Call to Worship

People of God, welcome! Surely God is in this place!
We come to worship and to rest in God’s presence.

Breathe deep for the goodness of God surrounds us.
The Holy One who sustains the universe is near.

When we are tired, worn down, and carrying heavy burdens, God is with us.
God strengthens us that we might help carry one another’s burdens.

So, let us join together in wonder and thanksgiving for God’s love that lifts us up on wings like eagles.
Thanks be to God! Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2023.

Prayer for the Day

O God, we are gathered here under the shelter of your wings,
nurtured by your motherly love,
and encouraged, then, to fly by faith on the wind of your spirit.
You have spoken to us, saying
"They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings as eagles."
Teach us how to wait, then, that we may learn how to fly.
May this nest we call "family" be built with sturdy materials.
Don't let us forget, though,
that this nest was not created as a fortress behind which to hide,
but as a perch from which to take off.
And strengthen us with the assurance that we do not fly alone.
This we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Written by Peter L. Haynes, and posted on the Long Green Valley Church website. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/01/opening-prayer-isaiah-40.html.

Prayer of Confession

We Live as Those Who Have Never Heard You: A Confession

Lord, today we confess that we often live as those who have never heard of you. We plan and strategize as though the outcome depended solely upon us. We worry and fret like those who have no advocate.

Forgive us Lord,

for the scheming and conniving we do to make sure that we have our own way.

Forgive us Lord,

for grasping at power when you are the Power,
for seeking glory when all glory belongs to you,
for not leaning upon you when we feel weak, or powerless or alone.

Forgive us Lord,

for relying upon ourselves and other mortals when we should turn to you.
Teach us how to live more like those who belong to you and less like those who belong to the world.

(Silence)

Hear some good news! The prophet Isaiah says this: “Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:30-31). People of God, trust in the Lord and be strengthened!

People to each other:
Trust in the Lord and be strengthened. Amen.

Written by Safiyah Fosua, The Africana Worship Book, Year B (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2007), 150.

Benediction

Go now to wait on God, to pay attention to all God is doing around you, and to serve as the Spirit guides you. And may the peace of Christ bless you and keep you wherever you may go. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2023.