Debts Are Tossed

Call to Worship

Come, let us worship the one who calls us here.
We gather to worship with joy and in hope.
Come, let us worship the one who desires our hearts.
We bring our whole selves in worship to our God.
Come, let us set aside all that distracts us from true worship.
We come as we are and ask the Spirit to gather us in and direct our vision.
Come, let us worship the one who calls us here.
We are here to worship with all that we are.

Derek C. Weber, February 2022

Opening Prayer

(inspired by Luke 16:13, Matthew 6:24 and other passages)

Masters,
two and more,
competing for our money
clamoring for our time
creating chaos in our lives.
Master,
one God,
quiet us and draw us near.

Written by Katherine Hawker for the Evangelical United Church of Christ, 1998. Reposted: https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/07/prayer-of-invocation-two-masters.html.

Call to Reconciliation

Before we speak,
God knows our needs,
yet our words open our hearts to God's grace.
Let us prepare ourselves for God's healing
as, in words and silence,
we tell of all that separates us from God and one another.
Please join me as we pray,

Unison Prayer of Confession

First of all, Everlasting God,
we must confess how we have not lived as your people.
We serve many masters—work, wealth, power, addictions—
yet find no hope in them.
We hear the cries of the poor,
and shut the doors of our hearts to them.
We ridicule those who expose their hopes and dreams to us.

Forgive us, Compassion's Heart,
and heal us of our brokenness.
Make us well, so that by our healing,
we might be the hope and love others need in their lives,
even as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,
brought these gifts to us,
calling us to be faithful with the grace, peace, and joy entrusted to us.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon

(inspired by Ephesians 4:32)

Now that we have let go of the pain, the bitterness, the anger of our lives,
let us be kind, tender-hearted, and gentle towards each other,
forgiving as God has forgiven us.
We are God's beloved children,
and will model God's grace and love in our hearts.
Thanks be to God! We are forgiven! Amen.

Written by Thom Shuman, and posted on Lectionary Liturgies. http://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.ca/.

Unison Prayer of Confession

(inspired by Luke 16:1-13; Matthew 6:33)

O God, we want to have our cake and eat it, too:
we want to be a friend of the world and still be your friend.

Yet, Jesus taught us: “No one can serve two masters.”

Give us strength and courage to get our priorities straight:
help us to seek your kingdom first.
Help us to live faithfully and joyfully in the world,
and to be friends with the people you call us to serve.
Help us also to remember that our best relationship
is the one we have with you,
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness

(inspired by James 3:17)

“The wisdom from above is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield,
full of mercy and good fruits,
without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy” (James 3:17).
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven,
and we are given a new way to live.
Let us accept God’s grace,
and live new lives of faith, obedience, and joy.

From a worship service written by Bruce Gillette and Carolyn Winfrey Gillette for the Center for Christian Ethics. Posted on http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/174967.pdf.

Prayer of Confession

Lord Jesus Christ,
We call you Lord,
Yet it is too easy for us to worship other things.
Other activities, other relationships, other gods.

You tell us we cannot serve two masters,
Yet we spend more time focusing our energies elsewhere,
Diverting our time, our energy, our money, our attention away from you.

Forgive us, gracious Savior,
When our hearts are led astray
When we serve other gods and worship them.

We turn away from our distractions and sin.
Strengthen us to set our faces toward Jerusalem,
To take up our cross and follow you.

We pray this, counting on your grace. Amen.

Written by Chip Hardwick, on Thinking, Praying, Living. http://www.pcusa.org/blogs/faith/2012/3/30/prayer-confession-march-madness/.

Benediction

Friends, our worship continues even as we leave this moment. Friends, we have gathered in joy to sing and pray and hear God’s word. We have come as friends, called friends by the Christ we follow. And now we are sent out into the world, to make friends. Let us be about the business we have been given. Let us go with God. Amen.

Derek C. Weber, February 2022