Matthew 18:21-35; Romans 14:1-12

OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeThe Table of Peace can take almost any shape. Our table this week is a conferencetable, perhaps depicting where two or more parties meet to negotiate the terms ofa contract, a settlement, or a ceasefire. For Jesus, peacemaking was often found inthe act of sharing a meal with people who would have been considered “outsiders.”We like to imagine Jesus in perfect harmony with everyone who gathered with himat the table — but perhaps sometimes even he held his breath when he broughtpeople together with opposing viewpoints. Today we come to the Table of Peace,ready to practice patience and compassion, even when we disagree.

Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 13:8-14

OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFeeThis week, we explore how love is baked into the bread we break each time wegather in Jesus’ name, around God’s table. But we don’t need to save this love onlyfor the times when we partake in the ritual of communion. We invoke love every daywhen we sit down at our kitchen tables for home-cooked meals or takeout, forgame nights, or even for difficult conversations with our loved ones. Love is present inthe sweetest, the spiciest, the bitterest, and the blandest moments of our everydaylives, because love is God, and God is love.

Romans 12:9-21; Romans 12:9-21

OPENING MEDITATION Dr. Marcia McFee“Jesus’ lesson at the last supper was clear: the meal of the kin-dom of God is for ALL.Saints, strangers, those who persecute and betray you, those who are joyful andthose who weep. The author of the epistle letter to the Romans reminds us andinvites us to do as Jesus did. This requires that we follow God’s way in offering a goodmeal at God’s table for all of God’s guests.”

Psalm 8: Divine Majesty and Human Dignity; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20

OPENING MEDITATION Living Psalm 8 by Sam HouserHoly MysteryCreator, Christ, and Spirit- how wondrous your presence is in all the earth.You echo through expanding galaxies, through oceans breathing against the shore,through every living thing still learning how to belong to one another.You speakThrough children and prophets, Through those the world calls small, Revealing awisdom stronger than empire.When I look at the heavens- The scattered stars, The steady moon, The infinite danceof creation - I cannot help but ask: What are we that you continue to draw near tous?Dust and breath. Fragile and finite. And still, you call us beloved.You made us to live in relationship - With the earth, With each other, With everycreature That shares this sacred home. The forests and rivers, The winged and thewild, The creatures beneath the sea— All of us carried together inside the rhythm ofyour love.Creator, Christ, and Spirit - Holy communion without end - How wondrous yourpresence is In all the earth.

Acts 2:1-8, 12-14, 22-24, 43-47; 

OPENING MEDITATION From the Constitution of the UCC
Preamble
The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole head, Jesus Christ, Son of Godand Savior. It acknowledges as kindred in Christ all who share in this confession. Itlooks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of theHoly Spirit, to prosper its creative and redemptive work in the world. It claims as itsown the faith of the historic Church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimedin the basic insights of the Protestant Reformers. It affirms the responsibility of theChurch in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honestyof thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God.

Article III. Covenantal Relationships
Within the United Church of Christ, the various expressions of the church relate toeach other in a covenantal manner. Each expression of the church hasresponsibilities and rights in relation to the others, to the end that the whole churchwill seek God’s will and be faithful to God’s mission. Decisions are made inconsultation and collaboration among the various parts of the structure. As membersof the Body of Christ, each expression of the church is called to honor and respectthe work and ministry of each other part. Each expression of the church listens, hears,and carefully considers the advice, counsel, and requests of others. In this covenant,the various expressions of the United Church of Christ seek to walk together in allGod’s ways.

Esther 4:13-17; Leviticus 19:9-13; Mark 12:28-31

OPENING MEDITATION Proverbs & Psalms“Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind tothe needy honor God.” (Proverbs 14:31)“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be repaid in full.”(Proverbs 19:17)“Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with thepoor.” (Proverbs 22:9)“Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute.”(Proverbs 31:8)“It is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire strong drink, lest theydrink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all theafflicted. Give strong drink to one who is perishing and wine to those inbitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember theirmisery no more. Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of allthe destitute. Speak out; judge righteously; defend the rights of the poorand needy.” (Proverbs 31:4-9)“The Lord watches over the strangers; upholds the orphan and the widow,but the way of the wicked, brings to ruin.” (Psalm 146:9)

Isaiah 56:6-8; Samuel 16:7; Galatians 3:26-29

OPENING MEDITATION Ephesians 4:14-16“We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about byevery wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitfulscheming; but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every wayinto him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joinedand knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as eachpart is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up inlove.”

From “Balloons Belong in Church”, Ann Weems

OPENING MEDITATION Imagine TogetherTry to write or draw for the whole prelude, without stopping. Work to getall of your thoughts on the page, without worrying about what you arewriting, or how. Follow wherever your mind leads.1. Think of something that exists in and/or moves through the sky. A featureof nature or something manufactured, or something not even visible tohumans.2. Write from the point of view of the thing moving through the sky.Imagine a specific part of the earth. What does it see? What does ittouch? How does it affect what exists on the ground?3. Then write the perspective of someone or something, or multiplesomeone’s or somethings, on the ground. What is your experience of whatis in the sky?

Leviticus 25:1-7; John 1:1-5

OPENING MEDITATION Psalm 148: Praise for God’s Universal GloryPraise God! Praise from the heavens; in the heights! Praise God, all angels;all the host! Praise God, sun and moon; all you shining stars! Praise God,you highest heavens and you waters above the heavens! Let them praisethe name of God for God commanded and they were created. Godestablished them forever and ever; fixed their bounds, which cannot bepassed. Praise God from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fireand hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling the command! Mountainsand all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Wild animals and all cattle, creepingthings and flying birds! Rulers of the earth and all peoples! Young peoplealike, old and young together! Let them praise the name of God, forgod’s name alone is exalted; glory is above earth and heaven. God hasraised up a horn for the people, praise for all faithful people. Praise theLord!

Matthew 6:9-15; Luke 6:27-30, 36-38, Colossians 3:12-14

OPENING MEDITATION Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my sibling sins against me, howoften should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Notseven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”