Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Proper 10
Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 82
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37
Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 82)
One: The Psalmist declares God is judge of all the earth.
Many: Today we gather to praise God, who gives justice to the weak.
One: In every nation, may God rescue the weak and needy.
Many: Here, in this nation and in this city,
may God rescue the weak and the needy.
One: May our worship hour inspire us to act out our faith.
Many: May we grow strong as we stand with God, Judge of all the earth.
Opening Prayer
Holy Lover of all life, we turn our minds and hearts to worship you this day.
Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts show your Love, especially for those who are weak and needy. Build us up in this hour, so our lives might fulfill your desire for ALL people to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with you every day. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship (inspired by Luke 10)
Many of us might someday have the opportunity to inherit or to provide an inheritance. I’m not here to suggest how you might use such an inheritance, or to whom you should provide one. Instead, I’m here to point out the question of a lawyer who asked Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus’ response came in story form, which we know as “the Good Samaritan”. Jesus teaches about life stewardship. The traveller responded with acts of love for a stranger, providing care for the victim.
How are we to live? We, too, know the greatest commandment:
“love the Lord our God, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves.”
Today, you have opportunity to demonstrate your love and share some of the inheritance we have all received from our Creator. How will we do that?
I want to challenge each of us to consider how we steward the resources for which we are responsible. What financial support, what time, what shared talents might we give in response to hearing the story of the Good Samaritan?
What might you provide today as a part of your inheritance offered to neighbors in need?
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Loving God, thank you for stories which continue to inspire and challenge us. Thank you for the ways Jesus still teaches us today to be ever-stronger followers of the Way of Love. Receive these gifts and help us use them to lift up neighbors in need. Accept our desire to share the inheritance you provide for us, and continue to call us out to act on that desire. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
The man robbed and left on the road to Jericho could easily have died from the beating he endured. He may have looked dead to the priest and the Levite who would have then been incapable of carrying out their priestly or Temple duties, if they had touched his body. But the stranger, an alien who might well have feared for his own life, stopped, cared for the victim’s immediate needs and brought him to sanctuary. He then provided financial support to assure care for the robbed man, along with a promise to provide if additional funds were needed.
When we come to this Table, we may well come with a sense of being beaten up and/or left behind by the circumstances of our lives or the realities of our world (you might name specifics, such as weather disasters, gun violence, economic challenges…). Yet at this Table, we meet One who cares for us.
Here, we remember (put together again: re-member) Jesus, in whose life, death and resurrection we find HOPE. With these simple elements, we share a feast from the table where Christ is our host. Whether we come in pain or in joy, we are welcome here.
So come! Bring your real self, however alive or near death you may be.
Come! Find a welcome in this place, and a balm for your soul.