Worship Stations
Commune
Isaiah 53:2-6
“He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his stripes we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
This passage is often called ‘The Suffering Servant.’ The one Israel was waiting for would be broken and poured out for the sake of others. Now picture the last supper. Jesus, the bread of life…Took the bread. Blessed the bread. Broke the bread. Gave the bread. “This is my body, broken for you.” Likewise he took the cup and said, “This is my blood shed for you.”
When you are ready, say a prayer thanking Him for giving Himself for you and showing you what love looks like. Then dip a piece of bread in the cup, eat, and be thankful.
Confess
1 John 1:8-9
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Take a moment to allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Pray, “I open myself to you and invite You to review my words, my actions, my attitudes, and my life.”
As mistakes, sins, and shortcomings come to mind write them on the paper here. Take your time. Use as many pieces of paper as you need to. And when you have finished take them over to the fire and toss them in. Watch them disappear. Your sins are forgiven and they are gone.
Create and Be Thankful
Psalm 100:3-5
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Grab a crayon, create something and express your gratitude to God. Draw a picture or write what you are thankful for. Make a colorful doodle that makes you smile. List what you are grateful for or your favorite names for God. Write down his attributes. Name the important people in your life that God has blessed you with.
Have fun!
Intercede
1 Timothy 2:1-6
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free.
Write the name of individuals and situations we need to be praying for on the pieces of paper. It doesn’t need to be the entire story. It could be a first name or a phrase.
After you pray for them stick them to the cross. Then spend a moment praying for the others represented on the cross before you move on.
Forgive
Colossians 3:12-14
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Forgiveness is not easy. But the wounds we receive can’t be buried forever. They fester. They weigh us down. We have to deal with them and the people who inflicted them.
Ask, “God who do I need to forgive?” When a face or a name comes to mind grab a stone from the table. Hold it in your hand. Feel its weight. Pray for the person you need to forgive. Admit that they were made in the image of God and are deeply loved by Him. Ask God to help you see them as such.
As a symbol of giving them and that situation to God, drop the stone into the bucket of water. May God wash over you and them to bring forgiveness and reconciliation.
Be Loved
Psalm 139:13-18
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.
Brennan Manning said, “Define yourself as one radically loved by God. This is your true self, every other identity is an illusion.
He made you. He knows you. He loves you. Period.
Take a moment to let that soak in and embrace it. Then put your thumbprints on an index card and write a phrase to remind you of God’s love for you.
Petition
Ephesians 3:16-21
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
Look at the things Paul prays for his friends to possess and experience; strength, power, Christ’s indwelling presence, love for others and a grasp of God’s love for them, and to be filled with the fullness of God.
Take some time to pray for yourself. What do you need from God today? Where do you need Him to work?
Encourage
1 Thessalonians 5:9-11
God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.
Take a moment to consider who God would like to encourage through you. It could be someone in the room today, someone you miss, someone you are experiencing tension with, a neighbor...maybe its a few people.
Select one of the cards and take time to write them a note this morning. Don’t take it with you to do later. Don’t put it off. Write it and seal it to hand deliver or mail.
Before you move to the next station pray for the person you wrote to, asking God to prepare them to receive this message of encouragement.