United Theological College
Order
of worship
Name:
Vinod Shemron. S. Date:
23rd February 2015
*********************************************************
Prelude:
as the music is being played, let us be
disturbed by its difference in its uniqueness
Call to worship:
Come
let us worship God, the creator of all creatures in a unique way
Come
let us worship Jesus the liberator, who redeemed us
Come
let us worship the Holy Spirit, who helps us to understand the love of God
We are here to worship God in truth
and in spirit
Skit:
CM1:
Hey listen, this is not a place for people like you.
CM2:
Why have you all come here? You are defiling the holy place.
LGBT:
What do you mean? We have come here to worship God, we are also created by this
same God you believe created you.
CM1:
What? Worship? Yes our God created you too, but you are all sinners and are
doomed to hell because of your unholy activities
LGBT:
No, we are just human beings like you, we too have desires and dreams
CM2:
Eeewww… just get away. You are to be sent away, this is not a place for you
CM1:
Hey maybe we can allow them to sit there…
(Pointing
at the accused’s stand) listen you people, consider this our mercy to you. Don’t
you dare move out from here
Hymn of praise and
thanksgiving: (Standing)
Holy, holy, holy! Lord
God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy,
holy, holy! We are here to thank thee,
Though
the eye of sinful one Thy glory may not see;
only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Skit:
LGBT: Stop! Stop! Stop! All this invitation and singing, does it all really make
sense when you have not allowed us to worship like the others?
LGBT: You have criminalised us and put us in such a state where we are separated and
maligned.
CM1: Hey, we have just given you some place, so you better be happy for that, and
don’t you spoil our worship.
LGBT:
If this is called worship then we do not want to be in such a place
LGBT:
If you say this God will not accept us, then we will say, we will not accept
this God.
(Dear
friends, Let us be seated and listen to the gospel to be shared for today)
Bible reading:
Colossians 3:12-17
Sermon: God’s Love: A call to preach and to
sin boldly
Confession:
We confess oh lord, our
reluctance to accept the others with their differences. We were lethargic and
insensitive to your call and to the cries of the queer community, the women,
the children and the oppressed caste people, around us and remained fearlessly
silent to our own obstructive thinking and not including our neighbours and
friends into the fold. Lord forgive us for being agents of patriarchy, sexism,
casteism and all the other isms that separate us from each other and apparently
separating ourselves from you. We plead guilty oh lord, for being silent at
times when we should have spoken. Help us to challenge our closed mind-set,
quicken our conscience and broaden our thinking to express your love to the entire
creation, and bind us all in perfect harmony. Amen.
Assurance of pardon:
Now
that you have realised and pleaded for forgiveness and mercy, God is gracious
to forgive you. Be assured of this forgiveness and tarry in peace. Amen.
(The LGBT friends will be
reconciled in the first stanza and lead in singing the second stanza)
Lord we built walls that separate,
We thought we were
great,
And shunned others down,
We pretend like saints and they the
sinners,
And made this world a different place,
With no love, justice and peace;
Ch.: Oh
lord our God
Embrace
us with your arms of love
Guide
us to show your love from our heart
Showing
it as a whole and not just a part
Lord we’ll break these walls that
separate,
Shun down the thoughts of dominance,
Pull down notions of being saints,
And make this world a better place,
With your love justice and peace;
Ch.: Oh
lord our God
Embrace
us with your arms of love
Guide
us to show your love from our heart
Showing
it as a whole and not just a part
Affirmation of our
conviction (Church member and LGBT)
We believe in God, in whose image
we are created to live in harmony with everyone and every creature. We were
created in God’s likeness with unique dreams, desires, sexuality and form. We
believe in Jesus, the Son of God, who came down to the earth to express the
love of God to all. In all audacity, he sinned boldly by challenging the human
made structures and embraced irrespective of gender, class, race, sexuality and
ethnicity. He in his suffering and in his death, explained to us the way in
which we are to love God and love our neighbours. And in his resurrection from
the dead, he promised to come again to establish his reign in which peace and
serenity will prevail and until then we as agents are to proclaim the love of
God not only in words but in deeds. We believe in the Holy Spirit who helps us
understand God’s word and enables us to do accordingly to demonstrate peace. We
believe in the Universal Church, which is called out to be a living testimony
of the love of God in embracing creation and binding in perfect harmony. We
believe, the resurrection of the body, and await the life to come that is
filled with love, justice and peace. Amen.
Intercession:
L:
We pray oh lord for the Universal Church that she may teach your word and your
way to set out a church that is inclusive of all people irrespective of their
caste, creed, sexuality, race, and gender, and stand against the injustices in
the society when and where it arises.
Silence…
G:
We pray for all those in power. May your guiding presence be with them and help
them to stand up for the right cause and do justice not merely as a duty but as
a responsibility that has been vested upon them.
Silence…
B:
We pray for all the people who are going through the various kinds of
discriminations at all levels. God give them the strength to voice out from
wherever they are, and support them with your agents of peace so that justice
maybe granted and peace shall prevail.
Silence…
T:
We pray oh lord for UTC and all those related directly and indirectly to the
community. Give us the courage to free ourselves from the clutches of the
dominant and embrace our vocation to rise against injustices everywhere,
especially in our own church contexts.
Silence…
Let
us pray for our families and our personal needs
Silence…
Our God who dwells among us,
May your name be sanctified
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as in heaven
Give us today our needed
meal
Forgive us, as we
forgive
Lead us not into any
temptation
Free us from all evil
For yours is the kingdom
Forever and ever, Amen
Closing prayer:
Ever
loving God, you through your love sent your only son, that we may have peace
and experience your extravagant love. We thank you for being with us throughout
the worship and enabling us to understand the meaning of love and instigating
our thoughts to ponder further and express in the right manner at all places.
We pray this prayer in the name of him, whom you sent in love, Jesus Christ our
lord. Amen.
Benediction:
Go
therefore, and preach your convictions and sin boldly. May the Love, Grace and
Peace of the triune God be with you now and forever more Amen
****************************
Acknowledgements:
v I
thank God almighty for helping me throughout
v I
thank my parents and my brother, I am what I am, mainly because of them. And
also Dr. Muthuraj my tutor, and all the members of the faculty for inspiring me
in one way or the other and guiding me through this phase of ministerial
formation.
v I
thank my sister Blessy who made time to be with me and assist me with the music
and also for her beautiful art work
v I
thank all my friends, brothers and sisters who acted in the skit and in the
arrangements for worship today
v I
thank Samuel Ragland Paul for composing the music for the song
v I
thank all my friends especially BD IV for journeying with me these four years
and enhancing my thinking and helping me evolve from what I was to what I am.
[1]
Written by the worship leader and set tune by Samuel Ragland Paul of BD I
[2]
Edited and set tune by the worship leader
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