Worship Resources
for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Psalm 1
1 John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19
Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 1)
One: We’ve come to delight in the good gifts of God!
Many: Gathered in this community, we learn and grow in God’s teaching.
One: This is our time to meditate on what scripture teaches.
Many: Like trees planted by the water, whose leaves will not wither,
One: we trust we will grow, week by week!
Many: May God help us prosper as we continue to learn God’s ways.
Opening Prayer
Holy One,
thank you for the Bible.
Thank you for our time to learn and grow together.
Thank you for watching over us as we walk in your paths
of justice, love and righteousness.
Help us delight in you and in all you offer to each one
as we seek your presence this morning. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship
For many people across the US, this day is marked not only as the second Sunday in May, or as the 7th Sunday after Easter, but also as Mothers’ Day
(often noted as Mother’s Day). While the origins of Mothers’ Day are debated, many of us observe this as a day of remembrance and thanksgiving for our own Moms.
You may, in fact, be here in worship as a way of honoring your Mom, who wanted to be at church with you or whose memory you honor by coming to
worship.
At its core, Mothers’ Day still holds the intention of those who worked to establish a day back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One originator wanted this to be a day dedicated to Moms who stood against sending their sons into the Civil War. Another wanted it to be a day to honor the sacrifices many mothers make on behalf of their children.
Today, I invite you to think of how you can honor God as Mother, bringing gifts to lift up the life of Love to which God calls each of us. Our dedication of time, our sharing of talent and our presentation of our tithes and offerings are all ways to acknowledge the One from whom our lives have come.
In gratitude, then, let us receive our morning offering.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Mothering God, you have brought us to life.
You provide all we need, giving us your unconditional love.
In you we live and move and have our being.
Thank you for all you give to each of us.
Receive these gifts as signs of our love,
offering back to you a portion of what we’ve been given.
Help us make good use of what is now presented,
and keep us filled with gratitude for the ways in which we are given
daily provision for abundant life,
AMEN
Invitation to Communion
Often we speak of this table as a place where all are welcome.
Perhaps some of you remember times when your own Mom would call out “lunch time!” and whichever friends were playing with you would gather at the picnic table for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, carrot sticks, some juice and maybe a frozen popsicle as a summer treat.
(obviously, use your own memory to describe a meal you remember )
Here, even when we don’t know all the names of people in the room, we know God welcomes all to this table. Seeking to be made whole, we are invited to repent and to be embraced by the Love which will not let us go.
Here, come to remember and give thanks for God’s loving gift of Jesus, whom we claim as “the Christ”, rather than following the advice of the wicked.
Here, come to confess our brokenness and pray for a new opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, as followers on the Way rather than the path that sinners tread.
Here, come share these gifts of bread and juice, remembering and prospering in the Way of Jesus Christ.