Closing Worship
Travis Park UMC Women’s Retreat – January 2012
Preparing for the Feast
In the beginning, God made the world:
Made it and mothered it,
Shaped it and loved it;
Filled it with seed and with signs of fertility,
Filled it with life and with song and variety.
All that is green, blue, deep and growing,
God’s is the hand that created you.
All that is tender, firm, fragrant and curious,
God’s is the hand that created you.
All that crawls, flies, swims, walks or is motionless,
God’s is the hand that created you.
All that speaks, sings, cries, laughs or keeps silence,
God’s is the hand that created you. The world belongs to God,
The earth and all its people.
Song “Live in Charity”
Live in charity, and steadfast love; live in charity, God will dwell with you.
Reading Matthew 6
Remembering Jesus
When the time was right, God sent the Son.
Sent him, reared him, and risked him.
Filled him with laughter and tears and compassion,
Filled him with anger and love and devotion.
Unexpected child, refugee and runaway,
Christ is God’s own.
Feeder and teacher, healer and antagonist,
Christ is God’s own.
Lover of the unlovable, toucher of the untouchable, forgiver of the unforgivable,
Christ is God’s own.
Loved by the least, feared by the leaders; befriended by the weak, despised by the strong; deserted by his listeners, denied by his friends; bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, writing heaven’s pardon over earth’s mistakes.
The Word became flesh, the Word lived among us, the Word was one of us.
The Prayer Jesus taught us Lala Winkley from Celebrating Women
God, lover of us all, most holy one,
Help us to respond to you to create what you want for us here on earth.
Give us today enough for our needs;
Forgive our weak and deliberate offences,
Just as we must forgive others when they hurt us.
Help us to resist evil and to do what is good;
For we are yours, endowed with your power to make our world whole. Amen.
Breaking of the Bread and Passing of the Cup
Sending Forth
In the end as in the beginning, God loves us and wants us,
Is praised by us, served by us;
Filling the folk with the gifts of the Spirit,
Making them whole for the good of the earth.
For bread and wine, this place and this time,
Thanks be to God!
For the company of women and the gift of living anew,
Thanks be to God!
Passing of the Peace
Closing Song “Go Now in Peace”
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. – Stephen Covey
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. – Leonardo da Vinci
A little simplification would be the first step toward rational living, I think. – Eleanor Roosevelt
Live simply that others might simply live. – Elizabeth Seaton
