Call to Worship

(Psalm 66)

Transforming God, you have taken the world’s darkness
and re-created a world filled with the joy of light and hope.
Come and hear the good news of God’s love for all creation.

Restoring God, you have turned defeat into sudden victory,
and re-created a world filled with the joy of peace and shalom.
Come and hear the good news of God’s awesome powers.

Renewing God, we respond to your mighty deeds with songs
of praise, worship and thankful prayers. You alone are God!
Come and hear the good news of God’s blessings on us all.
Glory and honour, power and dominion belong to God alone.
Amen.

Written by Joan Stott, and posted on Geelong City Parish website. If used in shared worship, please provide an acknowledgment as follows:

Reposted at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/05/easter-6-call-to-worship.html.

Call to Worship

For this call to worship, consider posting the following question on social media during the preceding week: “How has God been present to you in difficult times”? You can find a social media graphic with this question in our graphic resources section. Then, incorporate the answers into the call to worship as directed below. Alternatively, ask congregants to share one- or two-sentence answers in the allotted spaces during the call to worship.

Optional: To prepare for the Call to Worship, consider inviting the congregation to sing invite congregation to sing UMH 156 “I Love to Tell the Story” (United Methodist Hymn 156).

Then, say:

Family in Christ, we gather today to testify to all that God has done for us.
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of God’s praise be heard.

[Name] tells the story of a difficult time when [fill in situation]. God [fill in God’s response].
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of God’s praise be heard.

[Name] shares that when [fill in situation], God [fill in God’s response].
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of God’s praise be heard.

[Name] testifies that in a time of trial when [fill in situation], God [fill in God’s response].
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of God’s praise be heard.

This is our defense for the hope that lives within us: in joy and sorrow, difficulty and ease, God’s steadfast love never leaves us nor forsakes us.
Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of God’s praise be heard. Amen.

Optional: Sing refrain of “I Love to Tell the Story” 1-2 times to conclude the Call to Worship.

Adapted from Psalm 66 NRSVUE by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, October 2022.

Prayer of Intercession

God of all ages and God of love, who sees and hears your people at all time.

We have seen you acting and sustaining us in the midst of our challenges and hopelessness.

In times of hunger, you provided food for us to eat. When we had no place to lay our heads, you provided us with shelter. When we are faced with death, we have seen your hand of protection. Amidst sickness, you have given us hope and courage to live on, not give up; to stand strong and not to be selfish for the responsibilities you have entrusted us with.

Therefore, dear God, we continue praying that you give us hope amidst hopelessness, courage in times of despair, healing in times of sickness, provision in times of lack, protection in times of danger to live and hope for a better world through Jesus Christ who is our sustainer, provider, and protector. We pray, Amen.

Written by Cláudio Carvalhaes, Liturgies from Below: Praying with People at the Ends of the World (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020), 256.

Prayer of Confession

As God’s beloved children, we are invited to come to our God with the fullness of our lives, to admit our love and our hate, to admit our faith and our fear. Trusting in God’s mercy, let us make our confession, first in silent prayer.

Offer silent prayers of confession.

Holy and gracious God,

At times we feel so frail and fragile, getting blown about by the latest crisis, by bad news, by our own short tempers and failings. You call us to hold fast to what is good, but so often we flounder, unable to find that solid thing that will center us again. Help us, we pray. Help us to see you as our center, and to cling to the good that you create in the world. Help us to set aside all our jealousies and prejudices, all of our betrayals and lies, all that adds to the world’s hurt. Help us to grow even more into Christ’s likeness, that we will bear his love and truth to the world. We pray in his name. Amen.

Adapted from “Prayer of Confession” written by Beth Merrill Neel on her blog, “Hold Fast to What Is Good.” Used with permission. https://holdfasttowhatisgood.com/liturgy/prayer-of-confession.

Benediction

Family of God, saved by the resurrection of Jesus Christ and baptized into new life, as you leave this place, consider: how will you remain ready to live out your testimony of the living hope of the resurrection with your family, your friends, and your neighbors? Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, October 2022.