Trusting the Unknown

Call to Worship

Come! Now is the time to worship!
Come! Now is the time to worship!

We gather today as people God calls to go and share the good news.
We gather as God’s sent-out people.

We gather to listen and share God’s work in our lives, our families, and our neighborhoods.
We proclaim the goodness of God’s love together.

We gather to respond to God’s grace as we continue on the path of discipleship.
We hear God’s call and learn to say “yes” to God together.

We gather to again hear God’s call to “Go!” as God commissions us to love God and neighbor in everything that we do.
We go knowing that as God’s called, gathered, and sent-out people, we are not alone as we carry the weight of God’s call into the world together. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, December 2022.

Prayer for the Day

We would sing glad songs
to you, Commissioning God,
as we enter your heart
with thanksgiving on our lips,
for you are
that love which never ends;
that joy which overflows;
that faith which is always full.

We would proclaim our praise
to you, Voice of compassion,
as you would send us
into the world in which we live,
for you are
the Word we can speak to power;
the healing we can offer to the broken;
the justice which can replace oppression.

We would offer our hands and hearts
to you, Imaginative Spirit,
as you teach us new steps
in this dance we call life,
for you are
the cleanser of our messy hearts,
the breath of hope for shallow lungs,
the password for access to grace.

With our hearts, voices, bodies, souls,
we offer joyful noise to you,
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.

Written by Thom M. Shuman, Lectionary Liturgies (June 9, 2020), http://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.com/2020/06.

Prayer of Confession

God who loves us and calls us,

We confess that we are not always open to receiving your call on our lives. We make excuses. We choose not to listen. We believe that others would do it better than we can.

Forgive us for all the times we say no--or nothing at all—to your call.

We confess that we value the false certainty of our own path over the uncertainty of journeying with you and one another on the path of discipleship.

Forgive us for all the ways we choose what we think we know over joining you in the holy unknown.

We confess that we value the calls of some over others, putting the paths of some up on pedestals while not recognizing the many who answer your call as quiet, behind-the-scenes disciples.

Forgive us for neglecting the beautiful and varied calls you place on each of our lives.

Forgive us, God, and free us to joyfully bear the weight of your call on our lives as members together of the Body of Christ, redeemed and united by your love.

Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, December 2022.

Benediction

As you leave this gathering, hear God’s call to go! Go into the uncertainty of the journey ahead, trusting that of this you can be certain: God is with us, and we are sent out together. We are not alone. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, December 2022.