Call to Worship: Spirit of the Ages

Come and worship!
We will praise the One between, within, and over.
Trust in the One who co-creates the was, the now, and the will-be.
Our hope is in the One who creates expansive love
calling us to do the same.
Follow the One who never breaks covenant.
We follow the One whose extravagant love calls us
to co-create justice for the oppressed,
feed the hungry, unlock prisons,
and welcome strangers, orphans, and widows.
Praise the One whose justice is grace-full and inclusive.
We praise the Spirit that spans the ages. Amen!

Written by Tim Graves and posted on LiturgyBits. https://liturgybits.wordpress.com. Reposted: https://re-worship.blogspot.com/search/label/Proper%2021%20C.

Prayer of Petition

God help us to change.
To change ourselves and to change our world.
To know the need for it.
To deal with the pain of it.
To feel the joy of it.
To undertake the journey without understanding the destination.
The art of gentle revolution.
Amen.

Written by Michael Leunig in “A Common Prayer” (1990). http://www.harpercollins.com.au/books/1863717404. Posted on the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand website. http://www.presbyterian.org.nz/for-ministers/worship-resources/. Reposted: https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/08/prayer-art-of-gentle-revolution.html.

Prayer of Petition and Intercession

(inspired by Luke 16: 19-31 and 1 Timothy 6: 6-19)

Lord, your word tells us that there is great good in godliness combined with contentment; that as we brought nothing into this world, so we can take nothing out of it. Help us, dear Lord, to be content with what we have; to seek heavenly treasures rather than those things of this world which rust corrodes and moths consume. Grant that we might be people who share the wealth that you have provided; that we might be ones who share both the bread and wine of earth and the bread and wine of heaven...

Lord hear our prayer...

Father, we especially pray today for those who like Lazarus are ignored or neglected and left to suffer in our world; those who live in poverty within our town and province, and those who lie in great suffering at the gates of our nation...

O God, bind your people together and make us bright and shining witnesses to your compassion and your grace as they are revealed in the law and the prophets and in Christ Jesus, the one you raised from the dead...

Lord hear our prayer...

Hear too, we pray, the petitions and the intercessions of our hearts for those who govern and are in authority; for those who lost in sin and despair; for those who need healing; and for those who seek to serve as Jesus served. We especially hold before you today (bidding prayers).

Lord hear our prayer...

We ask these things and we give you our thanks and praise, and our minutes and our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray as one family, saying Our Father…

Written by Rev. Richard J. Fairchild. Reposted at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/09/pastoral-prayer-proper-21-c.html.

Prayer of Confession

Sometimes God we take ourselves so seriously
—our opinions, our emotions, our needs, our entitlements—
that we fail to notice our effect on others.
And we do not make connections between our limitless wants
and the resources left for others.
We do this without knowing it.

Bring our awareness to Justice for all
to the common good, to your universality of blessings.
Remind us you love all.

Silent confession...

Words of Assurance

(inspired by 1 Timothy 2:4-6)

The God of salvation,
who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth,
offers forgiveness to each of us through the Redeemer sent in human form.
We are grateful that over and over we are given the chance to begin again
and that nothing we have done can separate us from God’s love.

Written by The Rev. Catherine Rolling, in Prayerful Living: Service Prayers for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost. Reposted: https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/08/confession-justice-for-all.html.

Benediction

As we leave this place, may our eyes be opened to those who lie at our gates. With the love of Christ within us, may we see the hungry and the hurting, the abused and the forgotten. And may we seek to share the blessings we have been given. In the name of God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, may we go out and live the Kin-dom. Amen.

Derek C. Weber, February 2022