We're using this worship series from UMC Discipleship Ministries at our church this year. These mid-week times of reflection are based on the themes, psalms, and songs from the "playlist" suggested by the worship plans. The songs on the playlist may push some people (including Jeff) outside of their comfort zone, but we encourage you to give them a try. For others of you, the songs may be your favorite part!
|
It's Holy Week! We've put links to songs for the three days before Easter (and Easter itself) here. In the video we also mention our church's Walk to the Cross experience--you can find out the hours the experience will be open on Good Friday if you're interested coming to Tyner to do it--and a video of the experience if you can't make it in person on the Lent 2025 page of our church website.
Find Jeff's Palm/Passion Sunday message here. |
Maundy Thursday: At the center of Maundy Thursday is a mandate, or a command, to love one another as Christ has loved us. “Stand Up” by Cynthia Erivo may seem unusual for Maundy Thursday, but at its core, it is a call to live into this new reality and to embody hope, care, and love with one another. Difficult days lie ahead, but God's steadfast love frees us to move forward toward life together in Christ. As you listen to this powerful song, consider: “How does the command to love one another as Christ has loved us set you free?” (UMC Discipleship Ministries) Psalm 116
Good Friday: When Jesus cries out from the cross, echoing the opening verses of Psalm 22, he cries out of a longing not to be alone in the midst of senseless violence. Our song today invites us to remain present and bear witness when suffering and injustice visit our neighbors and us. As you listen to "The Hanging Tree" from The Hunger Games, let the music wash over you and consider: “How does God’s steadfast love strengthen you to be present and tell the truth in the face of sin and evil in the world?” (UMC Discipleship Ministries) Psalm 22 Holy Saturday: While you wait on this Holy Saturday, we suggest a song about hope. We’ve been falling throughout Holy Week, stumbling over our brokenness and losing our sense of balance as we confront our sinfulness. Where will we find a safe place to land? As you listen to Sara Bareilles’ “A Safe Place to Land,” ponder and reflect on God as your safe place as we wait in hope for Resurrection. (UMC Discipleship Ministries) Easter Sunday. We’ve come through the shadows of Holy Week, and Easter morning has dawned once again. Christ is risen! Whether 2,000 years ago or today, this is a simple, yet irrational declaration: Christ is risen! We don’t fully understand Resurrection. We can’t make logical sense of it. But it is perfect and fitting for God, whose steadfast love endures forever because even death cannot stop Love. So, listen and sing along with Dolly Parton’s “Light of a Clear Blue Morning,” giving thanks to God whose love never ends, never fails, and brings us into new life today and every day. (UMC Discipleship Ministries) Cathy will use the song in our Easter worship on April 20. |
|
|
Read the psalm, watch the video below, and listen to the song.
“Fill me with laughter.” This is not what we expect so deep into the season of Lent. We are supposed to be getting more serious the closer we get to Good Friday, right? Or, perhaps Psalm 126 is right on time. Laughter, stories, and memories of God’s provision are necessary at all stages of our journey with God as individuals and as family in Christ. They shore up our faith and feed our hope. They remind us that God’s goodness still infuses all creation, and God’s love remains steadfast. So, as you listen to P!NK’s “Cover Me in Sunshine,” take in the words and consider how they might serve as a prayer, a call to God to bring sunshine and laughter as reminders of God’s sustaining and life-giving love. (UMC Discipleship Ministries) |
Psalm 126
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy; then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb. May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. |
|
Read the psalm, watch the video below, and listen to the song.
Steadfast love. What does that mean? Much as we might like it to mean that we will never experience problems and life will be easy and happy all the time, that kind of love is a fairy tale—and not a very good fairy tale, at that. Psalm 32 offers a richer and more robust account of God’s steadfast love—a love that never ends and never fails, no matter what life throws at us. As you listen to Kacey Musgraves’ “Rainbow,” take a deep breath in the musical interludes. How God might calling you to “let go of the umbrella” and trust in God’s steadfast love. To what do you cling? Psalm 63 invites us to reflect on where we find security and provision when we are desperate, disillusioned, or feel like we are in the wilderness. Yes, we need food, water, and shelter. Yes, we need a community that protects us when we feel threatened and alone. Yet underneath these basic needs is something even more necessary: God.
As you listen to U2’s “Lights of Home,” consider: “When you are surrounded by chaos and turmoil, how do you find security, confidence, and home in God?” |
|
|
"Like many of us, the writer of Psalm 27 knows trouble, as does Jesus when he is confronted by the Pharisees attempting to scare him into being quiet or, at the very least, getting out of town (Luke 13:31). Yet both the psalmist and Jesus do an odd thing when faced with threats: they stay the course. They refuse to be swallowed up and swayed by fear. Instead, they root themselves in God, whose steadfast love conceals and protects, whose love keeps their heads above water. As you listen to Avril Lavigne’s “Head Above Water” think about the questions below--and what other songs you might add to your Lenten Playlist?
Questions: What storms in your life do you need God to protect you in and sustain you through? Do you trust that God will take care of you through those storms? |
|
"We call out to God to rescue us today, sometimes with a certainty that God will answer and other times out of desperation, hoping God will listen when it seems no one else will. As you listen to Andra Day’s 'Rise Up,' let the words wash over you as a prayer and as an answer to prayer." (Discipleship Ministries)
Questions: When has God rescued you in the past? Where in your life are you calling out for rescue now? What person or group has helped you to "rise up" in the past? How might God be calling you to reach out in love to help a neighbor now? |
"We begin Lent with the reminder that God’s love is steadfast—it never fails. In words like those of Coldplay’s “Fix You,” God’s love is like a light that guides us home, ignites our bones, and fixes us, putting us back together for relationship with God and one another. As you listen to Coldplay’s “Fix You,” consider where you notice God’s love reaching out and guiding you home" (Discipleship Ministries)