Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Pentecost +7
Call to Worship (in response to Psalm 85)
One: In the heat of summer we gather, seeking to be restored by God
to our full humanity.
Many: May God revive us, so we might rejoice in each day of life.
One: Today may we hear as God is still speaking peace
to us and to the whole of God’s creation.
Many: Today may we recognize where steadfast love and faithfulness meet.
One: Even as we worship, we trust the Lord will give us what is good.
Many: Together let’s celebrate God’s salvation for each and for all!
Opening Prayer
God of our salvation, as we gather today, renew in us a deep awareness of your desire to make a path for us. You yearn to speak peace to us and to the world you have created. In our worship, we claim your promise to forgive us and draw us back to you. So speak your steadfast love to us once more, that your glory may dwell in us and in our land. 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, let’s 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, translating abundant agape 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 our 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 your love made visible. Open our spirits to respond in love to the needs which surround us.
May we clearly see each sister and brother in Christ and respond to each one in love, remembering all are made in your image. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
In some churches, this table time is known as a love feast. It’s our time to remember Jesus and give thanks for his life, his teachings, his death and resurrection. It’s our opportunity to experience God’s love made visible in simple elements of bread and juice, linking us to this emblematic feast which has been celebrated around the world. From the time Jesus shared a meal with his closest disciples just before he was arrested and crucified, followers have focused on the love which binds us to Jesus and to one another as we share a taste of bread and drink the cup.
So we proclaim our faith as we prepare to feast.
With vigor, let’s sing CH #171, God’s Love Made Visible. (You could change the words in verse 2 to “Open all doors, remember his birth…”)