Tuesday, October 27, 2020
The Regent community gathers for Chapel through Zoom on Tuesdays at 11 am (PDT). You can find Zoom login details in the Weekly Announcements email. If you don’t currently receive our Weekly Announcements email, you can subscribe by clicking the 'Subscribe’ button on this page.
If you are unable to join us at that time the recording of Chapel will be available on Moodle.
Welcome & Announcements
Call to Worship | Psalm 91
(Adapted)
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Be Still for the Presence of The Lord
© 1986 David Evans
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The holy One, is here;
Come bow before him now
With reverence and fear
In him no sin is found
We stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The holy One, is here.
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around;
He burns with holy fire,
With splendour he is crowned:
How awesome is the sight
Our radiant king of light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place:
He comes to cleanse and heal,
To minister his grace
No work too hard for him.
In faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place.
Testimony
Jenn Richards
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
Lyrics: Horatio Bonar | Tune: Kingsfold
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, O weary one, lay down
Your head upon my breast."
I came to Jesus as I was,
So weary, worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
And he has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, And now I live in him.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"I am this dark world's light;
Look unto me, your morn shall rise,
And all your day be bright."
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In him my star, my sun;
And in that light of life I'll walk
Till trav'ling days are done.
Prayer | The din undoes us
Walter Brueggemann | Awed to Heaven Rooted in Earth, p. 56
Our lives are occupied territory...
occupied by a cacophony of voices,
and the din undoes us.
In the daytime we have no time to listen,
beset as we are by anxiety and goals
and assignments and work.
and in the night the voices are so confusing
we can hardly sort out what could possibly be your
voice
from the voice of our mothers and fathers
and our best friends and our pet projects,
because they all sound so much like you.
We are people over whom that word shema has been
written
We are listeners, but we do not listen well
So we bid you, by the time the sun goes down today
or by the time the sun comes up tomorrow, by night or by day,
that you will speak in ways that we can hear
out beyond ourselves.
It is your speech to us that carries us to where we have
never been,
and it is your speech to us that is our only hope.
So give us ears. Amen
Scripture | 1 Kings 19: 1-1 8 (NRSV)
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, 0 LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you." He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away."
He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it. he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left. and they are seeking my life, to take it away." Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael. Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel. all the knees that have not bowed to Baal. and every mouth that has not kissed him."
Homily | Listening to God's Soft Whisper
Grace Liang - Director of Chinese Studies Program; Associate Professor, Chinese Christian Studies
Meditation and Response
Artwork - Glory to God in the High by He Qi
© 2014 All rights reserved
Your Labour Is Not In Vain
© Isaac Wardell, Paul Zach, Wendell Kimbrough
Your labour is not in vain
Though the ground underneath you is cursed and stained
Your planting and reaping are never the same Your labour is not in vain
Your labour is not unknown
Though the rocks they cry out and the sea it may groan The place of your toil may not seem like a home
But Your labour is not unknown
I am with you, I am with you I am with you, I am with you
For I have called you, called you by name Your labour is not in vain
The vineyards you plant will bear fruit
The fields will sing out and rejoice with the truth For all that is old will at last be made new
The vineyards you plant will bear fruit
The houses you laboured to build
Will finally with laughter and joy be filled
The serpent that hurts and destroys will be killed And all that is broken be healed
Benediction
After the benediction, volunteers are available to pray with you. If you would like someone to join you in prayer, send a private chat message to Claire Perini.