zoom service

music

Sarah Dyer

song of zechariah

Verse 1
Our God, who has set us free
You are sending us a Savior
Our God, who will set us free
One like David only better

Verse 2
You told us through your prophets
Our enemies will not succeed
You told us through your prophets
Of mercy for those in need

Chorus
My mouth has been opened
And I shall sing
Of the dawning of salvation
Of the coming peaceful King

Verse 3
We seeds of Abraham
Will serve only You
We seeds of Abraham
Are people in need of rescue

Verse 4
A son is born in Israel
Who has come to prepare the way
A new day now in Israel
A Kingdom that won’t fade away

Bridge
Your Light shines
On those of us in darkness
Your Light guides
Our feet on pathways of peace

come all ye weary

Verse 1

Come all you weary, with your heavy loads
Lay down your burdens, find rest for your souls
Cause my yoke is easy, and my burden is kind
I'll take yours upon me, and you can take mine

Verse 2
Come all you weary, who move through the earth
You've been spurned at fine restaurants
And kicked out of church
I've got a couple of loaves, so sit down at my feet
Lend me your ears and we'll break bread and eat

Chorus
Come all you weary
Come gather round near me
Find rest for your souls

Verse 3
Come all you weary, you crippled, you lame
I'll help you along, you can lay down your canes
We've got a long way to go, but we'll travel as friends
The light's growing bright further up, further in

EMMANUaL

Verse 1
Can we just admit together we’re not fine?
Cause I’m not fine, and you’re not fine.
Can we just admit together we’re afraid?
Cause I’m afraid, and you’re afraid.
Can we just admit together we have doubts?
Cause I have doubts; do you have doubts?
Can we just admit together we’re not free?
Cause I’m not free, and I want to be.
If you’re not free, then sing with me

Chorus
Emmanuel God with us today
We desperately cling to Your name Emmanuel
As near as our need
As close as the air that we breathe Emmanuel

Verse 2
Can we just admit together have failed?
Cause I have failed, and you have failed?
Can we just admit that our hands aren’t clean?
And our hearts aren’t clean, and they’ll never be?
Until we’re freed, and mercy sings.

communal prayer

Pastor Christina Hite

We invite you to comment on the facebook live service stream to share your joys and hopes with us.

Christina will read your request and say “We pray to the Lord” and we will all respond “Lord Hear Our Prayer”

If you have something more private that you wish only for the prayer team or pastoral team to be praying for, you can email pastors@imagodeichurch.org.

Also this week, if you want to try some prayer practices during these stressful times, check out the new Prayer Practices page.

intercessory prayer

Josh: God, you have asked us to be like Moses— Standing up for your people, standing up for justice.

Christina: But too often we are like Pharaoh— Holding onto power, or holding onto privilege.

Josh: God, you ask us to be like Aaron— Who stood by his brother to unravel systems of oppression.

Christina: But too often we align with Pharaoh— Saying “no” to change and unraveling your vision for justice and peace.

Josh: Forgive us for all the ways we stand on the wrong side of history.

Christina: Forgive us for the harm we do to your planet, and for the harm we do to your children.

Josh: Help us to be like Moses.

Christina: Forgive us when we’re like Pharaoh. Amen.

Announcements

Pastor Christina Hite

Sunday School - Balancing belief and action can be a challenge for many of us, especially if we have found ourselves "unlearning" religious dogma or ritual from our pasts. We want to take a closer look at some of our foundational spiritual practices but maybe (hopefully) in a fresh light. In each Animate: Practices session, we will engage with videos from Christian leaders who have influenced many of us already and then with one another as we talk, wrestle, and listen to ways we can respond to God's invitation to meet us whenever and however we make space through our practices. You can buy the companion journal for this class here. Questions? Contact Contact Mandy Kampen

Social Impact Series: Racial Inequality
Join us on Saturday, July 25th at 10am in the Parkview Hall as we dive into the subject of racial inequality and the policies that got us here. Matt Gross, our presenter, is a community organizer and oversees the national strategy for Bread For the World. He’ll demonstrate how policies have a direct and disparate impact on people of color, and give us some pointers on how to participate in the political process to advocate for change. We’ll wear masks, spread out, and wrap-up by noon. Contact Dustin for more information.

Gather Together Survey
We have missed gathering together in the same space over these last months, and while we could proceed with in-person gatherings, we also want to continue to keep our community's health and safety at the forefront of all of our decisions.Because of this, we are considering a variety of options and would love to take into consideration what you'd prefer as our leaders decide the best way to serve our church family in this season.One option we are considering is offering a small (50 people or less), in-person service in the sanctuary. This service would include all recommended precautions including social-distancing, mask-wearing, and no child care or children's classes. (Children are absolutely welcome in service.) No matter what we decide about in-person services, we will definitely be adapting & improving our online church service experience in the coming weeks to continue to connect with and serve those who choose to stay home or are unable to attend due to gathering size-limits.

Please let us know your preferences by completing this survey

Imago Story | August 2nd @ 4pm
If you’re newer around Imago, we’d love for you to join us for this! We’ll share a little bit about Imago’s beginning, dive into our vision and directives, and offer ways that you can connect with what’s happening around Imago. Come share your story with us and meet others who are newer to our community. We’ll wear masks, spread out in the Parkview Hall, and wrap-up by 6pm. Contact Dustin for more information (dustinhite@imagodeichurch.org)

Scripture reading

Josh Lee

We invite you to listen to this week’s scripture passage, and then offer your our own insights, impressions, questions or connections to what’s being discussed. Pastor Josh and Pastor Christina will be highlighting and discussing some of the comments made over facebook.

This morning’s reading comes to us from Exodus 5:1-2; 7:8-23 in the New International Translation.

5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”

19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”

20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart.

This is the word of the Lord.

Teaching

Music

Sarah Dyer

the tree of knowledge, death and life

Verse 1
In the center of the garden
Tree of knowledge, tree of life
Bore the fruit which, ever tempting
Once we ate it, brought much strife
Wisdom, oh what deadly knowledge
Separated us from Thee Knowledge led to broken family
Needing Love to set us free

Verse 2
In the center of the city
On a barren, rugged tree Jesus bore the weight of evil
Purposing to set us free
Free from wisdom, ever fleeting
And our sinfulness so rife
He was raised, with new creation
Ushered in the age of Life

Verse 3
From the middle of the city
Flows a river, clear and wide
There’s a tree, whose produce giveth
Healing to God’s precious bride
Jesus is the nations’ Savior God Himself, He is our Light
All creation will proclaim that
Everything is set to right

Bridge
The Tree of Knowledge led all to death
The Tree of Death leads all to life
The Tree of Life will heal the world
And set this world to right

benediction & giving

Pastor Christina Hite

It is because of your continual generosity that Imago is able to continue living into its mission and vision to love God and others well. If you desire to invest in this work, you can give online below or with our NEW TEXT TO GIVE option. Text “IDCPeoria” to 779-77