CALL TO WORSHIP
Let all who seek the Lord be glad and rejoice!
Let those who love his wholeness proclaim God’s greatness!
For God is our help and our deliverer.
Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
OPENING PRAYER
O God our Creator, you have filled the world with untold beauty. Through this morning’s worship, may our eyes be opened to perceive your gracious hand at work in all the people and places we have encountered in the week that is past. And in days to come, may we rejoice in your abiding presence as we learn to serve you with gladness. This we pray in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O loving God, Creator of humankind, source of justice, and author of peace: Today we remember those who serve. We thank you for our friends and family members who are so dependable and constant in their service. We thank you for workers near and far whose dedication to their jobs makes our lives possible. We thank you for the faithful—both lay and clergy—who serve others through your church. And we thank you for all who have served—or are still serving—their country. In the human capacity to give of ourselves so that others might know plenty and peace and freedom, we see your image, and we give you the glory.
As we thank you for the people in our lives, we also pray for them. We lift up to you those who are sick or suffering, those who undergo tests and procedures, those who are grieving; the hungry, the homeless, the unemployed, the abused and ignored. We remember those who are victims of oppression or warfare, as we long for a day when the world is covered with a mighty flood of justice and an endless river of righteous living.
This we pray in the Name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, God forevermore. Amen.
CALL TO OFFERING
"Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God," said the Apostle Peter, "serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received." And so, in service to God and one another, let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God. As the deacons come forward, let us sing the Doxology. THANKSGIVING Thank you, Almighty God, for the church in which we hear your call to service. Accept these offerings, and inspire us to speak with Christ's voice and to use his hands to show your love to one another and to a troubled world. We ask this in his Name. Amen.
BENEDICTION
CALL TO OFFERING
"Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God," said the Apostle Peter, "serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received." And so, in service to God and one another, let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God. As the deacons come forward, let us sing the Doxology. THANKSGIVING Thank you, Almighty God, for the church in which we hear your call to service. Accept these offerings, and inspire us to speak with Christ's voice and to use his hands to show your love to one another and to a troubled world. We ask this in his Name. Amen.
BENEDICTION
Jesus said that God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
So go forth, children of God,
and be agents of peace in a troubled world.
And Jesus said that the greatest among you must be a servant.
So go forth to greatness,
serving both God and your neighbor
in all your words and deeds.
And may the blessing of God Almighty
+ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be with you now and forevermore. Amen.
