“Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Colossians 3:14 (NRSV)
Here is the Worship Link for Sunday, May 3: https://youtu.be/348_WjM2pNY
Worship: Sunday, May 10, 2026, 10:45 AM
Scripture to Ponder & Prayer
May 4, 2026
The week of Mother’s Day/Rural Life Sunday/Christian Family Sunday
Texts this week: Acts 17:22–31; Psalm 66:8–20 ;1 Peter 3:13–22 & John 14:15–21
To Ponder: Psalm 66:8–20 | Mother’s Day | Earth as Mother
“Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of God’s praise be heard, who has kept us among the living.” — Psalm 66:8–9
Psalm 66 is a song of gratitude. It remembers that life is not sustained by accident, but by grace. The psalmist looks back on hardship, testing, tears, and uncertainty—yet still proclaims that God has brought the people “out to a spacious place.” It is the testimony of those who have suffered and survived, struggled and still sing.
As we move toward Mother’s Day, this psalm invites us to reflect on the many ways life is carried, nourished, and protected. We give thanks for mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, elders, caregivers, and all who embody nurturing love. Some have given birth, others have given presence, wisdom, sacrifice, and shelter. Many have mothered without title.
We also remember the Earth as mother—soil that feeds us, rivers that sustain us, trees that breathe for us, seasons that hold us. Too often we receive from the Earth without gratitude and take without care. Yet creation continues to offer itself with astonishing patience.
The psalm says God has “kept us among the living.” Today we might hear that through the hands of a mother who stayed awake through the night, through a friend who stood beside us in grief, through rain falling on dry land, through gardens pushing up green life after winter.
Some approach Mother’s Day with joy. Others with sorrow, estrangement, infertility, grief, or complicated memories. God holds every story tenderly. This day need not be sentimental to be sacred.
May we honor those who nurtured us. May we care for the Earth that carries us. May we become people who mother the world with compassion, justice, patience, and courage.
Let’s pray …
Life-giving God,
we thank you for all who have loved us into being.
Bless mothers and caregivers,
those who rejoice today and those who grieve.
Heal wounds carried in families and hearts.
Teach us to cherish the Earth,
to protect its beauty and share its gifts wisely.
Make us gentle with one another,
and faithful stewards of all creation.
Bring us always into your spacious place of hope and peace.
Amen.
Trinity United Church 