Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Proper 12C
Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)
Luke 11:1-13
Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 85)One: We gather in gratitude, grateful for the ways God revives us.
Many: God’s steadfast love surrounds God’s people!
One: God’s salvation is at hand!
Many: May God’s glory dwell in our land.
One: Rejoice! The Lord will give what is good.
Many: So we come together to praise the Lord our God!
(consider singing the old hymn “Revive Us Again”,
written in 1867 by William Mackay.
Opening Prayer
God, we do gather in gratitude, thankful for the ways you seek to revive us!
Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts work together
to praise you in this hour. Grant your Spirit to inflame our hearts and inspire each of us to share your steadfast love with all whom we encounter.
Help us to join in giving only what is good, not only today but every day. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship
Jesus often makes comparisons from the lesser to the greater. In Luke 11, we hear the comparison from the way parents give to children
to the ways God will give the Spirit to all who ask.
Think of the best parents you know (your own parents? Perhaps your children as parents, or others right in our midst).
Now, make the comparison. As marvelous as THESE parents are, as they provide for their children, how much more will God provide for those who seek God’s favor?
Because God loves and provides for us, we’re invited to share that love, translated into our morning tithes and gifts. See? These symbols of coin, check and electronic deposits come from the labor of our hearts, hands and minds. When collected, they allow us to care not only for our church community, but for others who yearn to share in God’s abundance.
With joy-filled spirits, let us share in our morning offering.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
God, thank you for the daily bread, and for so much more, which you provide. Thank you for this opportunity to return a portion of what we’ve been given. Open our eyes to see and open our spirits to respond in love.
May each sister and brother in Christ be someone we see clearly and respond to in love, remembering all are made in your image. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
No matter HOW good (or how difficult) your parents may be (or may have been), we recognize God’s love made known to each and to all is more than the love of human parents. So we can trust in God’s love, which has been made known to us through the scriptures, songs, sermons and stories of Jesus, the Christ.
God’s love, made visible, shows up clearly at this table.
Here we see through the eyes of faith!
Here, small thimbles of juice/wine and bites of bread become a FEAST! Here, we’re surrounded across time and space by a great cloud of witnesses.
Here, we’re inspired (in-Spirited) to live in loving ways.
So come to the table! This incomprehensible love takes on familiar form, and all are welcome.
(“God’s Love Made Visible”, CH #171 would be a good song during communion, or used as a hymn inviting folks to the feast.)
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