessed Spring,” and between verses will pause for silent reflection and prayer.
Verse 1, #2076 “O Blessed Spring” (from The Faith We Sing songbook,
Abingdon Press, 2000)
The water of life is the water of spiritual refreshment and renewal.
Reflect on where Christ is renewing you in your life.
30 seconds of silence
Verse 2, #2076 “O Blessed Spring”
The water of life is the water of joy in the presence of God.
Reflect on where God is increasing your joy in your life.
30 seconds of silence
Verse 3, #2076 “O Blessed Spring”
The water of life is the water of grace to transform you and the world through you.
Reflect on where God is forgiving you and setting you free to live by faith.
30 seconds of silence
Verse 4, #2076 “O Blessed Spring”
The water of life is the water of cleansing and healing.
Reflect on where Christ is meeting you in your brokenness and making you whole.
30 seconds of silence
Verse 5, #2076 “O Blessed Spring”
The water of life is the water of peace for those with heavy burdens.
Reflect on where Christ, the holy Vine, the living Tree, blesses you with peace.
30 seconds of silence
Come, Gracious God. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Spirit of Gentleness. As we receive the water of life, may we be renewed in spirit, be made whole by your grace, and be blessed with your peace.
Words and photo (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson [Permission to use this liturgy in public worship with credit noted].
07 Thursday Jun 2012
Posted in Sermon portions
Tags
Christianity, Circle dance, Community, divine-human relationship, faith, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Trinity
At a wedding reception Dallis and I attended, it was fun to watch the ways different people have of moving themselves around the dance floor – some with practiced grace and others with reckless abandon. But what impressed me the most was the number of times I saw people dancing in small circles – in groups of laughing, expressive joy!
The Christian faith celebrates the variety of ways we know God – God as Heavenly Parent, God as Beloved Son, God as Holy Spirit. The word Trinity does not appear in Scripture. But the Bible does portray three predominant ways in which we come to know who God is and what God is doing in the world – the Creator God, forming and shaping life; the Redeemer God, restoring life to its original intention; and the Sustainer God, continually breathing new life into all creation.
To know this Trinitarian God is a bit like getting up out of your chair and making your way to the dance floor, where you are invited to join a circle dance, a dance of relationship, in which you become part of the movement of grace, the stirring of joy, the music of the soul. One of the early church fathers, John of Damascus, even talked about the Trinity using the word perichoresis, which loosely translated from Greek means “circle dance.”
In the gospel of John, chapter 3, Jesus seems to say that the Spirit is not confined by our beliefs, our expectations, or our literalisms. The Spirit is like the wind – it “blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes” (3:8). To enter the Reigning of God, to be a part of what God is doing in the world, we must become free to live in the transformative Spirit of God.
The Spirit blows where it chooses, and just try to stop it. The Spirit may even blow through the lives of those who have lots of questions and can’t quite believe, or through the lives of persons of other religious traditions, or even through the lives of those who are antagonistic toward organized religion, because you see, no one can control the wind of the Spirit.
For many of us, this uncontrollable, unpredictable Spirit of God might come into our lives and upset our priorities. This Spirit might come as the wind and sweep away the prejudices we harbor. This Spirit might come as the dew and refresh us, giving us a new way of thinking about things. This Spirit might come as a fire and cause a great burning within us – a refining of our personal faith, a greater sense of urgency about living the gospel.
St. Augustine speaks of the Trinity in this way: “Now, love is of someone who loves, and something is loved with love. So then there are three: the lover, the beloved, and the love.”
A personal faith is a precious gift. It is a relationship formed within the very relationship of God’s Trinity … three expressions of the one God … a dynamic community defined by love.
Thanks be to God for the winds of the Spirit blowing freely, unpredictably, through our world today. Thanks be to the Triune God who draws us into relationship and invites us into the circle dance of life, abundant and free, where together we experience God’s care!
Words and top photo (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Bottom photos (c) 2006 Dallis Day Richardson (Josh & Jenna’s wedding; Left: crazy nephew dancing, and Right: My Mom and me)
31 Thursday May 2012
Posted in Prayers, Worship Liturgy
Tags
blessing, bread and wine, creation, Eucharist, forgiveness, Great Thanksgiving, Holy Communion, Holy Spirit, Hosanna, Jesus Christ
Here is a prayer that may be used as a Great Thanksgiving or Eucharistic Prayer in celebrating Holy Communion on Trinity Sunday, coming up in a few days.
It is always good to give you thanks, O God, for our lives are brought forth and renewed by your creating Spirit. You form us in your image and breathe into us the breath of life. You love us with an undying love.
You call us by name and bring us on a journey filled with wonder and amazement. In spite of the dangers and worries of this life, you challenge us to live in just, loving, and humble ways for the sake of the world you love.
When we fail to be the people you need us to be, you continue to draw us toward the light and life of your presence. You offer us grace to become new people, redeemed by the ministry of Christ, empowered by the Spirit of love, blessed by the gifts of Creation.
So as we gather around the table of grace this morning, seeking strength for the journey we are on, we raise our voices with all who have gone before us, with all creation, and with all the company of heaven, to sing your praises: (“Sanctus,” #2257-b in The Faith We Sing)
Holy, holy, holy Lord; God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest! (3X)
Blest is the one who come in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest! (3X)
Holy God, you sent us your beloved Son Jesus, who identified fully with our humanity, taking on the same flesh we do, knowing the same grief we know in the losses and deaths that accompany life, suffering the same pain we suffer because of the grip of sin upon the world.
Jesus became one of us and one with us in life’s journey.
He welcomed all to the table of grace and gave these common elements of the earth and the vine in celebration of the great gifts of life and joy in the eternal kingdom.
Jesus took the bread, and having blessed it, he gave it to his friends, as he gives it to us today, saying, “This is my body broken for you.”
Jesus took the cup, raised it in blessing, and shared it with his friends, as he shares it with us today, saying, “This is my life poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin. Whenever you receive these gifts of bread and wine remember me and remember the life that I offer you this day.”
O God—Mother, Father, Spirit, Christ—giver of all good gifts, hope for the weary, strength for the disheartened, peace for the grieving, mercy for the sinner, grace for us all, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us gathered here and upon these gifts. May they become for us the presence of Christ, in whom we find our life and our joy.
By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, one in communion with one another, one in solidarity with all who hunger for justice and righteousness, one in harmony with all creation.
Through your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory be yours, loving God, now and forever. Amen.
Words (c) 2009 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson
(Permission granted to use this prayer in worship with credit given.)
24 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in Guest Blogs, Reflections
Tags
breathe, Christ, Divine Love, embodiment, gifted, grace, Holy Spirit, image of God, Religion and Spirituality
Today’s blog is by my friend Cynthia McCabe. In the twelve years I have known Cynthia, I have been blessed, as I know others have been, by her positive energy, her exuberant joy, her creative imagination, and her full embrace of life! She has graciously agreed to let me share her words below, from a message she originally shared with the good people of Trinity United Methodist Church in Los Osos, California, a church I previously served for ten years.
Here are Cynthia’s words:
When I was invited to speak for Laity Sunday and given the topic of “How has my gift affected my faith?” I had to stop and think – what is my gift? Let’s see… I’m a successful massage therapist, hmmm… a yoga teacher,… hmmm… I love to sing, but it’s debatable whether it’s a gift or not. What is my gift? Well… I realized after some contemplation that my gift happens to be the same as yours. Or at least the same as one of your gifts, because I happen to think most of us have a few gifts. This gift that I think we have in common is the gift of embodiment.
There is no debate here…. we all have bodies, some tall, some thin, some short, some stout – we all have been given a body in which to live this life and through which to experience Divine Grace. In fact, I have heard it said that our embodiment is a direct expression of Divine Love, that God delights in us so much that we were given bodies with which to delight in creation. And, of course, Christ is the highest gift of embodiment of Divine Love and like him, we are made in the image of God. Spirit and flesh made one.
OK! So… back to the original question. How has my gift affected my faith? From my point of view as a person who has made it her professional career to deal with embodied people, this is an important question. First of all, I have to admit that MY body can be sort of hard to ignore. It makes noises and has sensations and carries me and sometimes doesn’t want to. What would I be without embodiment? What would you be without embodiment?
I happen to think that my body directly reveals to me, on a daily basis, a lot of information about how I am walking in this journey of faith.
I am frequently amazed at how easy it is for me to forget that I am a direct expression of God’s Love. I am frequently amazed at how easy it is to become superficial and distracted by the pulls of the world, I identify with things that are changeable, AND I forget to see embodied Love in my neighbor.
But my commitment to embodiment reminds me how important it is to pay attention, to remember, to slow down, to stop each day and to put the breaks on my life so that I can REMEMBER. My commitment to embodiment helps me to come home to connectedness, to feel my breath, to listen, to wonder, to appreciate.
What am I listening for? For the spirit moving inside, to the pulsation of life that is constantly moving within me, in and out, in and out. By remembering (and by the way, have you ever thought about that word REMEMBERING? RE – MEMBERING, bringing our members back together), I am listening to the truth of “I am created in the image of God.”
This is core truth, unchanging, eternal, constant … I breathe in, I breathe out … and I begin to remember and to identify with that unchanging presence of God. I empty myself of the distractions, the pulls, the past, the future, the grudges, the resentments, and OPEN TO GRACE. To something bigger than the limited consciousness that says I am the center of the universe.
This then becomes my renewed foundation – standing firm in the knowledge that I am held by Grace. That even when I forget, Grace holds me and never lets go….. and so I practice remembering – that God resides in every layer of my being, and in every layer of your being and it is our job to figure out…. How can I be of service in this moment with this gift of embodiment?
God has chosen freely to be embodied as me – God has chosen freely to be embodied as you. WHAT AN AMAZING GIFT!
In the words of an author and yogi that I admire, Stephen Cope, “In order for anyone to live a life of meaning and purpose, each one of us must (1) identify and recognize our unique gift and (2) share it … if you don’t, it’s as good as not even having one.”
The gift is free and it is our responsibility to bring it to the world. In order to know that gift we must take time to soften, to listen, to re-member, to breathe and to open to Grace (OFTEN). And then … we must trust that the gifts that we have been given are exactly what the world needs!
dreamprayact 