CALL TO WORSHIP
Let us bless the Lord as long as we live.
We will lift up our hands and call upon God's Name.
O God, our God, our souls thirst for you as in a dry and weary land.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, our lips will praise you.
—based on Ps. 63:1-4
OPENING PRAYER
Eternal Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time and this place, and for the refuge you offer us from a chaotic world. With your Word you created the world, and by your Word you sustain us. Now during this hour of worship, may your Word refresh us so that we may be strengthened to share your Name with our neighbors. Through kind words and good deeds, may those who love you make the Gospel of your Son known in the world; for we ask this in his Name. Amen.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
For our failure to appreciate and enjoy the good things you provide for our lives, in your mercy,
Lord, forgive us.
For our insensitivity to the needs of others, and for our oversensitivity when we are hurt by them, in your mercy,
Lord, forgive us.
For becoming consumed in the business of life, and for losing faith in your sovereignty and power, in your mercy,
Lord, forgive us.
For moods of disobedience and for outright rejection of your will, in your mercy,
Lord, forgive us.
For consenting to wrong practices by our cool silence, and for listening to scandal, in your mercy,
Lord, forgive us. Reform our will, grant us courage; create in us a new heart, and put your righteousness in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[A silence is kept.]
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God.
Through Jesus Christ we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Eternal God, ever-present and all-loving, we bow before you during this sacred season as we face the cross. Give us grace, more and more, to let go of ourselves and to be your people in the world. As we trust in you, help us to trust in humanity— not to place our trust for salvation in other humans, but to see your Image in our sisters and brothers. Let the same mind be in us as was in Christ, that we might serve you and serve our neighbors. We praise you, O God, that you proved your love to us on Calvary. May the power of the cross of Christ be with us in the week to come. Let our love be like yours. May our willingness to follow Jesus know no limits. As we lean upon his cross, let us not refuse our own, but take it up knowing that we do not carry it alone, but by his strength, with the help of our sisters and brothers. Trusting that we do not shoulder our burdens alone, we lift up our prayers to you. In the silence, hear us as we name before you the people and the situations that are in our hearts and on our minds this morning.
[A silence is kept]
In our thanksgiving, make our joy complete. In our concern, grant us trust in you. And in our pain, may we find your healing. For we offer our prayers in the Name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, God forevermore. Amen.
As we part company today, remember that you are the body of Christ. As you go forth into the world, may God grant you eyes to see his image in others, ears to hear the cry of the needy, hands to serve, and hearts to love: In the Name of the + Creator, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
