Lenten Soup Supper Meditation 5

Lenten Soup Supper Meditation 5

April 2, 2020

CALL TO WORSHIP

          As a community of God, we gather to claim the power

          of God’s love in our lives.

                   We come to witness to the healing touch of God’s lovingkindness

                   as we stand together in worship and praise.

          Even as we receive, we are called to give.

                   We respond to God’s call. We are God’s instruments in the world.

          Where will our actions make a difference?

Our acts of lovingkindness will touch and heal in small ways and large. All God’s children need the kindness we can share.

         

Soup Supper Devotions

March 26, 2020           Lenten Soup Supper Meditation 4

CALL TO WORSHIP

            We are the people of God!

                        We are called in love and compassion into lives that are an act of worship.

In this time, in this space, we reach out to touch and be healed as the Holy Spirit moves

among us.

                        Come Holy Spirit, come! Free us from being judgmental, teach us to see the

                        image of God in each person we encounter; show us how to be kind.

HYMN            “You Are Here”

This hymn from the Lift Up Your Hearts book is a reminder to us that no matter where we are, whether at home or office or church, or wherever, God is there, present with us. And if we open ourselves to that presence, we can feel it, we can know it.  God here with us can heal and save. As I said, the hymn is a prayer and in it we ask God to have God’s way in our lives. We invite the Holy Spirit to come and do the will of the Spirit and know we are changed by it.

PRAYER

Gentle Spirit, as your people we move through life too often denying our frailties. We pretend the hurts we carry from unkind words and actions don’t really matter, yet we can’t let go of them. And we know that we, too, have at times been unkind. Help us to let go of the past. Help us to remember your lovingkindness toward us and empower us to extend your kindness without judgment. Amen

SCRIPTURES:                      

Ephesians 4:32                        Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each

                                                other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

1 Thessalonians 5:15               Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but

                                                always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

Luke 6:35                                Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them

                        without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward

                        will be great, and you will be children  of the Most High,

                                because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.      

2 Timothy 2:24                        And the Lord's servants must not quarrel; instead, they

                                                            must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

MEDITATION:    “Kindness? Good idea, except ...”

          What is it that gets in the way of our being kind? If there was nothing to get in the way, no issue with it, we’d be kind all the time, right? But sadly, we’re not. What do you think? What gets in the way of you being kind?  What have you observed in others? What do you think keeps people from being kind to each other?