Call to Worship

Beloved disciples, welcome. Some of us come weary and hungry, while others come rested and content. Still others come ready to wrestle with the questions that keep us up at night. No matter how you enter this space, we say,

Come, let us worship God together!

Together, we notice the fatigue we carry, the exhaustion that comes from our hunger for care and connection with one another and with God. Yet, when God says to feed one another, we answer,

We have nothing but…

Together, we feel the unrest and turmoil of grappling with the unknown, unsure whether we are fighting for everyone’s wellbeing or merely our own stability. Yet, when God tells us to start by loving God and our neighbors, we answer,

We have nothing but…

Together, then, let us wrestle with our hungers that we may be transformed into people who seek and find God all around us, so that when God calls us to feed the hungry and struggle for those in need of help, we answer,

In you, we have everything. Use us as you will. Amen.

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

Prayer for the Day

God,
You have called us into a whole-hearted relationship with You.
You’ve asked us to leave behind all we possess
and live out our faith with passion and integrity.

We thank You for the deep love You have shown toward us.
Forgive us when we take our relationship with You for granted,
when we let the fire of our early commitment cool,
and allow other things to take priority in our lives.

Give us strength to hold on to You no matter what comes our way.
Give us courage to wrestle honestly with the things we don’t understand;
to continually work out our salvation with fear and trembling,
to grapple daily with what it means to faithfully follow You.

We are Your people, chosen and named by You.
Grant us Your continued blessing
and mark us with Your love,
as we seek to live as Your disciples in the world.

In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/07/prayer-of-commitment-holding-firm.html.

Prayer of Confession

The following prayer of confession may be used with or without the incorporation of verses 1 and 4 of “I Need Thee Every Hour.” If you choose not to include the hymn, we recommend that the whole congregation read the text of the prayer in unison.

Sing (optional)

I need thee every hour,
most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like thine
can peace afford.

Refrain:

I need thee, O I need thee;
Every hour I need thee;
O bless me, now, my Savior,
I come to thee.

Merciful God,

We need you. From our internal struggles to the suffering we encounter in our world, we confess that we need you because, without you, we would be forever stuck in cycles of conflict and harm. We wrestle against one another, vying for who is right and who is wrong, all the while neglecting the ways we harm by refusing to work together for the good of our neighbors. We deflect responsibility for caring for the vulnerable to others instead of embracing our call to respond out of the abundance God has given us. God, we need you.

Sing (optional)

I need thee, O I need thee;
Every hour I need thee;
O bless me, now, my Savior,
I come to thee.

We hunger for you, God, and yet we seek fulfillment in all the wrong places. We feed our fear of scarcity instead of our trust in your abundance. We fuel our apathy instead of pouring ourselves out in service. We nourish our prejudices instead of meeting you in friendship with those we once called strangers. God, we need you.

Sing (optional)

I need thee, O I need thee;
Every hour I need thee;
O bless me, now, my Savior,
I come to thee.

Forgive us, God, and free us to feast on your abundant love and pour your love into the world as we commit to wrestling toward the fulfillment of your reign on earth as it is heaven. Amen.

Sing (optional)

I need thee every hour;
teach me thy will
and thy rich promises
in me fulfill.

Refrain:

I need thee, O I need thee;
Every hour I need thee;
O bless me, now, my Savior,
I come to thee.

Prayer written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2023. Optional incorporation of “I Need Thee Every Hour” written by Annie S. Hawks, The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 397.

Benediction

Go today full of God’s love and ready to notice God in your neighbors’ hungers. Go today at rest in God and ready to struggle in loving service for your neighbors. And as you go, may you find the face of God in the hungering, feeding, wrestling, and resting. Amen.