CALL TO WORSHIP
Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; happy are those who live close to you.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house.
You crown the year with your bounty; the pastures overflow; the hills are girded with joy.
OPENING PRAYER
Lord God, we enter your courts with thanksgiving, celebrating your gift of joy. We see beauty, abundance and peace at work ard us, and we pray that, though our worship, we may be part of your plan for your creation. By your grace, may our lives be tokens of your love in our community and in our world; in Jesus' Name. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O God, our Creator and Sustainer, we are amazed at all you do for us and for your world. You have spread the earth before us, producing sustenance. All creatures receive goodness from your hand. You give light to those who seek it, and darkness, too, that we might rest in your care: Daylight and dark serve you and your purposes for creation. You are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all that is. You protect us and nurture us, and guide us with your wisdom.
And so we thank you: For your presence when we are alone, your courage when we are afraid, for faith when we are discouraged; for honest work and for sabbath, for healing and consolation. We trust in your Word and hope in your goodness, and ask you to bless our listening and speaking, our singing and praying. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, God forevermore. Amen.
—based on German Reformed Liturgy
COMMUNION PRAYER
O life-giving God, this is the day that you have made, and we rejoice in it! We thank you for the world that you have made, and for our place in it. You have shown us the way, the truth, and the life, and guided us with your word. In the fullness of time, you came to us in Jesus Christ, the Word-Made-Flesh. He gave all for us, and in his life, death, and resurrection, showed us the example of perfect love. So send now your Holy Spirit to settle on these gifts before us, that in them we might knows his presence. Fill us, too, with your Spirit, and strengthen us to be his body, united in ministry to a world in need. We pray this through Christ and in Christ, and with your church throughout the earth. Amen.
