January 17

This is the second week of the current series on the Holy Spirit. The text for the sermon is Ephesians 5:13-21 ("Do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit"). If the Spirit is the one who directs us to live in the way of Jesus, I have to conclude that I'm rarely filled with the Spirit. The liturgy is a simple confession of the lack of the Spirit, and a prayer centering around the metaphors of wind, fire and water that are used to describe the Spirit in scripture.

This tension of not being filled with the Spirit was evident to me this week in the responses to the Haiti earthquake - we saw the best in humanity and the worst in humanity, in the outpouring of support along with the condemnation of both the US government and the people of Haiti themselves for "causing" a natural disaster.

How Can I Keep From Singing (Chris Tomlin)

God Of Beauty (from Solomon's Porch)

Confession

Jesus,

You said the Father
Would send the Spirit
To lead us in truth,
To guide what we do.

We can only look at our lives,
Painfully aware
That we are not filled with your Spirit.

Blow through the staleness of our shame,
Warm our cold hopelessness,
Flow in the desert of our selfishness,
Fill our lives.

Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

"The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob that repent of their sins,"
declares the Lord.

"As for me, this is my covenant with them,"
says the Lord.
"My Spirit, who is on you,
and my words that I have put in your mouth
will not depart from your mouth,
or from the mouths of your children,
or from the mouths of their descendents
from this time on and forever,"
says the Lord.

Consuming Fire

All The Way My Savior Leads Me

Response: Open Skies (Claas P. Jambor)