Call to Worship

Be still for a moment. What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you feel under your feet? Beloved, God is here.

In the familiar and unfamiliar, God is here with us.

Take a moment to look around. Whom do you notice? Who isn’t here that you expected to see? Whether this community feels brand new or familiar to you, God is here.

In the familiar and unfamiliar, God is here with us.

Take a deep breath. We share this air, this space, this worship home together. In our breathing and worshiping in this time and place, God is here.

In the familiar and unfamiliar, God is here with us.

God is here. May we pay attention and discern how God brings us together in the familiar and the unfamiliar to be and become the Body of Christ.

May we notice and join in God’s work of forming us for community as we worship today. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2024.

Opening Prayer

God, our God,

As you were with the wedding party in Cana of Galilee, be with us here today. The wine of our lives and souls has run out. Fill this place with the presence of your Holy Spirit. Fill the water pots of our souls this day with new and fresh wine from your wine cellar. The wine of yesterday is gone; it is stale; it is old. Today, God, send your anointing power in this place and in the lives of your people that we may find strength to hold on and hold out. Help us to know that the best wine is yet to come, and we can taste and see your goodness. Show yourself to be powerful, empowering, and awesome this day and for all times to come. In the name of Jesus the Christ, we pray. Amen.

Written by Bryan K. Fleet, in The Africana Worship Book, Year C (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 200), 124.

Prayer of Confession

Lord, we need a miracle today.
Like Jesus changing water into wine
at the wedding feast in Cana,
we need a miracle today.
We are tired, Lord, of the hurts of this world.
We are discouraged
in the face of injustice, war, poverty, and indifference.
We need a miracle today, Lord.
Your steadfast love, like a mighty mountain
will not be moved.
Your gifts, as many as the mighty winds,
cannot be counted.
Your glory, like a mighty torch,
will not be put out.
Lord, crown us with your love.
Show us your glory,
that in you we may be moved
to acts of kindness, love, justice, and mercy.
Lord, we need a miracle today. Amen.

Written by Erik Alsgaard and posted on the Worship Elements page of the Ministry Matters website, http://www.ministrymatters.com/. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/01/confession-john-2-1-11.html.

Benediction

Go now, with your trust in Christ
who has quenched your thirst with the wine of God’s love.
Do not be silent about God’s faithful love,
but shelter in the warmth of God’s wings
and keep your hearts honest.

And may God rejoice over you and call you “My Delight”;
May Christ Jesus bring out the best in you, to his glory;
And may the Spirit equip you all with gifts for the common good.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of Christ. Amen.

Copyright © 2001 Nathan Nettleton. Posted on Laughingbird Liturgical Resources, www.laughingbird.net. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/01/benediction-epiphany-2-c.html.