Centering Practice
We invite you to slow down, breathe, and connect with God, each other, and yourself. Begin by closing our eyes and taking several slow, deep breaths. This month we are recentering ourselves & our church around the dreams of God. Today’s centering practice comes from Cole Arthur Riley of Black Liturgies:
- Take a moment to warm your hands, then place them over your eyes, asking God to restore your vision for God’s world and your life
- Inhale: Hope is a portal
- Exhale: I let myself dream
Call to Worship
Like clay on a wheel, God forms us.
We are created — and re-created,
as the Artist imagines & shapes us.
Our story is still being written
by the creative Author of Life.
May we learn to dream with God.
Amen.
Worship Songs
Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly
It all comes down to this
What You require of me
Love my neighbor as myself
And You above all things
Act justly, love mercy
Walk humbly, with You God
In all things, in all ways
Walk humbly, with You God
It all comes down to this
To be Your hands and feet
Good News to all the world
The truth will set us free
It’s beauty for ashes
It’s mourning to dancing
It’s closer and closer
The Kingdom of heaven
Years from now we’ll see
The fruit our hands have sown
Faith just like a seed
The only way it grows
Send the Rain
Lord, we come to You
Now with open hands
Broken lives and dreams
Washed up on the sand
We’ve been beaten down
But still we choose to stand
We choose to stand
Lord, we long for You
For Your hand to move
Heal this barren land
Come and make it new
Jesus, You’re the life
That is breaking through
You’re breaking through
The saints of old in ancient days
They worked the ground
that we reap from today
So use our hands to cultivate
The harvest that
our children’s children taste
We’re ready God, so send the rain
Lord, we’ll follow You
To unbroken earth
On the path not used
Where new hope is birthed
We will work as one
Holding to Your truth
To Your truth
Heal the ruined cities
We destroyed with our own hands
Bring us back together
Let us see the promised land
Pour out Your Spirit
On this dry and thirsty ground
O God of the harvest
Could it be right here and now
Could it be right here and now
Open up the heavens,
let Your rain fall down
We are thirsty, we are thirsty
Prayer of Confession
Creator God,
You have searched us and You know us.
Before we even call, You answer.
Guide us to live justly;
Open our hearts to Your mercy;
Teach us to walk humbly with You;
Hear us, O God, we pray:
— Moment of silent prayer —
Renewing God,
Forgive the ways we’ve fallen short;
help us amend our future steps;
And set us free to be Your people.
Amen.
Assurance of God’s Love
Prayers of the People
After each phrase, let’s pray out loud: “Lord, have mercy”
For those suffering from violence, hatred, and war, especially children…
For all of creation, groaning under the weight of sin and waste…
For the emotional, spiritual, physical, and relational
healing of ourselves and our loved ones…
For our friends who need to know Your love
and the friendship of our Anchor & Hope community…
For our retreat and every time we gather to be
a meaningful time of transformation, hope & dreaming…
For the Church worldwide to act justly, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with You…
Amen.
Offering Prayer
Announcements
- Thanks for worshiping with us today! We hope you experience meaningful connection with God and others in our community. If you’re visiting for the first time today, we’d love to get to know you better. Please take home a visitor’s card with QR code so that we can stay in touch & build a relationship!
- Parents Meeting: After service today with our Director of Children’s Ministry, Ann Leong!
- Young Adult’s Bible Study: Please contact Pastor David if you’re interested — every other Thursday via Zoom at 5:30 pm.
- Women’s Bible Study: This Friday, September 19th via Zoom!
- Church Retreat this weekend!
- Dates: September 20th and 21st (Saturday and Sunday)
- Times: Saturday from 10:30 am to 8:00 pm-ish; Sunday at 12:00 pm to 6:30 pm-ish
- Registration Fees: $100/person for 6th grade & up; $50/person for 5th grade & below ($25 discount for each additional child)
- Office Space: Please join us in prayer as we look to establish an ongoing presence in the Mira Mesa area — and keep an eye out!
- Community Connections: Let’s pray for and build up our connections with neighbors and our broader community! Please prayerfully consider asking a friend to visit our church and keep the Mira Mesa Street Fair (Sat, 10/4) in prayer!
Passing of the Peace
Let’s greet each other at this time!
Blessing of the Children
Worship Song
Kingdom Come
God, let Your kingdom come
May Your will be done
God, let Your kingdom come
Earth is groaning and we are longing
For Your kingdom to come
All creation and all of heaven
Join their voices as one
Hope is stirring, joy arising
As we look to the day
When all injustice will bow
And every voice will cry out
Holy is Your name
Lift up your heads, all the weak and the poor
The Lord is at hand and His kingdom is yours
Lift up your hearts, all who suffer and mourn
The Lord is at hand and His kingdom is yours
Lift up your eyes, all who hunger for more
The Lord is at hand and His kingdom is yours
Lift up a shout, let the earth hear your voice
The Lord is at hand and His kingdom is yours
I will build my life upon Your love
It is a firm foundation
I will put my trust in You alone
And I will not be shaken
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 65:1-8
1 Thus says the Lord:
Maintain justice, and do what is right,
for soon my salvation will come
and my deliverance be revealed.
2 Happy is the mortal who does this,
the one who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
and refrains from doing any evil.
3 Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people,”
and do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give, in my house and within my walls,
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it
and hold fast my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar,
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
8 Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel:
I will gather others to them
besides those already gathered.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
Together: Thanks be to God.
Sermon
Dreaming Together
Pastor Dan
Conversation question:
- What do you think might be the dream of God for Anchor & Hope in the next 3 years or so? The next 20 years? 50 years?
- (Imagine yourself at that point of your life and think, what would you be so proud of our church accomplishing at that point?)
- Reminder: The dream of God is never meant to be only for ourselves — it’s always meant to be for the good of the world
Worship Song
Open Up (reprise)
May Your love
Cause us to open up
Cause us to open up our hearts
May Your light
Cause us to shine so bright
That we bring hope into the dark
All that we do without love
It means nothing
Grant us the courage to give
As You’re calling
Make me an instrument
Of Your peace
Where there is hatred
Let me sow love
Where there is darkness
Let me shine light and . . .
Hope for the hopeless
Your love is
Strength in our weakness
Your love is
Anchor & Hope Church 