Exodus 3:1 – 6

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

As we come together to this holy place, to this Holy Communion we need to be ever mindful of the gravity of what we are about to do. The Bible is full of very detail instruction on how God wanted to be worshiped. These instructions included everything from what to wear to the type and number of furnishings to be present within the temple. Jesus, even took to violence on one or two occasions to clear the temple of activities which were not part of God’s instructions for worship.

While we are two thousand years removed from Jewish temple worship and Christian worship has certainly gone through many forms and transformations during these two millennium in its form and content, the call for a humble and contrite heart has not.

From Micah 6:5-8

With what shall I come before the Lord     and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,     with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,     with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,     the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.     And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy     and to walk humbly[a] with your God.

 

The Prelude is an opportunity to prepare one’s heart for our worship together. It provides a few moments to contemplate the Scripture readings and liturgy for the day. You are invited to sit in quiet contemplation and prayer to prepare your hearts for joyful worship. Please respect your neighbor during this time. The prelude usually starts about 10 minutes before the service and will now be proceeded with a scripture reading and commentary relevant to either the music being played or today’s lectionary.