Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
4th Sunday of Easter
Acts 7:55-60
Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
1 Peter 2:2-10
John 14:1-14
Call to Worship (in response to 1 Peter 2)
One: Join together as one voice!
Many: We are many but we speak together.
One: Let’s praise God in harmony!
Many: We are many, and sing in parts that make up the whole.
One: Together we are God’s own people,
Many: yes! We are God’s own people, receiving God’s mercy.
ALL: So, each of us and all of us, given God’s mercy, come to rejoice!
Opening Prayer
As your beloved people, Holy God,
we’re focused and eager to praise your name
with our hearts, our minds, and our voices.
Thank you for the gifts you pour over us:
drawing us into community (koinonia),
challenging us to act in love (agape),
blessing us to invite all people
to enter your Realm of mercy, justice, and peace
through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship
Have you ever seen humans building a pyramid, layer upon layer? Famous builds take place in Catalonia, Spain. 1
That’s the picture I see when I read 1 Peter 2:5! With Jesus, we are built up, hearing the challenge for us to be living stones: “Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.”
Together in this congregation, the sharing of our time, our talents, and our treasure means we’re working together to build up “the body of Christ” on earth.
What will you contribute? As resurrection people, drawn into new life by Jesus’ rising from the tomb, we’re able to be built up.
Today’s a terrific day for each of us to share the gifts we have, knowing each offering helps build up, just as each climber builds up the human pyramid of joy.
Let us bring our offerings as we re-commit our lives to building up God’s Realm.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Generous God,
You’ve created each of us in your own image,
inspired us through the gift of your Holy Spirit,
and modeled life for us in the life of Jesus, whom we know as the Christ.
Accept the gifts we’ve shared today,
and the ways we offer our very lives back to you as the Giver of Life.
Strengthen us to boldly share through acts of generosity and gratitude,
and lure us into closer company with you
and the generous saints who have gone before us
as we use these gifts to extend your realm on earth.
AMEN
Invitation to Communion
When we think about the people we’d welcome at our dinner table, many of us think of family, friends, business acquaintances, or colleagues from one of our leisure groups.
When we come to this table, however, we’re joined by people from every land, and by people from across time.
Christians from Mary and Simon Peter to those in the rainforest of Peru,
from the first believers in Thessalonica to the newest converts in Tibet,
from faithful followers in the catacombs to those climbing Mt. Everest
remember and give thanks for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
This is Christ’s table. He’s gathering fellow believers we’ll never meet, and together we’ll tell the stories of the Upper Room, and the wedding feast of the Lamb as we feast on bread and juice, memory, and anticipation.
Come, for the meal is prepared, and you are both invited and welcome!
- Castells (Catalan for “castles”) are impressive human towers traditionally built in Catalonia, Spain. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/human-towers-00364