By Lilly Lewin
Due to COVID-19, we are hosting our house church gathering thinplaceNASHVILLE on line through Zoom meeting. The Lord willing, we will be doing this each week so you are invited to join us! Tomorrow we are looking at John 4 and the Woman at the Well.
Thinplace … A Pilgrimage of Discovery and Creativity…a community of friends seeking to live out faith in the way of Jesus.
Thinplace … monthly and weekly gatherings featuring lectio divina, artistic response, journaling and chocolate! (bring your own to our on line gatherings )
Thinplace: the celtic christian term for the places that are thin, the places where heaven and earth touch, places where you can experience God’s presence.
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OPENING PRAYER CANDLES (Pray /repeat after leader) We have five candles set up on our table HOPE, PEACE, JOY and LOVE and LIGHT in the middle. We light one at a time and pray responsively.
Lord we ask you to fill us with your Hope.
Lord we ask you to fill us with your Peace.
Lord we ask you to fill us with your Joy.
Lord fill us with your Love.
And Lord Help us to see your Light! AMEN
ACTION: HOLD OUT YOUR HANDS like you are holding something in them. Consider all the things you are holding, carrying with you right now…Feel the weight of these things. Maybe you are carrying around a lot of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, fatigue, stress. Name these things to yourself. Now imagine giving all those things to Jesus to hold for you. Picture handing these things over to Jesus and actually placing them in his hands. Thank Jesus for holding these things for you. Allow Jesus to carry these things for you today and in the days ahead (see more ideas with the hands this below).
Let’s Pray the Psalm Together
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
Today, if only you would hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness.
9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what i did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.” So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest. ” AMEN
Read the Gospel John 4:5-42 in the NIV and in the Message
IDEA: if you are doing this on your own at home, the Bible Gateway App will allow you to listen to both versions read aloud.
What do you notice that you might not have noticed before? What did the Holy Spirit highlight for you?
Read the Old Testament Exodus 17:1-7
ACTION: GET YOUR CUP and a PITCHER of WATER
What are you thirsty for today? Talk to Jesus about this. Ask Jesus to show you. (If you are doing this as a group, after a couple of minutes of silence, allow those who want to to share what they are thirsty for today).
JOURNALING (you can use these questions as journaling prompt for the week ahead, or pick one that inspires you to respond to in writing or art)
What is God’s Word for you today? What is God speaking to you about today? Use the psalm and/or the Gospel as your inspiration. Write, Journal, or create in Art, or Just BE with Jesus. Allow the Holy Spirit to inspire you! THINGS TO CONSIDER WHILE JOURNALING….
1. After reading the Psalm, how is your heart today? Heavy? Light? Frustrated? Talk to Jesus about this.
2. In the psalm we are reminded of the greatness of God, that God is holding all things in God’s hand. How does this make you feel?
3. Who are the Samaritans/the outcasts in your neighborhood, and in your town, that need to know the Living Water of Jesus ?
In the midst of the coronavirus, how do we help these people?
4. Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah, the savior, to this Samaritan woman… he usually isn’t this direct about his identity… why is he direct with her? Why this revelation to “an outcast”… a samaritan and a woman?
5. Jesus sees her worth and values who she is even in her brokenness and sinfulness …he loves her and invites her to change and see things differently.
How is Jesus inviting us to see things differently today?
How can you know and believe Jesus really sees who you are and knows all you ever did but loves you anyway?
6. How can we see this crisis as a gift? What is “the gift” of social distancing/sheltering in place?
7. In the midst of this crisis He won’t leave us thirsty. Jesus wants to provide us with living water in the wilderness… in the desert of lent, In the Desert/wilderness of the crisis at hand.
God is providing water.
We need to go to the well.
And Draw water like we always do.
Jesus is waiting for us to show up! What will it take for you to show up at the well?
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord!
Give us grace today to love as you love.
Help us to love with extravagance.
Give us hope today for ourselves and others.
Heal our hurts and our hearts today,
So we can serve and help those around us.
Help us to know that you are enough.
And help us live today and everyday in thankfulness.
For all you’ve done and for all you bless us with.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN
ACTION: Before you go, FILL UP YOUR CUP WITH WATER. Jesus promises us Living Water. When we drink this water we will never be thirsty again. “The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” Let’s drink from our cups together. (give time to drink) Use this cup today and the rest of the week to remind you that Jesus is filling you up with His Living Water. Jesus knows what you are thirsty for and He desires to refresh you. Just keep showing up at the well!
HOMEWORK: PRINT OUT A COPY OF THE HANDS
Imagine that these hands are the hands of Jesus. Write these things you are carrying on the hands, or make a list and put them in the hands of Jesus…you could even come back to this and make a collage using words cut from magazines.
You can also print out the photo and use it as a visual reminder that Jesus is holding you in his hands and keeping you safe. Use it as a visual reminder to LET GO and LET GOD carry all your worries, fears, etc. each day, each hour of the week.
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com