Call to Worship

Easter people, raise your voices, for you belong to the Risen Christ!
We belong to Christ, and so we share in Christ together.

Just as we share in Christ together, so we are called to share Christ with the world.
We share Christ by proclaiming the good news of God’s love to the world.

How will you share God’s love with the world?
By loving, respecting, and honoring our neighbors, especially those the world neglects, overlooks, and ignores.

Easter people, you belong to the Risen Christ!
Because we belong to Christ, we will share Christ’s love and belonging everywhere we go.

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

Prayer for the Day

God of all creation
who called every being into life
who is mindful of humankind in all its diversity
who embodies us with dignity,
granting different gifts and talents to shape life in this world
we ask for your Spirit to unite us
where we face lack of understanding and disunity
in our churches, in our communities, in our countries.
And in silence, we lay before you the burdens of our hearts.

(Silence)

We ask for your Spirit to unite us
in the face of the conflicts, hatred, and violation of life
experienced in so many regions of the earth
and in silence, we bring to you the pain of the victims.

(Silence)

We ask for your Spirit to unite us
wherever fear prevents us from caring for our neighbour,
from meeting people of different ethnicities, cultures,
and faith communities with respect
and in silence, we bring to you the brokenness of human relationships.

(Silence)

God of all creation,
in Christ, we are reconciled,
and so we ask for your uniting Spirit
to help us to overcome all our divisions
that we may live in peace.

Amen.

Posted on the Monthly Prayers page of the Christian Aid website, http://www.christianaid.org.uk/. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2017/09/prayer-for-unity-amidst-diversity.html.

Prayer of Confession

The act of confessing our sin is not simply a recitation of our faults and wrongs, but also an opportunity to receive God’s mercy and share in that abundant grace. Confident of God’s love for us, let us offer our prayers, first in silence.

Offer silent prayers of confession.

Holy God, we ask for your help, your power, your Spirit, so that we can amend our lives and grow more each day into the image of Christ. We confess that we fear what is different. We confess that it’s easier to lock the doors of our community than to receive those who don’t look like we look, love like we love, or vote the way we vote. We confess that we have not lived out your call to share in abundant life and unconditional love. We believe that you have the power to turn us around to a more inclusive way of living, so we ask you to do that. We ask you to give us the courage to change. We ask that you give us the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love to be your people in all we say and do. Amen.

Written by Beth Merrill Neel on her blog, ‘Hold Fast to What Is Good’. Used with permission. https://holdfasttowhatisgood.com/liturgy/prayer-of-confession/.

Benediction

Lord, Make Us One United in You

Lord, make us one with you—one in heart, mind, spirit, and love. Make us instruments of your glory and vessels of your praise. Cause our complete being to rejoice and find rest in your perfect will. We are ever inscribed upon your heart and before you. Therefore, continue to pray for us this day, to watch over us, and to make us pure in every way. Purify our families, our relationships, our decisions, our minds, our thoughts, our deeds until we reflect your glory. Let your righteous hand be seen in us and in the world. We go forth empowered by Your Spirit, willing to do Your will, and ever ready to love Your people. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Written by Stacey Cole Wilson, in The Africana Worship Book, Year B (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2007), 216-17.