Clackamas United Church of Christ

“God and the Coronavirus.” Join Clackamas UCC as we welcome our guest preacher, Thomas Jay Oord. Did God cause the coronavirus to teach us a lesson? Is it a punishment from God? What might God be calling us to do in this moment? Check out Tom’s sermon and stick around for the Q&A afterward for more conversation about God and the coronavirus.

Prelude

Welcome and

Announcements – Adam Ericksen

Lighting of the

Peace Candle – Adam Ericksen and Amira StanleyAll: We pray for peace

in our hearts,

in our homes,

in our community,

in our nation,

and in our world.*Call to Worship – Amira and Tom

Amira: We come

together in the midst of chaos and confusion.All: For in being together we know we are not alone.

Tom: We come

together in the midst of fear and anxiety. All: For in being together we know that we are not alone.

Amira: We come

together trusting that God loves us through this wilderness experience.All: For in being together we know that we are not alone.

Amen.  *Passing of the Peace – Amira and Tom

Amira: Introduce

the Passing of the Peace.

Tom: Beloved of

God, may the peace of Christ be with you.All: And also with you.Invitation to the Offering Adam EricksenPrayers of the People – Adam(After each prayer, Adam will say, “God in your love” and you

are invited to respond with “hear our prayers.”)

Community

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer – AmiraOur God,

Who art in Heaven,

Hallowed by thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in

heaven.

Give us this day our daily

bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into

temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the

glory,

forever and ever. Amen.Sermon – God and the Coronavirus – Tom Oord*Unison BenedictionMay God bless you and keep you.

May God’s face shine upon

you and be gracious unto you.

May God look upon you with

kindness and bring you peace.

This day and forever more.

Amen

-Numbers 6:24-26 *Join us two minutes after worship for a coffee hour Q&A

with Tom!

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PreludeWelcome and Announcements – Adam Ericksen Lighting of the Peace Candle Call to Worship – One: Come, let us join together before God; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! All: Let us come into God’s presence with thanksgiving! One: God is leading us through the wilderness of the season. All: The sea, the depths of the earth, broken relationships, new viruses and something called social distance. Indeed, God leads us through the turmoil. One: And sometimes the journey is hard. All: That’s why we make the journey together. One: God is with us. All: We are not alone. Amen! Passing of the Peace - One: Beloved of God, may the peace of Christ be with you. All: And also with you. Justice Moment – Amira Stanley Invitation to the Offering – Adam Ericksen Prayers of the People Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Sermon – Thirsting for Grace – Adam Ericksen Unison Benediction May God bless you and keep you. May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May God look upon you with kindness and bring you peace. This day and forever more. Amen - Numbers 6:24-26 Postlude

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Back in the day there was a couple whose names were Abraham and Sarah. God blessed them. But not so that they could keep the blessings of God for themselves. God blessed them so that they would share God’s blessings with all the families of the earth. All the families. The poor families. The rich families. The heterosexual families. The lesbian and gay and bisexual and transgender and queer families. Undocumented families. Mulsim families. Atheist families. Republican families. Democratic families. The black families. The brown families. The white families. All the families. There were no exceptions.

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Lent begins with Jesus entering the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. What would it look like if Jesus entered a church to be tempted by Satan? Check out our sermon from Sunday to find out!

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There are some Christians who claim that Jesus came to earth to die. I think that’s wrong. Jesus didn’t come to earth to die. He came to earth to show us how to party. To show us how to live in an inclusive community where God’s love flows as abundantly and freely to everyone as the wine flowed at that wedding party.

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Racism is generally framed as something that happened in the past and almost always “down south” in cities like Birmingham, Selma and Montgomery. But what about the racism of Oregon? The struggles here were just as intense — though rarely identified in history books. In today’s sermon, Rev. Charlie Hinkle reflects on Oregon’s racist heritage. And it’s not good, but important to know.

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Jesus says that you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That seems like some pretty big expectations! But what if being salt and light is not something that you must achieve by being a supremely good and moral person? What if you already are the salt and light of the world, not because you are a super good person, but because you are a beloved child of God?

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In the Beatitudes, Jesus is inviting us to participate in the very life of God. When you allow the divine life to flow through you, you allow God’s steadfast love and mercy to flow through you. Like Katie, we can respond to slights or disappointments by grieving and then moving on one step at a time, trusting in the way of God’s love and justice. Because here’s the basic law of spiritual physics, the more divine steadfast love you give away, the more divine steadfast love enters your heart.

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Come and See: The Journey with God in a Traumatic World What do you do when facing trauma? The prophet Isaiah and his people were utterly destroyed by the Babylonian Empire. The Babylonians then forced the Jews in exile throughout their Empire. Jesus and his people were humiliated by the Roman Empire. What do you do in the face of such national and personal trauma? You mourn. You move through the trauma. You carry the scars with you. And then you be a light in a world that is full of trauma.

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Baptism is one of those Christian rituals that has a lot of religious baggage. I’ve talked with quite a few of you about being in the process of unlearning a lot of the harmful religious teachings that many of us have grown up with. And there’s quite a bit to unlearn when it comes to Baptism. In some traditions, the whole reason that we need baptism goes like this: from the time you are born you are a sinner. You are separated from God at birth because you are stained by sin. The claim is that at the core of the human identity we are sinners from birth. And so if you don’t get baptized, you are going to hell and will be separated from God for eternity. I want to be very clear about this: that teaching about baptism is false. And it’s false because it has the wrong starting point.

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