Call to Worship

When we witness our work bear good fruit and rejoice in all God has done among us…
we gather for worship.

When misunderstanding and misinformation threaten to divide instead of unite us…
we gather for worship.

When we dance together in the joy of knowing we belong to God and one another…
we gather for worship.

When we stumble and bumble our way forward as God’s grace guides us into greater love and deeper communion…
we gather for worship. Thanks be to God. Amen.

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

Prayer for the Day

God of secret purposes and extravagant blessings,
we come to praise you.
We come because we want to,
we sing our songs because we are glad to,
we pray for your grace because we need to,
and we ask for the love of Christ in our hearts
because without it we are a dead loss.

Please lift every shutter within our mind,
and open every door within our soul,
that you, the Lord of glory,
the God of countless hosts, may come in.
Through Christ Jesus, the joy of loving hearts.
Amen!

Written by Bruce Prewer, http://www.bruceprewer.com/DocB/BSUNDAY15.htm. Used with permission of the author.

Prayer of Confession

Our hearts are hard, O God –
Soften them with your love.
Our hands are clenched, O God –
Open them with your grace.
Our feet are planted too firmly, O God –
Invite us to dance with you.
Our lives are not our own, we know –
Let us live and move and have our being in you, O God. Amen.

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

Benediction

Family of God, week in and week out, we gather for worship to support, to encourage, to learn, to confess, and to praise. These and more are the rhythms of our life with God and one another. Go now from this place blessed by grace to keep dancing. Keep dancing with the Triune God. Keep dancing with your neighbors. Keep dancing with all creation. Keep dancing in the love of God and for the love of God that your lives may be blessings to all you meet. Amen.

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