Welcome/ Check in (How are you feeling?)
Sharing of Invitations (see back of order of worship)
Invocation Our Dear, Dear Motherby Raffi
Our dear, dear Mother, daily provider, earth be your name. The time has come, to honor you, to know you and to show our love.” 1.You give us each day our daily grain, kissed by the sun and kissed by the rain. Teach us now to find a way to care for you in our work and play. Chorus2.Within the beauty of your silent spin, we know you’re hurting and we feel your pain. With your forgiveness we can start anew. We need a chance to make it up to you. Chorus
Passing of the Peace God Loves You and There is Nothing You Can Do About It
Prayer(in union)Holy Mama, Great Spirit, God of Love, You who we call by many names, we give thanks for the gift of life and all of creation. We thank you for the leap of joy in our hearts that is Christmas. We pray for the 8 billion people in our human family and for the animals, plants and minerals, the water, air, land and stars. May we treat all children and all life forms as the interconnected web of interspecies life that is the truth of our shared existence. We pray for the 150-200 species that die every day in this time of earth genocide. (Silence) We pray for the humanitarian crisis at the US border with Mexico, with 15,000 children have been incarcerated by our government. We pray for the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the 14 million people on the brink of starvation. We pray for all those who are hungry and living in violence in Central America, Afghanistan, Palestine, urban America and those suffering from domestic violence in families around the world. We pray for all those in war torn countries and those in prison. We pray for the 68 million refugees in the world, one in every 100 people, half of whom are under 18 years old. We pray for climate catastrophe, corporate greed and military madness that has brought us to an earth crisis. May this crisis wake us up to our oneness and that we are created in love. God hear our prayers. (Silence)We pray for the poor and sick as well as the poor and sick of spirit. (Silence)We pray for our common home Mother Earth who has been dishonored, ignored and abused. We give thanks for her abundant gifts to us. (Silence) We pray for our enemies as Jesus taught us. We wait in silence for the God of love who is always with us to heal us and fill us with joy this Christmas amidst injustice and fear. We give thanks to all our ancestors who loved and cared for us making it possible for us to be here now. (Silence) Amen
Prayer Requestsand Prayer (in unison)Our Mother Father God who is within uswe celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come.Your will be done,unfolding from the depths within us.Each day you give us all that we need.You remind us of our limitsand we let go. You support us in our power and we act with courage.For you are the dwelling place within usthe empowerment around usand the celebration among usnow and forever. Amen
Reading “America is in the powerful and perilous position of being the empire of our day….the stories of the first Christmas are pervasively anti-imperial. In our setting, what does it mean to affirm with the Christmas stories that Jesus is the son of God (and the emperor is not)… that Jesus is the way to peace on earth (and the emperor is not). There is a political meaning and challenge in these stories, both in their ancient setting and today. Of course these stories are not “only “ political—they are also deeply personal and they speak powerfully about our deepest yearnings and about God’s promises and passion….They are about light in our darkness, the fulfillment of our deepest yearnings, and the birth of Christ within us.”
The First Christmas, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
Reflection God is Truth and Justice The Christmas story as the Message of Jesus in Miniature
“God will have the last word, not the empire!”
Music Joy to the World and Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Dr. Nile and Constantine El Wardani
Joy to the world, the Lord is come Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing
Joy to the World, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy
Joy to the world, now we sing Let the earth receive her king
Joy to the world, now we sing Let the angel voices ring
Joy to the world, now we sing Let men their songs employ
Joy to the world, now we sing Repeat the sounding joy
Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled."
Joyful, all ye nations, rise, Join the triumph of the skies;
With th' angelic host proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem."
Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new-born King!
Scripture Luke 2:1-7New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Reflection God In Nature and all that is Alive“I Knew He was an Animal and I was an Animal and because of that I Knew What to Do as a Mother.”
Music Jesus Our Brother (see insert)
Reflection God and Science “I don’t get how the sperm photo has anything to do with Xmas.” Walt Rutherford
Scripture Luke 2:6-8 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Music Away in the Manger (see insert)
Scripture Luke 2:8-19 8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[a] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[b] praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”[c]15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
Reflection God and the I Thou Relationship “Mary treasured these words and pondered them in her heart”…and she looked at the baby and the baby looked at her and she smiled and it was holy and of God.”
Music What Child Is This? (see insert)
Reading “Now, if we take the sponge and saturate it in the waters of selfhood, it becomes heavy, ponderous and bloated; and because it cannot respond to the breezes, it virtually goes nowhere. If, however, the sponge can stay away from these waters and no longer allow itself to be used, it will eventually, by sitting alone and aloof for a long time, dry out and return to its original structure. But there’s another way this can happen. This is for an outside agent to pick up the sponge and squeeze it dry—quickly and all at once—and then put it aside to be used for other purposes than the absorbing of water. The sponge that has been quickly dried has, at first, a unique sense of lightness, emptiness and freedom. It takes a awhile to adjust to a new way of life wherein it eventually discovers that the basic structure of the mind and its faculties remain intact and perfectly functional but functional in a new way, a way no longer weighed down by the absorption of water. Although it knows there has been some radical change that seem to be a transformation into something other than what it was, in time it sees it has only returned to what it was originally; and thus, everything seems to be the same as before, with the only difference being the absence of the waters of self.” The Experience of No-SelfBernadette Roberts
Gift of a Sponge
Reflection God and Silence and Prayer
Music Silent Night and candle lighting
Closing PrayerSt. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi Prayer
Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy, And where there is sadness, joy, joy, joy. God grant that I may not so much seek; To be consoled as to console; To be understood, as to understand; To be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born, to Eternal Life. Amen, Amen, Amen
Offering for the ministry of the church Walt
Musical Offering La Cinquantaineby Bach Constantine
Check out How are you feeling?
Benediction Blessing Song by Miriam Therese Winters
May the blessings of God go before you. May her grace and peace abound. May her spirit live within you. May her love wrap you round. May her blessings remain with you always. May you walk on holy ground.
Pot luck dinner is our communion. Everyone is welcome at God’s table.
Invitations: Our current ecologic crisis is a call to awaken to the reverence of life and the truth that all nature is alive and sacred. As we witness the sixth extinction of life on earth, the only one created by us humans, we are invited to reclaim the ancient wisdom traditions. We are one organic, interspecies, interconnected whole. What we do affects everything else. Every Sunday at 5 pm we acknowledge that we need one another more than ever before . and commune with the divine reality. We celebrate all the wisdom traditions from the East, West, indigenous peoples, science and we study the teachings of Jesus and the Bible as well as the newly found gnostic gospels.
New live stream worship on church web site, some Sundays 5 pm (PST) Churchforourcommonhome.com
New Year’s Eve Dec. 31 6-9 pmwithout alcohol, new Wailing Wall, prayers of grief and closure, guided mediation, fire ritual, walking the snake labyrinth with music and candle light, dream sharing and incubation. Please bring finger foods.
Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer Contemplation of scriptures and Centering Prayer, an ancient Christian contemplative silent prayer practice, every Wednesday at 10 am.
Monthly Taize Chanting service first Sunday of every month
Candle Light Beach worship every second Sunday at Torrey Pines State Park Beach. Please dress warmly for it is cold and call Bonnie if you can’t find us or meet us near Roberto’s Taco Shop on Carmel Valley Road at 4:30 to car pool.
Prayer and Healing Service third Sunday
Dream Circleevery first and third Sunday before worship 3-5 pm.
Committee on Ministry meeting every third Sunday each month after dinner
Webinar with Environmental Justice Practitioners Network co-sponsored by First UU Church and Church for Our Common Home, one Thursday a month, 11/29 4:30pm call Jamie Long (619) 436-9435
MLK All People’s BreakfastMondayJanuary 21th, 9-12 noon $75join Walt and Bonnie and buy tickets www.alliancesd.org/all-peoples-celebration-sponsorship.
Sign up for our newsletter on church web site.
Please call Rev. Bonnieif you would like a pastoral visit and/or if you have prayer requests (858) 248-5123.