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Call to
Worship
Lamentations 3:22-26
1 - Love.
2 - Steadfast love.
1 - God’s love.
2 - Overflowing... Never runs out.
1 - Mercy.
2 - God’s forgiveness.
1 - Merci. (French pronunciation)
2 - Gratitude.
1 - Enduring... Never fails.
2 - New... Now... Listen...
1 - "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
2 - his mercies never come to an end;
1 - they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
2 - ‘The LORD is my portion,’
1 - says my soul,
2 - ‘therefore I will hope in him.’
1 - The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul
that seeks him.
2 - It is good that one should wait quietly for the
salvation of the LORD."
- pause -
1 - Love.
2 - Steadfast love.
1 - God’s love.
2 - Overflowing... Never runs out.
1 - Mercy.
2 - God’s forgiveness.
1 - Merci. (French pronunciation)
2 - Gratitude.
1 - Enduring... Never fails.
2 - New... Now... Stand and sing!
1 - Great is God’s faithfulness!
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Opening
Prayer
God, your love
and mercy overflow into all the corners of our lives. You are
faithful, even when we are not. We fall down on the job quite a
lot, Lord, doing what we shouldn’t, turning in the wrong
directions. Yet you pick us up and get us on the way again. We are
blessed. Merci. Thank you.
May the words
we speak just now, the songs we sing, the prayers we lift up, what
we think and feel, be pleasing to you, God. May this worship, and
this week, be built upon your steadfast love which never ceases,
your mercy which never comes to an end. In Jesus. Amen.
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Pastoral Prayer
Heavenly
Father, whose name is holy, whose kingdom is coming, whose will is
being done even here on earth, we come to you as those who are
often anything but holy, who - we confess - infrequently seek you
out to hear what you have to say. Our motives are often mixed, our
thoughts unclean, our lives at times an absolute mess. Thank you,
God, for sending your Son to redeem us, to make things right
between you and us, to speak to us in a way we can understand, to
touch our lives with your holiness, to reveal your great love, to
fire us up with your Holy Spirit. Forgive our sin and our sins -
the human condition over which we have little control, and the
little impurities which we have allowed to grab us. May your
forgiveness help us to step into the cleaning process, to do some
"picking up" amid the messiness of our scattered
lives.
Great
physician, you have heard our sharing this day. You know very well
the persons we have mentioned. We thank you for where we have seen
your healing hand at work, as well as for where we - with our own
limited vision - have not. We trust that you will address the
concerns we have spoken aloud this day, as well as those that
remain unspoken. We believe in you. May your will be done.
Lord God,
speak your word to those who need to hear. May the soldier in
Iraq, trying to be a policeman now among a people with so many
unfulfilled expectations, hear you say, "Don't be afraid.
Just believe." May the mother who wonders where her family's
next meal will come from, hear you say, "Don't be afraid.
Just believe." May those lost amid all the violence and
corruption and despair in the world around them hear you say,
"Don't be afraid. Just believe." May people around
world, as well as right here in our own neighborhood hear you say,
"Don't be afraid. Just believe."
In faith, we
open ourselves to you. May the words I speak as your servant
today, inadequate though they may be, allow space for your
redeeming Word to become real to us. May our thoughts wander
toward, instead of away from, you. May your Holy Spirit touch us
with your holiness, and make us whole - in body, mind, and soul.
This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
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