The audio above is a special set of recordings from our worship service on October 19th. Several of you asked for copies of these moments, so we combined them here with a little extra soundscape added in. We are also providing the text from both the prayer and the Scripture (which is read in Spanish).

Buki’s Prayer

Generous God,
We come before you today, grateful for the gift of life, your
countless mercy and grace upon our lives. We thank you for the
big things and the seemingly small things we often take for
granted–roof over our heads, nourishment for our bodies, friends
and family to do life with, the privilege to gather as your people.

Gracious God,
We come before You yet again – in the midst of a world that
continues to feel chaotic, unpredictable and crushing. News near
and far continues to leave us uneasy.
But we believe You are present — Everywhere — our struggles
are not hidden from You.
Neither are you blind to what we face. You see all, You are
after all –El Roi — the God who sees us.
Your arm, Lord –is not too short to save, nor is Your ear too dull to hear us
Though, we confess that we sometimes wrestle to reconcile what we believe with what we see.
How do we keep hoping when suffering and pain is so loud and healing feels so far away?
We feel helpless — not only in our own struggles, but in the face of others’ pain too.
Some burdens feel unending, some wounds too deep for words.

Nonetheless...
Somewhere deep within, we know there’s more — more than what we can see, more than what we feel right now.

God of our breakthroughs–As we face the challenges of life,
Remind us of Your promise — that though we may be hard-pressed on every side, we will not be crushed.
Though we may sometimes be perplexed, we will not fall into despair.

Merciful God: Grant us faith to stand firm, to find hope even in the barren places.
Restore to us the joy of Your salvation. So that our soul rebounds with levity
Create a steadfast spirit within us, one that does not give way to Fear or Hopelessness.
Direct us and quicken our spirits with meaningful urgency
Lead us to a place of peace — even when understanding eludes us.
Even when the “why” is silent, let us know that you are still speaking.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and minds from apathy, disdain and resentment
Forgive us where we have fallen short, especially when we have tried to carry what we were never meant to bear alone.

Transforming Spirit of God – Help us — because we cannot do this without You.
Anoint our Leaders to say Yes to the counsel of Your will.
Instill in them Wisdom and Compassion

God of Hope, breathe your Spirit into our weariness.
Fill us with new Strength, new Wisdom and Guidance
Sustain us with Your Generous Spirit.
Make us conduits of Love, Strength, Wisdom and Support for our families and community
And even here, even now, we will sing.
We will praise Your name — not because life is easy, but because You are still Worthy.
Because You are near, even in the valley. You are still God.
This, we remember — AND this Truth anchors our soul and revives our Hope:
Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ?
Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
No — in all these things, we are more than Conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am Convinced — yes, Lord, I am Persuaded —That neither death nor life, Neither angels nor demons,
Neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—
Nor any powers,
Neither height nor depth,
Nor anything else in all creation,
Will be able to separate Us from Your love —
The Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

Psalm 51

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.

May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

A Theology of Sound

So much of our culture privileges sight as the primary way to understand the world, and to express the self. Yet in the Bible there is a great caution placed upon the visual, with ancient awareness of the ways that the visual can turn into idolatry. Hence God’s prohibition against human attempts to “capture” the divine in images and statues. Christianity speaks of Jesus as the WORD of God. In Judaism we inherit a preference for the way God is heard in the world. The central confession of Israel found in the Torah is known as the Shema, which translates as “Listen up!”

In our community we have nurtured the soundscape that surrounds and envelopes us. When we join together for worship in our visually enveloping sanctuary, the sounds of our community (singing, praying, reading, giving thanks) are the gifts with which we fill the space. On this page you will encounter a few of those sounds, reset for this medium. Most of these are recorded from our Sunday gatherings, and the musical score is also incorporated from the same Sunday service. The music and words form a new conversation with time, and invite the listener to consider how the hum of the universe might echo something of the divine voice. God is always speaking. We just have to learn to listen a little closer.