[LITURGY] Lent Week 5: Seeds of Peace

Intro: Hey South Bend City Church, Mariah here – the Director of Art and Worship. In today’s liturgy episode of the podcast, we sing some songs and engage our minds and hearts in a reading in which it reminds us to be fully awake, determined in hope, and messengers of belonging. And we finish out our gathering seeking and asking that we be seeds of peace, both in our lives and in the world around us. Let’s join in with the rest of our community now.

Zach: Good morning South Bend City Church fam. Hey y’all! Good morning, good morning, good morning – most of y’all are behind me so I’m like hey, how’s it going? For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Zach and I’m on the pastoral staff here at South Bend City Church, and if it is your first time here, on behalf of all of us, welcome, we love you, and we’re so glad that you’re here to worship with us today.

As you all are able, would you please stand and join us.

Friend of God by Israel Houghton
Verse x2
Who am I that You are mindful of me
That You hear me when I call
Is it true that You are thinking of me
How You love me
It’s amazing

Chorus x2
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
He calls me friend

Verse
Chorus x2

Bridge x4
God almighty
Lord of glory
You have called me friend

Chorus

Tag
He calls me friend

Zach:Put your hands together and give God some praise.

Can’t Give Up Now by Curtis Burrell
Verse 1
There will be mountains that I will have to climb
And there will be battles that I will have to fight
But victory or defeat, it’s up to me to decide
But how can I expect to win If I never try.

Chorus
I just can’t give up now
I’ve come too far from where I started from
Nobody told me the road would be easy
and I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me

Verse 2
Never said there wouldn’t be trials, never said I wouldn’t fall
Never said that everything would go the way I want it to go
But when my back is against the wall And I feel all hope is gone,
I’ll just lift my head up to the sky And say help me to be strong

Chorus x2

Zach: Y’all may be seated

Lent Reading #5 by Rev. M Jade Kaiser at enfleshed (adapted)
Plant in us, O God,
Your visions of restoration.
We long to be a field
where all your hopes blossom;

Make ours hearts a place of refuge,
for every shattered dream of peace.
Let our imaginations run wild,
as dreams of Justice are birthed from within.

We don’t want to waste this life
shackled by despair,
confined by fear,
strangers to the miracle of being alive.

We want to be fully awake
to all the beauty that surrounds.

We want to be determined in hope –
relentless pursuers of what could be.

We want to be a messengers of belonging,

to every soul that weighs heavy
under narratives of bigotry or hate.

We have known what it is to be a stranger to joy.

But this ancient story of love,
sustaining generation after generation,
in labors of liberation –
it frees us from our fear.

No longer will we view life on evil’s terms.
No more will we submit to rules of dominance.
But in the freedom of Christ,

Our spirits rise.

Zach: We want to invite you to stand, if your able, as we sing this chorus.

Seeds of Peace by The Brilliance
May the seeds of peace be scattered
Birthing trees whose shade gives us rest

Zach: And the people of God said amen. Y’all may be seated.