Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Pentecost +11
The Center for Faith and Giving will undergo a change in leadership this month as Bruce Barkhauer retires after over 14 years of leading the work of generosity for the Disciples of Christ. You can learn more about our new director, Melissa St Clair here. If you are interested in making a gift to the Fund for Generosity in honor of Bruce’s ministry, you can learn about it here.
As always, you can support the work of this ministry by following this link: donate
Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 51:6-12)
One: Seeking God’s action in our lives, we come, asking,
Many: as God’s beloved children, may we all receive a new and right spirit.
One: Today we worship the One who teaches us wisdom.
Many: We give thanks for the joy given to us by the Spirit.
One: Because of God’s loving kindness, we’re given clean hearts,
Many: and we rejoice in the generous spirits which God sustains in us.
Opening Prayer
With gratitude we turn to you this morning, grateful for the many gifts you pour out on us and on all your children.
As we worship, raise our minds, our hearts and our spirits to focus on you, Holy Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Help us seek the true Bread of Life you’ve sent in Jesus, the Christ.
Fill us with your Spirit, even as you provided for the first believers, long ago.
And send us from this place refreshed, renewed and ready to be your witnesses here, and in the wider world. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship (inspired by John 6 and Ps. 51)
Jesus listened to the crowd who tracked him down, nearly 6 miles away from where Jesus had fed them the night before. They came, eager to receive more from this man who had provided bread and fish for the whole crowd.
How often do we want to receive more, when we’ve had our fill, and then gotten hungry again?
The counter to this inclination to always look for MORE comes from the Psalmist, who pleads with God “do not cast me away from your presence…
restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a generous spirit.”
This is a moment when we are each afforded the opportunity to demonstrate our generous spirits. As much as God gives us, we find it’s impossible to OUT-GIVE God…but we can regularly and routinely share from our resources a portion we give back to God.
How do you strengthen your generosity muscle? Like any other muscle, this one grows stronger with each act of generosity. This is our opportunity to build up our muscle, as we share our gifts of time, talent and treasure.
Let us offer our gifts.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Holy God, from your abundance we receive gift upon gift!
Thank you for your generosity, and for this opportunity for us to respond.
Please receive these gifts,
help us rejoice as we’ve shared,
and know we commit ourselves to wise use of all that has been offered today. AME
Invitation to Communion
The Gospel of John includes a variety of “I am” sayings from Jesus:
I am the door
I am the light of the world
I am the good shepherd
I am the resurrection and the life
Today, we hear Jesus declaring “I am the bread of life.”
Just as food is necessary for sustaining life, so we understand Jesus is essential to sustaining our lives of faith.
In him, we have come to know the love which comes from God.
In him, we recognize how we can be sustained even in the dark moments
which challenge each of us.
In him, we receive the gifts of life in covenant relationship, so we are never
left completely adrift and alone.
However you understand the ways Jesus is bread of your life, you are welcome to share in this feast of bread and juice.
May Christ be made known anew to each of us and to all, in the breaking of the bread.
(CH #408, “Come, Share the Lord” brings the image of bread, broken by Jesus, as the symbol which binds us together.)