Opening Prayer

Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer God, grant

that we may have

the peace of Christ in our hearts,

the wisdom of Christ in our work,

and the love of Christ in our lives,

so that we may continue to be your

humble servants bringing honor to your

Holy Name.

Amen.

JESUS’

COMMANDMENT

"The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your

soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this:

'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other

commandment greater than these."

Mark 12:28-34

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a

second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.Mtt 22:36b-39

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your

soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour

as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this,

and you will live.’ Luke 10:27-28

JESUS’ COMMANDMENT – JOHN 15:12

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I

have loved you. NRSV

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. NIV

This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you.The Message

This is My commandment: that ye love one another, as I have

loved you. NKJ

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as

I have loved you. NAS

This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I

have loved you. New Living

JESUS’ COMMANDMENT – John 13: 34

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I

have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will

know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ NRSV

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so

you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my

disciples, if you love one another." NIV

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I

have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know

that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." NAS

"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I

loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize

that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each

other." The Message

A new commandment I give unto you: that ye love one another, as I

have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men

know that ye are My disciples: if ye have love one for another." NKJ

Ubuntu is an African philosophy focusing on people’s allegiances and relations with each other. The word has its origin in the Bantu languages of Southern Africa. Ubuntu is seen as a traditional African concept. A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.— Archbishop Desmond Tutu, p. 4, Alive Now, May/June 2008

…The church is very good at doing things for people, but we are not very good at proximity and partnership. There is a big difference between dragging folks into your soup kitchen and simply hanging out with them on the street corner. There is a difference between bringing others into the church so that they can be like you and becoming immersed in someone else’s struggle.Things change for you when you hang out with people and become partners with them.

Suppose you are tutoring children in a low-income neighborhood. When you begin to see that your pupils are gifted, bright, talented children, yet realize that many of them are flunking out of school, it pushes you to challenge and change the public school system. When you begin to know people’s hopes and fears, dreams and struggles, you move into the fight for justice.If you redefine everything in light of this new priority—being present with people and in partnership with them, being concerned with justice rather than just charity—everything changes. Children’s ministry becomes redefined as ministry with all God’s children—the children hanging out on the streets, not just those that an adult brings to church….—Janet Wolf, from ”Ministry with all God’s Children,”New World Outlook, Sept.-Oct. 2000, gbgm-umc.org.

Closing Prayer

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but

also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they

have inflicted on us; remember the fruits we have brought, thanks

to this suffering—our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our

courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown

out of all this, and when they come to judgment, let all the fruits

which we have borne be their forgiveness.

—Prayer written by an unknown prisoner in Ravensbrück concentration camp and left beside the body of a dead child.From A Treasury of Prayers—A Collection of Classical and Modern Expressions of Faith by Stephen Fortosis, Kregel Publications, 2001.

THE SERVANT SONGby: Richard Gillard

1. Brother, let me be your servant.

Let me be as Christ to you.

Pray that I might have the grace

To let you be my servant, too.

2. We are pilgrims on a journey.

We are brothers on the road.

We are here to help each other

Walk the mile and bear the load.

3. I will hold the Christ-light for you

In the night time of your fear.

I will hold my hand out to you;

Speak the peace you long to

hear.

4. I will weep when you are weeping.

When you laugh, I'll laugh with you.

I will share your joy and sorrow

Till we've seen this journey

through.

5. When we sing to God in heaven,

We shall find such harmony

Born of all we've known together

Of Christ's love and agony.

(Repeat Verse #1)

Closing Litany

May God bless you with discomfort...

At easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships,

so we may live deep within our heart.

May God bless you with anger...

At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that

we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears...

To shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection,

starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hand to

comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

May God bless you with foolishness...

To believe that we can make a difference in this world, so

that we can do what others say cannot be done. Amen

— A Franciscan benediction for challenging times.

1 John 4:9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.