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text :: Matthew 21: 1 – 11 preaching :: Rev David Emery For video of worship, go to www.hacctulsa.org/worship/sermons

+ Welcome & Call to Worship :: Rev. Courtney Richards + Pastoral Prayer :: Rev. Kevin Howe + The Lord’s Prayer + Reflection :: ‘shifting toward delight’ :: Rev. Howe + ‘Precious Lord’ (Dorsey) :: Avenue; Barry Epperly, director + Scripture :: Isaiah 58: 1 – 14 :: Rev. Richards + Reflection :: ‘Prepare : delight’ :: Rev. Richards + ‘Those Who Trust’ (Waterdeep) :: The Rising Band; Isaac Herbert, leader + Benediction :: Rev. Richards

+ Welcome & Call to Worship :: Rev. Kevin Howe + Pastoral Prayer / Lord’s Prayer :: Rev. Darlene Martinez + Scripture :: Isaiah 58: 1 – 12 :: Rev. Courtney Richards + Reflection :: “prepare: rebuilding” :: Rev. Howe + ‘It Is Well with My Soul’ (H.Spafford) :: Kelly Ford, tenor; Mark DeLuca, piano + Reflection :: “spiritual foundations in covid times” :: Rev. Richards + ‘Find the Light’ (D.Ramirez) :: The Rising Band; Isaac Herbert, leader + Benediction :: Rev. Howe

text :: Isaiah 58: 1 – 9a theme verse :: “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly…” (Isa 58:8) // What light has God placed in us? What obstacle and interference has kept it covered? What practices can we engage to bring healing and hope? Where do find ourselves needing healing, and being healed? // reader :: Deborah Gist preaching :: Rev Kevin Howe

text :: Isaiah 58: 1 – 7 theme verse :: “Is not this the fast that I choose … to let the oppressed go free?” (Isa 58:6) // Where do we need faithful freedom? What is keeping us from being fully alive in God’s presence? Where are we the ones blocking others from their full liberation into God’s embrace? // reader :: Susan Gross preaching :: Rev Courtney Richards

text :: Isaiah 58: 1 – 5 The forty-day journey to Easter invites us to be honest with God, and ourselves, about our sin and our hope, about our shortcomings and our holy longings. Ash Wednesday begins with a cry for mercy and a commitment to follow Jesus on the way. reader :: Rev Kevin Howe anthem :: ‘Offertory’ (J.N.Beck) : Chancel Choir; Kelly Ford, director preaching :: Rev Courtney Richards

text :: 1 John 4: 7 – 12 theme verse :: ‘No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.’ (1 Jn 4:12) // Sometimes love can be beyond all that we could ever expect of imagine. Agape (or divine love, as it is could be translated from Koine Greek) is mentioned often in the New Testament as the sort of love that God exercises towards the world through Christ. As we take a special offering this week for Week of Compassion—the relief, refugee, and development mission fund of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we may not understand fully the extent that God loves us, but we strive to emulate that love so that we, and others, may come to see glimpses of God’s precious love for the life of the world. // reader ::  Scott Booren preaching :: Rev Kevin Howe

text :: Song of Solomon 8: 5 – 7 theme verse :: ‘Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.’ (Song 8:7) // Of all the things we talk about in church, love gets the most attention, and probably also the least. We’re not very good at talking about eros love – the romantic kind, the embodied love, the love of partnership and fulfillment. What does it mean to fully love someone – and to receive the sacredness of love in return? // reader :: Ashley Gibson preaching :: Rev Courtney Richards

text :: Romans 12: 3 – 10 theme verse :: ‘…love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.’ (Rom 12:10) // We seem to understand that there is a sort of deepening of love between friends when we use a phrase like, “I love you like a brother/sister/sibling.” The Greek word phileo describes an emotional connection that goes beyond acquaintances or casual friendships. It suggests relationships that our bond tightly together in enjoyment, appreciation, and deep care. Join us as we consider the blessed tie that binds us together as one body in Christ. // reader :: Bill Queen preaching :: Rev Kevin Howe

text :: John 12: 1 – 8 theme verse :: ‘The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.’ (Jn 12:3b) // In the gospels, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus make multiple appearances, in different combinations. Jesus’ own family is named, of course. And he gathers a group of disciples to travel and work with him. There is a lot to say about the family we’re born into, and the family we choose. Storge – love-like-family – is one way we see what God has is mind for us, for how we love one another. // reader :: Scott Booren preaching :: Rev Courtney Richards

text :: Ephesians 3: 14 – 21 theme verse :: “…know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:19) // If we step out on faith, following the star of Christ’s light; if we remember that a God who brought us this far will surely take us the rest of the way; if we take time at regular intervals to bring our vision into focus; can we even begin to imagine how God will guide us to be loved, believe, and become in the future? // reader :: Susan Gross preaching :: Rev Courtney Richards

text :: Mark 10: 46 – 52 theme verse :: “Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.'” (Mk 10:51) // Sometimes it’s just hard to see: our eyes are tired; we’re not sitting close enough (or we’re too close); there’s something in the way. Our vision can get interrupted, or we are moving so quickly that things just get past us. Isn’t this true in our spiritual lives, as well? What might we see differently – or perhaps even for the first time – with a fresh, clean lens? How can we reset the system and bring what is needed into focus? // reader :: Roy Peters preaching :: Rev Kevin Howe (* NOTE : The sermon opens with a video about perception. You’ll hear the audio included here. The video itself can be found here.)

text & theme verse :: Joshua 23:14 // In movies, when someone is being chased, it never fails that they look over the shoulder, lose their footing, and fall. But in real day-to-day life, on the usual journeys – and even the unusual ones – looking over our shoulder … remembering where we’ve been … can help us go much farther. When we have a good sense of where we’ve started, what’s behind us and inside us, we can walk (and even run) farther than we’d imagined. // reader :: Ashley Gibson preaching :: Rev Kevin Howe

text :: Matthew 2: 1 – 12 theme verse :: ‘For we have seen his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ (Mt 2:2b) // The traditional text for the first Sunday of January – Epiphany Sunday, marking the arrival of the magi at the manger – is from Matthew’s gospel. We hear it every year. We sing of the wise men’s journey, and in this church we draw a ‘star word’, something to keep our eyes open for in the coming year. While we each take individual words, the church has a ‘star word’ too – in 2020, our collective call is to VISION. What do we need to see in new ways? What is waiting for us, if we will but open our eyes? What do we see around us that needs new wonder, God’s mercy, and our attention? We’ll SEE YOU in the new year! // reader :: Connie McFarland preaching :: Rev Courtney Richards (*NOTE: There is a brief organ interlude (‘We Three Kings’) toward the end of the sermon, a sample of a few minutes during which the congregation is passing trays to receive star words. If you’re listening today, you might reflect on the word you’ve received, or simply take that moment for reflection and prayer.)

text :: Hebrews 11: 1 – 16 theme verse :: ‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ (Heb 11:1) reader :: Bill Queen preaching :: Rev Kevin Howe

text :: Matthew 11: 2 – 10 theme verse :: ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ (Mt11:3) // We jump to story decades later, in Jesus’ adult life and ministry. It seems out of place in the Advent/Nativity theme, but it shows so clearly what Jesus showed us best: That we point always outward, always to God, with all we are and all we can be. That’s where we find joy, purpose, wisdom, and wonder. // reader :: Deborah Gist preaching :: Rev Courtney Richards

text :: Matthew 1: 18 – 25 theme verse :: But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream … (Mt1:20) // It would have been so easy, perhaps even reasonable and likely, for Joseph to give a ‘hard pass’ to the massive assignment he’d just been handed. But he heard a word from the Lord. He not only heard, but listened. And when others would have stepped away, he stepped into history. Joseph made peace with who God needed him to be. Will we? // reader :: Hollie Hawkins preaching :: Rev Courtney Richards