ATTEND TO MYSTERY
Word About Life - John 3: 1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven
except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.“
Word About Life for Today
Shared by Rev. Ken Heintzelman
RESPONDING WITH OUR WHOLE HEARTS
Words for Mission
One: Friends, go forth with the courage of God to guide you into those places of restlessness and uncertainty. For we are called to go…
All: From our places of comfort.
From our certainties and complacency.
From our old life and into the new.
One: May the call of God call us toward a love so compelling that we are willing to trust our whole self into the embrace of the Creator, into the abiding love of Christ, and into the sacred dance of the Holy Spirit.
All: We go forth, our peace renewed.
One: These are the times!
All: We are the people.
One: All of Creation is blessed.
All: May we love all and serve all.
One: May God be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Amen.
All: Amen.
Sending Forth Song ~ "The Quiet Center"
Go and be the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter,
find the frame where we are freed;
Clear the chaos and the clutter,
clear our eyes, that we can see
All the things that really matter. Be at peace, and simply be.
In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain.
Let our loves and fears unravel,
celebrate the space we gain:
There’s a place for deepest dreaming,
there’s a time for heart to care,
In the Spirit’s lively scheming, there is always room to spare!
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