Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Pentecost +13
Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 139)
One: Gathered to worship God, we give thanks
for God knows each and all of us.
Many: God knows our thoughts!
One: We praise God who designed us and formed us.
Many: Our Creator holds us close.
One: So we lift our voices to sing our joy,
Many: grateful for God’s presence in every moment of our lives!
(Consider an opening hymn like CH #38 “Clap Your Hands” or CH #6, “Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above.”)
Opening Prayer
Holy God, we celebrate your presence in our midst, grateful for the care you provide in every moment. May this hour be a time of lifting up the ways we can serve you, inspiring each of us to reach out to your children who struggle and suffer.
Help us rejoice in the gifts you pour out each day.
Increase our confidence in your constant connection with us
— from womb to tomb. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship (in response to Luke 14:25-33)
We don’t often talk out loud in this congregation about the cost of discipleship. We presume folks know there is some cost to belonging to a church. Often, we think about that as a monetary cost.
Connected to that thought, most of us expect a time in worship when the invitation is extended, deacons pass an offering tray, and we recognize we’re free to make a contribution or simply pass the tray to the person sitting next to us.
Jesus, however, teaches the crowds traveling with him about the high cost of being a disciple.
Hate your family.
Carry a cross (the hated tool of Roman punishment and death).
Give up all your possessions.
Hard words! This serious business of being a disciple does not come easily.
Today, as we receive our morning offering, I invite you to measure what you are giving (are you giving anything?) against the challenge Jesus offered the crowds. Focus on your time, your “stuff” and your money.
Then, when you’ve measured the difference, perhaps when you’re alone, face yourself in a mirror and ask: What am I truly willing to give?
What am I willing to DO, to truly identify myself as one of Jesus’ disciples?
Prayer of Thanksgiving (connecting today’s Jeremiah and Luke texts)
Great Potter of creation, thank you for moments you challenge us to be fully aware of you. Thank you for the reality-check which comes through scripture. Thank you for this opportunity to measure what we are, and what we offer, against the high bar set by Jesus. Thank you, most of all, for the gift of time, that we might take one step today and another one tomorrow, toward becoming true disciples. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
Our scripture from Luke 14 is sometimes called “count the cost.” Jesus, speaking to the large crowd, invites each one to count the cost of following him.
Today, focused on this Table, I invite you to “count the cost” of following Jesus. Does it make a difference in the people you seek out? Are you giving time, talent, and treasure to build up this congregation (one part of the Body of Christ)? Can others see you are a Christian by the way you live your daily life?
Jesus’ words and actions at the table are recorded later in Luke (22:14-20). Unique to Luke, Jesus opens his reflection by inviting the disciples to share a cup, then the bread, and then the cup after supper (perhaps in the sequence of the Passover meal). Jesus asked those with him to remember him each time they broke bread and drank from the cup. He clearly identified his own body in the bread; his own blood in the cup. Body and blood, given for YOU — given for me.
However it is that we share these sacred elements, each time we participate, let us REMEMBER Jesus, counting the cost for each of us as we eat and drink.
The Table is prepared, and there is a place for you. Come!