“Zion Signal” – a call to the faithful wherever they are scattered.

Order of Worship

“Let all things be done decently and in order.”
– 1 Corinthians 14:40

Welcome & Call to Worship

Psalm 40: 1-5

A psalm of David.

1 
I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,

    and he turned to me and heard my cry.

2 
He lifted me out of the pit of despair,

    out of the mud and the mire.

He set my feet on solid ground

    and steadied me as I walked along.

3 
He has given me a new song to sing,

    a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see what he has done and be amazed.

    They will put their trust in the Lord.

4 
Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord,

    who have no confidence in the proud

    or in those who worship idols.

5 
O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
You have no equal.

If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,

    I would never come to the end of them.

Scripture Reading

  • Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 38:7-13

    An Advocate Pleads for Justice

    7 But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate, 8 so Ebed-melech rushed from the palace to speak with him. 9 “My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern. He will soon die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”

    10 So the king told Ebed-melech, “Take thirty of my men with you, and pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies.”

    11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to a room in the palace beneath the treasury, where he found some old rags and discarded clothing. He carried these to the cistern and lowered them to Jeremiah on a rope. 12 Ebed-melech called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then when Jeremiah was ready, 13 they pulled him out. So Jeremiah was returned to the courtyard of the guard—the palace prison—where he remained.

  • Bereshit (Genesis) Chapter 13

    1 From Egypt, Abram went up to the south of Canaan—he, his wife, and everything he owned—and Lot was with him.

    2 Abram was heavily laden with cattle, silver, and gold.

    3 He continued on his travels, from the south of Canaan toward Bethel, until he reached the place where he originally had his tent, between Bethel and Ai,

    4 the site of the altar that he had built there at first, where Abram had invoked God. And now again, Abram invoked God there.

Prayer of the People

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Prayer of the People ~

Responsive prayer and intercession for our community, nation, and world.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
The third day He rose from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Church Universal,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

Amen.

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Faith in the Pit — Trust in the Journey
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Faith in the Pit — Trust in the Journey
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Preamble:

When prophets speak truth to frightened power, they are often buried before they are believed. Jeremiah’s faith lands him waist-deep in a cistern of mud, while Abram’s obedience sends him walking into a wilderness without coordinates. One sinks downward, one steps outward—but the same Spirit moves between them, hovering like breath over clay.

This story meets us in a haunted season—when the air itself remembers. The world calls it Halloween, others call it All Saints, some call it the Day of the Dead. But heaven calls it remembrance. These are the days when the veil thins and we feel our ancestors leaning in, whispering through the cracks of time: “Keep moving. Keep believing. Even in the dark, God still works.”

Jeremiah stands in the pit, knee-deep in despair, yet the word within him refuses to drown. Abram leaves the comfort of certainty, trusting a voice with no map, no guarantee—only promise. Between mud and migration, faith becomes motion, and obedience becomes resurrection.

In our generation, many know this same ache: trapped in cisterns of delay, bureaucracy, or fear—yet called to walk toward a land unseen. And here lies the quiet gospel truth: God often hides His mercy in movement. The immigrant, the refugee, the outsider—they are not threats to holiness but mirrors of it. When Abram crossed borders and Ebed-melech crossed class lines, Heaven smiled. The kingdom of God does not fear the traveler—it travels with them.

In the AME Zion rhythm, this is perseverance that sings. It’s the sound of faith that won’t rot in the mud. It’s the hum of hope that keeps walking through famine. It’s the testimony of those who have seen both grave and grace and still choose to rise.

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Benediction

May the God who pulls prophets from mud and pilgrims from fear lift you from every hidden cistern of despair.

May the hands that seem foreign prove to be divine.

May your journey through uncertainty end at an altar of remembrance, where you call again on the Name that never fails.

Amen — Ashe — So Be It.

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