Beloved Anchor & Hope family,
It’s the 5th Sunday of September, and therefore time for a “Reset Sunday”!
If you want to learn more about why we have “Reset Sundays,” please click here for the link to a more in-depth blog post about it. Essentially, the hope is that we will all take a Sunday off from our communal worship to connect with God and find ways to “re-create” ourselves through rest & connection.
We pray that, today, God will meet you in an unexpected and wonderful way! If it comes to mind, send us a text message to pass the peace. We’d love to hear from you, and we’ll see you next Sunday, October 6th, at Sandburg Elementary at 10:30 am!
grace & peace,
pj & pd
Opening Prayer
Written by Joanna Harader, and posted on Spacious Faith.
As Abraham welcomed the strangers
so God welcomes us.
God greets us with joy and says,
“Rest here for awhile.”
God brings out water
to wash our dusty feet.
God prepares a meal
to nourish our weary spirits.
So let us receive
the gracious hospitality of our God.
Let us rest in this holy place
where there is shade and water,
food and laughter.
Amen.
Worship Song
This I Know, by Crowder
This I Know
Up on the mountain
Where Your love captured me
Where finally I’m free
This I know
Up on the mountain
Where You taught my soul to sing
Amazing grace, the sweetest thing
This I know
And then the storm rushing in
And here I am again
This I know
Take me up to where I was
When I never wanted more than You
Lift me up to feel Your touch
It wouldn’t be that much for You
This I know, this I know
This I know, this I know
Up on the mountain
Where You took me by the hand
Taught me to dance again
This I know
Up on the mountain
Where You took this heart of stone
Put life back in these bones
This I know
Passing of the Peace
Take a moment to wish peace to the people around you and/or send a text message to someone either from our Anchor & Hope Community or someone else who needs God’s peace this day!
Kids Song & Reflection
The Fruit of the Spirit, by Uncle Charlie
God’s Story: The Fruit of the Spirit
Ask your children these questions and have a curiosity conversation:
- I wonder what is your favorite fruit to eat? Why do you like it? Can you (or your parents) look up a few interesting facts about it?
- In Sunday School, your kids have been memorizing Galatians 5:22-23! Go over it the memory verse with them using this format: Repeat after me: Galatians 5… 22 and 23 says… The fruit of the Spirit… is love, joy, and peace… patience and kindness… goodness and faithfulness… gentleness and self-control!
- As we grow in our faith, we can let the Holy Spirit transform us to be more like Jesus. It’s good to think, talk, and act like Jesus — and it’s good for us!
- How do you think bearing the fruit of the Spirit is good for others? How is it good for us?
- The Apostle Paul (who wrote this letter to the Galatians) said, “Let us not become tired of doing what is good.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The time is always right to do what is right.” Take a moment to pray and ask God to help you do good for everyone, every chance you get!
Statement of Faith
Note: Please read this statement of faith out loud, whether you’re by yourself or in a group
We gather today in faith, called as the people of God.
We trust in the Holy Spirit,
the One who enables us to take holy risks.
We believe a life of faith is open to God
and to our neighbors around us.
Our hearts are open this day.
Amen.
Scripture Engagement & Reflection
Read Mark 10:46-52 out loud, even if you’re alone!
They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
Your desire for more of God than you have right now,
Ruth Haley Barton
your longing for love,
your need for deeper levels of spiritual transformation
than you have experienced so far
is the truest thing about you.
You might think that your woundedness or your sinfulness
is the truest thing about you
or that your giftedness or your personality type or your job title
or your identity as husband or wife, mother or father,
somehow defines you.
But, in reality, it is your desire for God
and your capacity to reach for more of God than you have right now
that is the deepest essence of who you are.
As a church community, we describe our core value of faith in the following way: “We trust in the Spirit, who enables us to take holy risks. A life of faith is open to God and to others.” We could also simply describe faith as longing.
Take a moment to enter into this Scripture story. Why do you think Bartimaeus wanted to see? What was he really longing for?
The deep longing of our hearts says so much about our faith — what we put our faith in, what we’re seeking, what we hope for.
Imagine Jesus asking you, “What do you want me to do for you?” How would you answer? Would you even be able to respond?
Reset Sundays are a regular reminder that our desire to rest is actually a desire for God — we want to rest and be with the One who takes care of all things and holds all things together.
What brings deep rest to your soul? What are the outcomes for you when you are well-rested, renewed, and restored? How does true rest impact your relationship with God, others, yourself, and the world around you?
Worship Song
Mercies (New Every Morning), by Matt Redman
Mercies (New Every Morning)
In brokenness and wandering
Through all my fear and unbelief
Your faithfulness appears
to me again
Through mountain top and valley low
In every season, this I know
Your goodness, like the dawn,
will break again
All Your mercies rising
In this heart again
And my soul begins to sing
They are new every morning
New every morning
Great is Your faithfulness
Your mercies are new every morning
New every morning
Great is your faithfulness
Every good and perfect gift
In Your endless grace You give
Flowing from the Father’s
heart to mine
Beams of Heaven as I go
Through this wilderness below
The fullness of Your love
for all of time
Closing Prayer
Sabbath Blessing
By Pete Grieg
May this day bring Sabbath rest
to my heart and my home.
May God’s image in me be restored,
and my imagination in God be re-storied.
May the gravity of material things be lightened,
and the relativity of time slow down.
May I know grace to embrace my own finite smallness
in the arms of God’s infinite greatness.
May God’s Word feed me and God’s Spirit lead me
into the week and life to come.
Amen.
Anchor & Hope Church 