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Ruth 1:1-18 New Living Translation

John 15:9-17 New Revised Standard Version

PRELUDE –

If you come into this place with the hope of growing deeper,

with the hope of connecting, with the hope of glimpsing God,

and if all of those things take place, and your spirit is moved, and you swear God is near,

and you feel more than lucky for the gift of faith, and then the service comes to an end,

and it’s time for you to leave, and you ask yourself, “Where do we go from here?”

Then I would say to you, “Go out into the world to love and to share and to learn,

but come back soon, because this is the beginning. This is only the beginning.

So come on in. Fill your cup here. Be present here. God is here.”

Let us worship Holy God.[1]

CALL TO WORSHIP –

To begin this hour of worship together, our call to worship today will be sensory to help us open our minds to curiosity, wonder, and awe.

First, I invite you to close your eyes. Take a deep breath in, and release it.

Now, I invite you to pay attention to touch. What do you feel?

Feel your feet on the ground. Feel the earth supporting you. Thank it for holding you up.

Feel the softness of the clothes on your body. Thank them for protecting you from the elements. Feel the chair behind your back. Thank it for providing you a place to belong.

Now I invite you to transition to sound. What do you hear?

Listen for the sounds of the air moving. Listen for the sound of your heartbeat. Listen for the sound of the community in the room. Let all of these sounds remind you that God is in this space, and that we are not alone.

Now I invite you to open your eyes. What do you see?

Look around this space. Notice who is here. Pay attention to the elements that make this space unique. Make eye contact with a neighbor.

Now breathe in and breathe out. Repeat after me:

This space is holy. This space is special. God is here. We are open to possibility.

OPENING PRAYER–

Holy God, we know that you are always speaking— through strangers and friends, through sunrise and sunset, through random acts of kindness and feelings that stir hope awake in us. We know that you speak through dreams and prayer, through a still, small voice and bursts of overwhelming joy. We know that you are always speaking, but we also know that we are inclined to miss it. Remind us, God, that you are with us on the mountain top, and in the valley or plateau. Remind us that we are loved, claimed, and forgiven through your son Jesus. Settle our spirits now to hear you fully. We want to be part of the conversation. Gratefully we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

SCRIPTURE – Ruth 1:1-18 NLT

• 1^st read – As you hear God’s Word, underline the words or phrases that stand out to you.
• 2^nd read – Let us listen to our scripture read aloud again. This time, in the margins of your paper, write the words or phrases that most captivate you. Hold onto these phrases as a prayer.

Ruth 1:1-18 New Living Translation

1 In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.

3 Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.

6 Then Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had blessed his people in Judah by giving them good crops again. So Naomi and her daughters-in-law got ready to leave Moab to return to her homeland. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she set out from the place where she had been living, and they took the road that would lead them back to Judah.

8 But on the way, Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back to your mothers’ homes. And may the Lord reward you for your kindness to your husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord bless you with the security of another marriage.” Then she kissed them good-bye, and they all broke down and wept.

10 “No,” they said. “We want to go with you to your people.”

11 But Naomi replied, “Why should you go on with me? Can I still give birth to other sons who could grow up to be your husbands? 12 No, my daughters, return to your parents’ homes, for I am too old to marry again. And even if it were possible, and I were to get married tonight and bear sons, then what? 13 Would you wait for them to grow up and refuse to marry someone else? No, of course not, my daughters! Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.”

14 And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 15 “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.”

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” 18 When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.

SCRIPTURE – John 15:9-17 NRSV

• 1^st read – As you hear God’s Word, underline the words or phrases that stand out to you.
• 2^nd read – Let us listen to our scripture read aloud again. This time, in the margins of your paper, write the words or phrases that most captivate you. Hold onto these phrases as a prayer.

John 15:9-17 New Revised Standard Version

9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.(^E) 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant[^b] does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

CONVERSATION – I’ve Been Meaning to Ask: Where Do We Go from Here?

Round 1:

1. What place feels most like home? What do you love about it?
2. How did you get connected to this faith community? What is one of your favorite memories here?
3. What is a hope you have for yourself in the coming year? For your family? For the church? For this city/town?

Round 2:

1. What do you love? What gives you hope? What’s missing? What gives you energy? What’s next?
2. How do we continue this work? How do we take with us what we’ve learned?
3. How can we continue to be in conversation and relationship?

Round 3:

1. As you navigate the changes and transitions within your faith community, what are the specific values guiding your decisions and actions? What are you prioritizing?
2. What can you let go of in order to make room for something new?

Group Discussion

1. What made you feel connected in your conversation?
2. What is something you learned about yourself or a partner? (exclude names)

BENEDICTION –

Family of faith, as you leave this place,

may God grant you the curiosity to counter assumptions,

the vulnerability to befriend, the bravery to speak your truth,

the wisdom to listen, the strength to ask for help,

the resiliency to choose love, even when it’s hard,

And the awareness of the Holy Spirit always beside you.

In the name of Jesus—Love incarnate, Go in peace.

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[1] Poem, Call to Worship, and Prayers are adapted from writings by Rev. Sarah Are | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org