Soul Care Sunday (April 6, 2025)

Opening

Call and Response:

Eric / Morgan: In the sacredness of this space, with all of us together, we gather to
contemplate the season of Lent. We come to journey with Christ: through the
wilderness, on the road to Jerusalem, heading toward Calvary. We give You this time,
God. Will You help us? Will You speak to us?

All: May our heads, hearts, and hands be open to the movements of the Spirit.

Eric / Morgan: Let us begin our time together with a moment of silence, becoming aware of God’s presence.

… 30 seconds of silence …

First Movement

Reader 1: Let us hear the words of Psalm 63, a psalm written in the wilderness of Judah.

O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You;
my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory.
Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.
I will praise You as long as I live,
and in Your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise You.
On my bed I remember You;
I think of You through the watches of the night.
Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings.
My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

David: Reflect with me on these words from Thomas Merton:

“The desert is the home of despair. And despair, now, is everywhere … But we have all known, in some moment of total damnation, the sound of inexplicable joy. And that joy, rising from our roots beyond hope, beyond reason, was nothing we ever knew we had until it answered grief with love, and death with life, and silence with song.”

Call and Response:

David: In the desert, we confront our true selves.

All: In barrenness, we discover what sustains us.

David: In the wilderness, our false securities fall away.

All: In emptiness, we find what truly matters.

David: In isolation, we hear the voice that has always been speaking.

All: In silence, we discover the Word that transforms.

Song: “You Speak”

Prayer Practice:

David: I invite you to imagine holding a desert stone in your hand. Feel its weight, its
texture, its temperature. Like this stone, parts of us have become hardened over time.

Consider silently:

• What areas of your life feel dry and barren?
• What hardened places within you is God inviting to transformation?
• What might emerge from this desert season?

David: Now let us pray together:

All: God of wilderness journeys, You led Your people through the desert to transform them. Lead us now through our own barren places. Soften what has become hardened within us. Bring life to what has become dry. Make of our wilderness a place of encounter with You. Amen.

… light music for 30 seconds …

Second Movement

Reader 2: We turn now to Psalm 51, a psalm that acknowledges our limitations and need for God’s Spirit.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to You.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, You who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.

Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart You, God, will not despise.

Noel: Reflect with me on these words from Simone Weil (Vay):

“Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it, and it is grace itself which makes this void.”

Call and Response:

Noel: We confess the limits of our strength.

All: And open ourselves to the power of Your Spirit.

Noel:  We acknowledge the borders of our understanding.

All: And welcome the wisdom that comes from above.

Noel:  We recognize the boundaries of our own love.

All: And receive the love that flows from Your heart.

Song: “Holy Spirit” + “I Want to Know You”

Third Movement

Reader 3: We conclude with Psalm 116, a psalm about facing death with courage and hope.

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy.
Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!”

The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, He saved me.

Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
For You, Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants.

Eric / Morgan: Reflect with me on these words from John O’Donohue:

“Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.”

Call and Response:

Eric / Morgan: In the face of death, we learn to trust in You.

All: In the shadow of endings, we hope for new beginnings.

Eric / Morgan: In moments of letting go, we release our fear to You.

All: In surrender, we discover a deeper presence.

Eric / Morgan: In the many dyings of the world, we seek courage.

All: Embolden our fragile faith; prepare our hearts for what is still to come.

Song: “House of God Forever” – up until the refrain

 

Prayer Practice: 

Eric / Morgan: I invite you to imagine a seed being buried in the dark earth. For the seed, this
burial is necessary for new life to emerge.

Consider silently:

• What in your life needs to die so that something new can grow?
• What “little deaths” of letting go might you need to face with courage?
• How might God be preparing new beginnings in the places that feel like endings?

Song: “House of God Forever” – refrain to the end


Eric / Morgan: Now let us pray together:

All: God of new beginnings, grant us courage to face the many endings and dyings of our lives. Help us to trust that in every death, small or great, You are somehow at work. May we face our limitations and losses with the confidence that life, not death, has the final word. Amen.