Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Pentecost +11
Call to Worship (in response to Psalm 71)
One: Like a solid rock, strong and secure, our Lord stands.
Many: This God is our hope!
One: From our birth, to this day, and beyond, we trust in God.
Many: Rejoice! For this God is the One we can count on.
One: Gathered now, let us praise the Lord our God.
Many: With power, we lift our voices to sing our praise!
(Choose a lively hymn or chorus of praise: CH #29 “Alabaré” or
CH #63 “How Majestic Is Your Name” are two possibilities.)
Opening Prayer
Holy God, we do praise your name this day, with hearts filled with gratitude for your presence, your power and your persistence in calling us to you.
May our time of worship be filled with joy as we celebrate the community you are forming here as one part of the Body of Christ.
May we all recognize the gift we’re given as we participate in worship today with our voices, our hearts and our minds all merging into one grand celebration of our place in your Realm. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship
Anyone who has thrown out your back, pinched a nerve, or endured deteriorating discs might have true empathy for the woman of Luke 13.
This un-named woman had endured a crippling spirit for 18 years!
Jesus saw her, called her over to declare, “You are set free from your ailment,” and laid hands on her. She received the gift Jesus could give.
What about you? What is it you can give, as a follower of Jesus, the healer?
In this offering time, it’s great for any or all of us to give gifts of coin and check. This congregation depends on you faithfully sharing financial resources which then are translated into the means of ministry.
But this time is also an opportunity for you to offer your gifts of care and compassion, your gift of encouragement, of challenge, of courageous commentary.
Jesus recognized and seized the moment, despite the prohibition of healing on the Sabbath. How will you seize the moment today? Will your actions be the cause for rejoicing?
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Gracious God, we do rejoice in the many gifts you pour out, and especially in the gift of Jesus, who was a teacher, healer and the incarnation of your Love.
We thank you for the gifts which have entered into these offering plates, and for all the gifts which we can offer to encourage, strengthen and support our sisters and brothers (both near and far away). Help us use them to their full capacity, that health may be the gift for each and for all. AMEN
Invitation to Communion (adapted from Thom Shuman at Lectionary Liturgies
At this table, we gather to share in a meal of memory and thanksgiving.
Together, let us pray:
Holy are you, God of the Ages, and
blessed is Jesus Christ, our Hope, our Trust.
Your Child from before time, he became a son of Abraham,
so we might all be a part of your family.
From the day he became human, he taught us of your hopes for us,
so we would not give in to despair.
Seeing us held in the unrelenting grasp of sin and death,
he put out his hand and rescued us.
As we remember his life, ministry, death, and resurrection yet once more,
we proclaim the mystery we call faith:
Higher voices: Christ died, to set us free from sin;
Lower voices: Christ was raised, so we might be set free from death;
All: Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon the gifts of the Bread and the Cup,
and upon your daughters and sons who come to this Table.
We come with knees knocking, with hearts pounding,
taking shallow breaths, trusting and believing that here, we will find healing,
here, we will be touched by your grace,
here, we will hear your Word of hope.
Then, fed by your love and nourished by your dreams,
we shall go to bring your peace to a warring world.
We shall speak out on behalf of those whom society has rendered voiceless.
All: We will not be afraid to stand up straight,
look injustice and cruelty in the eye and proclaim, “Enough!”
Then, gathered with our sisters and brothers from the beginning of creation,
we will sit at the Table of the Lamb,
joining hands and lifting our eternal praise to you,
All: God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.