Call to Worship

L: The God of all creation makes us one in the flesh.

P: Let us join hearts and voices in praise.

L: In Jesus Christ, we are made one in the Spirit.

P: Let us be united in truth through the same one Spirit.

L: We practice our faith in many different ways.

P: Yet we confess one Lord Jesus Christ.

L: We render different forms of ministry.

P: Yet our calling is one because Christ is undivided.

L: Rejoice, people of God: The Risen Christ is among us, calling us together at his one Table.

P: Praise the Lord!

Life in Liturgy, https://lifeinliturgy.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/epiphany-3a-christian-unity/.

Prayer of the People

God of unity,

We come before you dismayed at our own divisions. We have struggled as your church to live in unity; but we are divided – along the fault lines of our societies. The ruptures in our families, among friends, among denominations, among nations are wide and deep. When we attempt to get on the same page, we build taller walls and dig deeper trenches. God, help us! We know that Christ is not divided. We know that it is your baptism to which we have been called. It is your service to which we are compelled. You have called us to proclaim the gospel, but we even fight about what that is. Help us, God! Help us give up our power and our privileges. Help us to yield for the sake and cause of the cross of Jesus. Help us to want the unity you share, for you are one; in you, there is no division. Help us to embrace and to live the foolishness of a life emptied of power and given to service, in the likeness of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Help us to walk in salvation – in the name of the servant Christ, amen.

Carolyn W. Dandridge, The Africana Worship Book, Year A, Valerie Bridgeman Davis and Safiyah Fosua, eds., (Discipleship Resources, 2006), 85.

Prayer of Confession

Heavenly Father, you have called us in the Body of your Son Jesus Christ to continue his work of reconciliation and reveal you to the world: forgive us the sins which tear us apart; give us the courage to overcome our fears and to seek that unity which is your gift and your will; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen

Church of England, Common Worship: for the Unity of the Church, https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/Praying%20for%20Unity%20-%20English%20ARC.pdf, 2.

Benediction

As we leave this gathered worship, we know that we do not leave alone. We go with God into a world resonant with God’s presence. We go with one another, bound together in Spirit and in truth, a mighty company of disciples of Jesus Christ. Let us go, then, separately but together, as we seek to be the on-going sign that God is at work in the world. Amen.

Derek Weber, Discipleship Ministries, July 2022