May 26, 2019
Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Easter 6
Call to Worship (from Psalm 67)
One: We come together to celebrate God’s saving power.
Many: God is gracious. God’s face shines on us.
One: So let’s sing our praise for God, who guides people and nations.
Many: We’re here to worship the One who treats all “fair and square”!
One: Today, sing for joy!
Many: Let all the earth honor God.
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, today we turn to you, filled with gratitude for your guidance. We celebrate the ways you work with equity for all your beloved daughters and sons. Today as we remember those who have died in military service, we lean into your promise for the coming day when even death will be overcome.
In grateful anticipation, we lift our hearts to you this day. In thanksgiving, we offer you our praise! AMEN
Moment for Stewardship (from Acts 16:11-15)
In this Easter season, we continue to meet people whose lives have been radically changed because of God’s work in Jesus Christ. Do you remember Lydia? She’s often remembered as a “seller of purple” – a business woman in Macedonia.
Lydia heard the Good News which Paul and Timothy announced and decided to be baptized as a follower of Jesus.
Then, responding with JOY, Lydia invited Paul and Timothy to come stay at her home. She offered hospitality, in gratitude for the life-giving news she had been given.
As believers, followers, disciples, take a moment to call to mind the Good News you have been given. We are loved. We are not left comfortless. We are already tasting the reality of abundant and eternal life.
How will you respond? What shape will your gratitude take? What will you offer back to the God of all creation,
to our Savior Jesus Christ,
to the body of Christ we know as “church”?
With joy, let us make our offering.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
God of all good gifts, we remember how Lydia offered Paul and Timothy the opportunity to stay at her home. Thank you for all who have responded today to this opportunity, offering freely from what we have in response to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Encourage our generosity as a sig n of our gratitude, AMEN
Invitation to Communion
We don’t know much about Lydia, but we do understand she was gathered with a group to pray when Paul and Timothy showed up with Good News! From the limited notes in Acts, we recognize Lydia was a woman of some means – a business woman who had a home to which she was comfortable inviting Paul and Timothy.
Today, imagine with me the first time Paul and Timothy sat down for a meal at Lydia’s home. I see a pleasant place, a table provisioned with adequate (or even abundant) food, along with bread and wine. Lydia and her household had just been baptized, so I can almost hear Timothy recalling Jesus’ meal with his disciples in an upper room not too long ago.
What a joyful feast! Jesus remembered in bread blessed, broken, shared. Jesus’ love poured out in wine which sparkles as it’s passed.
And so it is today. This is the joyful feast of the people of God, gathered here in remembrance. All are welcome – come!