We’re back on more familiar ground this week. Gratitude is a core attitude of worship at all times. So to bring it into central focus today should feel familiar. Songs and prayers and liturgy alike can all inspire us to call forth the gratitude with which we live and move and have our being as followers of Jesus Christ on our way to becoming disciples. The text encourages us to sing with passion and with gratitude. Perhaps some reflection on John Wesley’s “Rules for Singing” in the front of The United Methodist Hymnal would be appropriate for this day that calls us to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and to make melody in our hearts. With gratitude as the foundation for our living, our lives can become songs of praise and joy to the Lord.

Contemporary Call to Worship

(based on Ephesians 5:20)

Thank God at all times for everything,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph. 5:20 (Phillips[1])

Give thanks to God!
We thank God for joy, for laughter,
for abundant blessings of every kind.
Give thanks to God
at all times and for everything!
We thank God, when we can and as we can,
for struggles, for solitude, for fears.
Give thanks to God
at all times and for everything
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank God that, in Christ,
our joys as well as our pain,
our losses as well as our laughter,
are in God's heart and hands.

Written by Thom Shuman and posted on Lectionary Liturgies. http://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.ca. Also posted: https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/08/call-to-worship-ephesians-5-20.html.

Prayer

Express your joy in singing among yourselves
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
making music in your hearts for the ears of God! Eph. 5:19 (Phillips[2])

i would prefer
to be left
leaning against the wall,
shuffling my two left feet,
watching the world
twirl by;
but you take me by the hand
to teach me
the dance steps
of grace;

when i walk near
the piano,
it shudders,
hoping
i will not sit down;
but you take my fingers
and place them on the keys,
whispering,
"play, play with joy, play!"

even with
the biggest bucket,
i can't carry a tune;
but you push me
out onto the stage,
introducing me as
the new soloist
in the Good News Choir.

i will celebrate your joy,
sing your hope,
play your love,
leaping and whirling
in your grace
forever!

Call to Reconciliation

In a world with much evil,
God continues to work for good.
In a culture which worships foolishness,
God still offers wisdom as a gift.
In a time filled with lies,
God's promises are true.
In a society obsessed with "reality,"
God's love is constant.
Let us come to the One who offers the Bread of Life,
the promise of redemption,
and the grace of forgiveness.
Please join me as we pray,

Unison Prayer of Confession

You must shake your head in wonder at our ways,
Keeper of the Covenant.
How can we say we want wisdom,
when we foolishly squander the knowledge we have of your ways?
How can we claim to follow you,
when we walk the slippery roads of the world
not caring where they lead us?
How can we desire your great and steadfast love,
when the simple seductions of our society are in full view every day?

How can you have mercy on such unwise and unfaithful people,
Perfect Wisdom?
Yet, that is exactly what you do:
and our greed turns to gratitude,
our pettiness to praise,
our tantrums to thanksgiving,
as hope and joy become our blessing
through the One we call our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Silent Prayers may be offered

Assurance of Pardon

In Christ, God sent redemption for all.
In Christ, God feeds our hungry souls.
In Christ, God gives the cup of salvation
to thirsty people.
We give thanks to God for everything:
forgiveness, hope, new life. Amen.

Written by Thom Shuman, and posted on Lectionary Liturgies, http://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.ca/. Also posted: https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/07/confession-proper-15-b.html

Prayers of the People

(inspired by I Kings 3:3-14, Ephesians 5:15-20)

Eternal God, we thank you today for your goodness. You have given us beautiful days. You bless us richly with goodness daily. We thank you and praise you.

We live in a time of considerable confusion. We ask today for your wisdom as Solomon asked for wisdom.

We are often fearful as was Solomon. We live in a time of peril, war, and world unrest. Different and competing interests strive for our attention and loyalty. Help us, O God, to pray for wise and discerning spirits.

Give us wisdom to know good from evil.
Give us wisdom to assess the clamoring voices and concerns with which we are daily bombarded.
Give us wisdom so that we might learn to be accepting of all the diverse people you have created.
Give us wisdom to be peacemakers and mediators of understanding where there is conflict.
Give us wisdom when we are in conflict to make it possible both for us and for those with whom we differ to save face and win and move forward hand in hand.
Give us wisdom not to violate any of your creatures by discriminating against them.
Give us wisdom to discern what is of ultimate value for our souls and to make wise choices.

O God, give us wisdom.
O God, give us discernment.
O God, give us the will to be faithful.
O God, give us the power to love. Amen.

Written by Richard Einerson in Prayers of the People: Pastoral prayers for Worship and Personal Devotion, Bloomington, AuthorHouse, 2006. Also posted at re:Worship, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/08/pastoral-prayer-give-us-wisdom.html.

Commission & Benediction

Go forth into the world trusting with your hearts
the wisdom God bestows upon all who seek to follow God’s will.
When called to lead, do so with humility and confidence in God.
Be in this world a sign of Jesus’ presence.
Share compassion with all whom you encounter.
Live wisely in God’s name,
and glorify God in all you do.

And may the grace, mercy and wisdom of God
be our support, guidance and strength
from this day forward and for ever more. Amen.

From Wisdom Quest, written by the Rev. Dr. Bertrice Wood. Posted on the United Church of Christ website. http://www.ucc.org/worship/worship-ways/