Here I Am: 2024 After Pentecost Series Roadmap

5 And I said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
― Isaiah 6:5–8 NRSVue

“Painting the words of my soul
Across the skies
Under the stones
Leaving a trail for you to see
Calling out loud, “Here I am! Can you see me?”
Anxiously waiting; hoping to be heard
Meaning what I say; every single word
Painting the words of my truth
Beginning with me, and
Ending with you
Leaving a trail for you to see
Loudly painting, “Here I am! Can you see me?”
― N’Zuri Za Austin

“Who, that was ever truly called, believed [themselves] worthy of the summons?”
― Charlotte Brontë

The season After Pentecost affords us an opportunity to focus on the joys and costs of discipleship. The overarching theme for the season is “Here I Am” based on the call of the prophet Isaiah. Before he can hear and respond to the call, Isaiah first acknowledges the need of the people, which is ultimately the distance between who they are and the Holy One in whose image they are created. Isaiah receives the gift of grace and responds enthusiastically to share that grace with others. This is the calling of the church–to be recipients and messengers of the good news that an encounter with the Holy One gives hope, reconciliation, and new life.

This series is an invitation to renewal for the body of Christ to respond to the call to public witness, loving presence, and hope-filled ministry with an enthusiastic and resounding…Here I Am.

May 26, 2024 (Trinity Sunday): John 3:1-17 | “Born of Water and Spirit”

After Pentecost I Scripture and Themes: “Here I Am…Listening”

After Pentecost II Scripture and Themes: “Here I Am…Following”

July 7, 2024: Mark 6:1-13| Deeds of Power
July 14, 2024: Mark 6:14-29 | Lawful, Righetous, Holy
July 21, 2024: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 | Coming and Going
July 28, 2024: John 6:1-21 | Gathering Fragments

The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology (lindsayc@ucc.org), also serves as a local church pastor, public theologian, and worship scholar-practitioner with a particular interest in the proclamation of the word in gathered communities.