Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Lent IIB
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:23-31
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38
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The 40 day season of Lent began with Ash Wednesday and runs until Easter Day (3/31). Traditionally observed as a season of penitence, Lent is often marked by fasting, praying and alms-giving (providing for the poor).
As a change, the Call to Worship in these Lenten resources will be in unison, followed by a unison opening prayer, including a moment of confession.
Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 22)
Gathered to praise God, we stand in awe of the Lord!
Grateful for God’s care,
we’re here to worship the Ruler of the nations.
This is the Holy One, who will not hide from us,
but will hear us when we cry out.
Let us worship the Lord, our God!
Opening Prayer
We lift our voices to offer our praise to you, Mighty God.
All the day of our lives,
help us remember the ways you hear us when we call out to you.
This day, remind us that you will not hide your face from us.
Forgive the times we try to live with little, or NO, awareness of all you’ve provided for us: life, laughter, love,
family, friends, this faith community
grace, generous gifts, good food.
Accept our gratitude in these moments,
even as we offer this prayer in Jesus’ name. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship (inspired by Mark 8:31-38)
In the 40 day season of Lent, we have the opportunity to hear some difficult stories of Jesus and his disciples.
In Mark 8, Jesus speaks with rugged language of the cost of becoming his follower. “Deny yourself”. “Take up your cross”.
If your highest desire is to save your life, you’re sure to lose it.
The way to save your life is to lose it for Jesus’ sake,
and for the sake of the gospel!
What are you willing to give, to be a follower of Jesus?
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Holy God, we find it difficult to truly offer our lives. We try to wiggle out of the hard truth of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We hesitate to say out loud we’re willing to pay the cost.
Yet here we’ve come.
We offer you what we have, even as we ask you to make us more like you.
Accept this offering, and each one who has brought some gift.
Help us use each gift to help grow your Realm on earth, even as it is in heaven. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
Even when Jesus speaks hard words, we remember how he welcomed sinners to come and eat.
Even when Jesus lays out a difficult journey he will take to Jerusalem, we remember how he gathered his disciples in an upper room to share a meal.
Even when Jesus walks into the garden of Gethsemene to be betrayed by one of his own, we remember how he offered bread and wine as symbols of his own body and blood, that his followers might truly re-member him.
So come to this table, for you are welcome,
you are in the company of others seeking to follow Jesus,
you, too, are invited to share these gifts of bread and cup,
that each of us, and all of us,
might re-member Jesus.