Here are a couple of acts of worship (a prayer and benediction) for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, when the story of Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17-27) is the appointed gospel lesson.
O impossible God!
We come to you with impossible lives,
surrounded by situations that we don’t understand,
and filled with relationships that we cannot control.
And so we take this time out of our week
to approach you and give you praise
for all you have done:
You have created a universe
and given us a place in your world.
You have shown us in your Messiah how to bring the impossible near
and to make possible that which was beyond our reach.
And you have filled us with your Spirit,
so that we need not despair at what we cannot do,
but place our hope in what you can do.
So may this hour of worship be a time of learning and of growing trust.
Help us to hear what you would say to us in your word and in our hearts.
And as we listen for you, we ask you to hear the prayers we offer to you.
Some have been spoken aloud.
Others are known only to you and the soul that prays them.
But now, in the silence of this (peaceful) Sunday morning,
we open our spirits to your love and power.
We come to you with impossible lives,
surrounded by situations that we don’t understand,
and filled with relationships that we cannot control.
And so we take this time out of our week
to approach you and give you praise
for all you have done:
You have created a universe
and given us a place in your world.
You have shown us in your Messiah how to bring the impossible near
and to make possible that which was beyond our reach.
And you have filled us with your Spirit,
so that we need not despair at what we cannot do,
but place our hope in what you can do.
So may this hour of worship be a time of learning and of growing trust.
Help us to hear what you would say to us in your word and in our hearts.
And as we listen for you, we ask you to hear the prayers we offer to you.
Some have been spoken aloud.
Others are known only to you and the soul that prays them.
But now, in the silence of this (peaceful) Sunday morning,
we open our spirits to your love and power.
[A silence is kept.]
All this we offer up to you in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, God forevermore. Amen.
BENEDICTION
Go forth in hope.
In the week to come,
you will be faced with situations you do not understand,
and obstacles you cannot surmount.
But be of good courage,
for that which is impossible for you
is possible for the God ✚ who created you,
the Christ who died for you,
and the Holy Spirit who dwells within you. Amen.
Go forth in hope.
In the week to come,
you will be faced with situations you do not understand,
and obstacles you cannot surmount.
But be of good courage,
for that which is impossible for you
is possible for the God ✚ who created you,
the Christ who died for you,
and the Holy Spirit who dwells within you. Amen.
