Call to Worship

Have you noticed? Are you paying attention? God is doing a new thing.
We watch and wait in the fierce joy of the coming Messiah.

You know the captives? God is bringing freedom. You know the brokenhearted? God is bringing healing.
We watch and wait in the fierce joy of the coming Messiah.

Beloved, listen. God is calling you. To be freed and to free your neighbors. To be healed and to heal your community. To testify to the Light among us.
We watch and wait in the fierce joy of the coming Messiah.

So, let us join our voices and our hearts as we proclaim the story of the one whose coming we anticipate and yet is already as close as our own breath.
We come to watch, to wait, and to worship in the fierce joy of Jesus Christ, the coming Messiah. Amen.

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

Prayer for the Day

Holy God of Joy,
We rejoice in the reality of who you are.
We live within the joy of your love for us.
Our contentment comes and goes.
Our happiness ebbs and flows.
Our feelings depend upon our circumstances,
our physical health, our brain chemistry.
But our joy is deeply rooted
in our identity as your beloved children.
And we give you thanks. Amen.

Written by Joanna Harader, and posted on Spacious Faith. https://spaciousfaith.com/2013/12/17/advent-3-worship-pieces/. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog, https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2015/12/call-to-worship-prayer-for-advent.html.

Prayer of Confession

Optional: interweave singing “When God Restored Our Common Life”(The Faith We Sing, 2182) as part of the prayer of confession.

(Sing)
When God restored our common life,
Our hope, our liberty,
At first it seemed a passing dream,
A waking fantasy.
A shock of joy swept over us
For we had wept so long;
The seeds we watered once with tears
Sprang up into a song.

Merciful God,
The stories of your faithfulness abound,
yet we confess that we do not trust
in your provision and care for us.
We go our own way, longing for joy and peace,
but not recognizing our need
for communion with you and our neighbors.
God, restore us to the joy of our common life in you.

We went forth weeping, sowing seeds
In hard, unyielding soil;
With laughing hearts we carry home
The fruit of all our toil.
We praise the One who gave the growth,
With voices full and strong.
The seeds we watered once with tears
Sprang up into a song.

Loving God,
We witness the struggles to live and thrive all around us.
We confess that we are overwhelmed by what is required
to love our neighbors.
We hesitate to get our hands dirty
to address economic insecurity,
injustice against immigrants,
lack of affordable healthcare,
and food deserts.
We doubt that we can really reduce violence in our community,
increase safety and trust in our neighborhood,
and work together to tend to the needs that keep us apart.
God, restore us to the joy of our common life in you.

Great liberating God, we pray
For all who are oppressed.
May those who long for what is right
With justice now be blessed.
We pray for those who mourn this day,
And all who suffer wrong;
May seeds they water now with tears
Spring up into a song.

Liberating God,
We remember now those who mourn and are oppressed
As we offer our silent confession to you.

Silent prayers of confession.

Beloved, hear this good news:
God’s love never fails,
and is always at work
to bring us back to God and one another.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
May God restore us to the joy of our common life now and always.
Amen.

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

Words to “When God Restored Our Common Life” (italicized) © 1992 Damean Music, admin by GIA Publications, Inc. Reproduced by permission of GIA Publications, Inc. Any further reproduction requires permission from the publisher. For congregational reprint licensing, contact ONE LICENSE: http://www.onelicense.net.

Benediction

Beloved, may you be blessed with fierce, tenacious joy that in all things—the highs, the lows, the rejoicing, and the sorrow—you may hold fast to and be held fast by the good news of Jesus Christ, the coming Messiah. Amen.

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