Call to Worship

Some of us come today with hearts weighed down with anxiety, fear, despair, and hurt. Together we cling to this truth:
God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Some of us come today with hearts that feel light with relief, joy, comfort, and gratitude. Together we cling to this truth:
God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Some of us come today not knowing what we think about God, confused and disappointed that the world God made is so full of evils of every kind. Together we cling to this truth:
God’s steadfast love endures forever.

Be with us, God, in all that we bring with us, as we gather to encounter your unchanging love.
We come today to enter the dance of the Trinity who is immutable in love. Amen.

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

Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, we gather this morning with those who love You,
that we might sing Your praises and share Your love with one another.
You have shown Your faithfulness to us every day
in ways that we do not always recognize,
so we gather today in order to thank You for Your constant watch-care over us.
Help us to entrust our lives to You and Your purposes
as we pray in the Name of Jesus Christ,
who taught us to pray in the power of Your Spirit,
“Our Father. . .”

Written by L.G. Parkhurst, Jr. © Copyright 2007. Posted on A Psalm and A Prayer website, http://psalmsandprayers.com/. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/05/call-to-worship-prayer-psalm-138.html.

Prayer of Confession

(unison)

Holy and uncontainable God,
For trying to contain you, forgive us.
Loving and limitless God,
For trying to limit you, forgive us.
Gracious and boundless God,
For trying to bind you, forgive us.
Sometimes we are foolish enough
To believe that it is to our advantage to reduce you to something we can comprehend.
Forgive us, Almighty God. Amen.

Written by Janice Jean Springer in Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship, Updated, ed. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2012), 223.

For use in worship services, include the following permissions statement:

Benediction

This is the faith that Christians proclaim:
The power of God that created the world is the power of love.
The power in Jesus that rescues the world is the power of love.
The power in us that changes the world is the power of love.
Therefore, I bid you go in the name of love. Amen.

Written by David L. Beebe in Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship, Updated, ed. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2012), 132.

For use in worship services, include the following permissions statement: