Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Pentecost +16
Call to Worship (in response to Psalm 91)
Consider using CH #77 “On Eagle’s Wings” with a soloist singing the verse/s and the congregation responding with the refrain.
OR
One: Welcome to worship at ____________, where we gather to praise the
Lord, our refuge and our rock, the One in whom we trust.
Many: Today we rejoice, trusting God will answer when we call.
One: Together we give thanks for the Lord’s presence in every moment
of our lives.
Many: We yearn to stay close to the One who will shelter us.
One: With grateful hearts, let’s offer our praise to the Almighty!
Opening Prayer
We call out to you, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer,
eager to honor you with our minds, our hearts and our spirits.
Grant us confidence in our connection to you as we seek to be followers
of your Beloved, Jesus, the Christ. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship (from Luke 16:19-31)
Often when we come to worship, what we hear from scripture is painfully different from what we hear in our homes, at work, or in conversation with our friends. Jesus has a fundamentally different way of looking at many things – but especially our way of dealing with money.
Luke 16 includes three warnings of the dangers of wealth. Today we hear of the “turn-about” after their deaths of one (proudly wealthy in earthly life) and another who was down-and-out poor (now seated with Abraham).
After their deaths, the selfish rich man, from Hades (described as a place of eternal punishment), tried to bargain with “Father Abraham” for Lazarus to come and provide some respite. If that were not possible, he pleaded for Lazarus to return from death to give a warning to his still-living brothers.
Abraham’s response was clear: not even someone rising from the dead will be enough to change the brothers!
Will we take this as fair warning for us? While we may not consider ourselves rich, we do recognize so many in the world today who suffer from extreme poverty.
No one of us can respond to the needs everywhere, but each one of us can respond to the needs of one. What is it you will do, this side of heaven?
What is it you will do today, as we share our tithes, our gifts, and our offerings?
Prayer of Thanksgiving
God of all the earth, thank you for the resources we have been given.
As we relish the joys of our earthly lives, free us to be generous givers.
Thank you for the challenge we heard from scripture today, and this opportunity to respond. Help us carry with us an image of all the good which can come from what we have offered back to you and to your church in this offering.
AMEN
Invitation to Communion*
It is not easy to be Christian. It never has been. That was a heavy meal Jesus shared with his disciples that night. He told them he was leaving; he told them he was going to be betrayed – surely the disciples were stunned. But he did not leave them comfortless. He gave them this cup and this loaf, not just for remembrance, not just for anticipation, but to ease their present pain.
In the year 1522 the church at Wittenburg was falling apart.
Martin Luther stood up, and in the midst of their suffering he offered them the Lord’s Supper. He spoke to them about the peace a Christian could find in communion, and closed with these words: “For this bread is a comfort to the sorrowing, and healing for the sick, a life for the dying, a food for the hungry, and rich treasure for all the poor and needy.”
…
For those of us who are sorrowing, sick, dying, hungry, poor, and needy, he holds out the Eucharist as comfort, healing, life, food, and treasure. There is a blessing for every need here. How good it is to come to this table, even if just for a minute, to receive the peace of God that the world of its own accord cannot give.
*Credit: Taken from Re/Membering by Joseph R. Jeter, p. 70.