Call to Worship

Before you begin, divide the congregation into two groups based on where they are sitting in the worship space (e.g., front and back or left and right). Invite online participants to pick a group. You might also consider having two leaders for the call to worship, one for each group.

Leader: Are you listening? God is doing a new thing! Will you join in?

Group A: Yes! We will follow!

Leader: Listen! Did you miss it? God calls us again to build the kin-dom of heaven. Will you join in?

Group B: Yes! We will be builders of the kin-dom.

Leader: Wait, did you catch that? Again, God calls us to declare the good news to those in need. Will you join in?

Group A: Yes! We will declare the good news with our voices and our lives.

Leader: And still, God calls. God never quits calling us to live and to give abundant life. Will you join in?

Group B: Yes! We will join with God in sharing the gracious gift of abundant life with the world.

ALL: May we respond to God’s loving and persistent call with a loving and persistent yes! A yes for us, a yes for our neighbors, and a yes for our world to be transformed by the good news that God’s kin-dom has come near. Amen.

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

Litany

One: Though often misunderstood, often held captive by fabricated realities, our souls long for peace.

Many: O God, we long for your presence; we long for peace.

One: We run without a destination, surrounded by highways of turbulent noise. We are tired, worn, and battered, and our souls long for joy.

Many: O God, we long for your presence; we long for joy.

One: Through it all; in it all; and around all of it—choose to love the astounding teaching of the Messiah. Look to experience peace and joy—even in the midst of disappointment, war, injustice, or poverty. Allow your soul to become acquainted with the One who changes hard challenges into opportunities for transformation and growth.

Many: Peace and Joy are possible in the presence of the Savior.

All: In spite of the world’s challenges, we choose peace; we choose joy; we choose to follow YOU, Lord!

Written by Carolyn W. Dandridge, The Africana Worship Book, Year B (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2007), 81.

Prayer of Confession

Holy One, what a blessing and privilege we share
here in this sacred space and among this loving community.
But, like Jonah, we sometimes are jealous of what we share here.
We know that others are longing and thirsting for what we know and experience.
Forgive us our reluctance to open our doors,
open our hearts to others; some like us, some not.
We repent of our hesitations and unwillingness
to witness to those we have considered strangers and even enemies
for fear they just might become friends. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

The one who calls us to this place
calls us to reconciliation through grace.
God will not deny a repentant heart or an open spirit.
Know that you are forgiven
and walk in the new way that is made known to you in God's love. Amen.

Written by Rev. Madison Shockley, as part of a larger liturgy called Reluctant Evangelists: Service Prayers for the Third Sunday after Epiphany, posted on the United Church of Christ’s Worship Ways website. Reposted at the re:Worship blog, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/01/prayer-of-confession-jonah-3.html.

Benediction

Beloved disciples, go forth today in the assurance that whether you answer the first time, the second time, or the hundredth time, God never stops calling, never stops guiding, and never stops forming you because God’s love never fails. Thanks be to God. Amen.

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