All-Powerful to Save

Call to Worship

We believe God will save us in times of trouble.
We believe. Help our unbelief.

We know that God has saved us in the past, tending and helping us along the way.
We know what God has done for us. Help us when we forget.

We call on God’s power when we feel powerless to respond, believing and knowing that God will save.
We believe and we know that God will answer when we call.

God, open our hearts today to encounter your love that acts with us and through us to bring flourishing to all of your creation.
We come today to enter the dance of the Trinity, who is all-powerful to save. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2024.

Prayer for the Day

You who shepherd the lost and comfort the afflicted
Guide our hands to touch the untouchable
Our ears to listen to the hopeless
Our eyes to see the misery of others
Our hearts to feel the pain of prisoners
Empower us to take risks to be channels of healing and mercy
So that this world may be a better place
Amen

Published in Cláudio Carvalhaes, Liturgies from Below: Praying with People at the Ends of the World (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020), 102.

Prayer of Confession

(unison)

Triune God,

We confess that we don’t always like the way your power works. We blame you for all that goes wrong in the world, and yet we forget that you empower us to resist evil. We want you to help us in exactly the way we ask, and yet we forget that we are not the authors of our own salvation. We say we desire for your kin-dom to come, and yet, we forget to listen to your voice calling us to work for the flourishing of our neighbors. Forgive us, Holy Trinity, and free us to cooperate with you in the work of salvation for ourselves, our community, and all of creation. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2024.

Benediction

May the dance of the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—bless you and surround you this day and every day, saving you into a life of love and empowering you to witness to God’s salvific work as we build the kin-dom of God wherever we go. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2024.

Order of Worship for a Love Feast

Opening Hymn

Opening Prayer

The following prayer by Charles Wesley was written especially for the Love Feast and recommended for use at all Love Feasts by both John and Charles Wesley. It may be sung to the tune TERRA BEATA (UMH 144).

Father of earth and heaven,
Thy hungry children feed,
Thy grace be to our spirits given,
That true immortal bread.
Grant us and all our race
In Jesus Christ to prove
The sweetness of thy pardoning grace,
The manna of thy love.

Scripture

Psalm 20

Address or Personal Witness to the Scripture

Pastor or lay leader offers a witness to the Triune God who is all-powerful to save.

Offering

Passing of the Bread

A basket of crackers or slices of bread are passed from person to person

Circulation of the Loving Cup

If, in a sanctuary, pass around small cups of water. If around tables, provide each table with a pitcher of water or lemonade or similar beverage and invite each table to serve one another.

Testimonies

Depending on the setting, invite persons sharing a pew or a table to share with one another a time they experienced God’s power and salvific work in their lives as they eat and drink. You might offer a guiding question like: How have you experienced God’s power to save in your life?

Closing Exhortation

Pastor or lay leader offers a word of encouragement to close the time testimony.

Hymn

Benediction

Adapted from “The Love Feast” Copyright © 1992 United Methodist Publishing House.