Worship - May 20, 2007

One: We have come together to strengthen our love and our worship of the living God.

All: Our corporate worship is a sharing of faith and expectation.

One: We also bring our own unique and private joys, anxieties, memories and hopes.

All: Our worship includes secrets known to God alone.

One: We gather with a common status as the children of one loving Parent.

All: Our worship unites a scattered family.

One: We offer our varied gifts and resources to the one common Saviour.

All: Our worship is a fellowship in the one body of Christ.

One: We gather in the presence of the Holy Spirit, where each soul may better know itself, understand its neighbour, and slake its thirst on God�s love.

All: Our worship is a searching and finding, a loving and adoring.

� Bruce B. Prewer

Opening Prayer

Living God, like the author of the psalm, there are times when we feel besieged by unbelief . Times when we are mocked for our faithfulness and people still cry "where is your God?" So, on this day of celebration, we praise and thank you for giving meaning and shape to our faith in the person of Jesus Christ. You strengthen us with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can affirm our unity in Christ with joy and hope for the future. There are times of testing when doubts creep in, and there are sure to be such times ahead, but we face the future with courage and anticipation, in the knowledge that you have been - that you are - and that you forever will be - our help, our rock, and our God. In Jesus� name, we pray. Amen

from Liturgies Online � Moira B Laidlaw

Wellness Moment

Our Wellness Team has chosen a focus for each month of the year. On May's theme of Mental, Linda Sonczewski (a public health nurse and deacon), will speak briefly on this topic on this Health Promotion Sunday.

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

In the act of worship, when we are honest with ourselves and with our God, we stop running away from our problems and turn and face the source of our strength. This requires leaving the comfort of the cave to which we flee. It involves stepping forth in spite of the outer fury that threatens to unravel us. It means listening for the still, small voice of God who speaks in silence.
Don�t just give your money just now. As the plates are passed, imagine yourself turning away from the back wall of whatever cave you presently occupy, and bracing yourself to meet the living God. This, after all, is why we are here.

Ushers?

Dedication

We feel that we go in so many directions at once, O God. We spend money in many places. We dart from activity to activity. Sometimes we wonder if we have a center. These gifts are given with the prayer that we may find a more Spirit-led focus for our pocketbooks and our lives. Thank you for this opportunity to center our lives and our resources on you and on your hope for the world. Amen.

from UMC Center for Christian Stewardship
written by Herb Mather, retired staff member of
the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church.
Copyright � 2007 The General Board of Discipleship of
The United Methodist Church. Used with permission.

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)

Benediction

Go now, proclaiming to all how much Jesus has done for you.
Be as one with each other in Christ.
Wait for the Lord, and be ready to hear God�s voice,
even in the sounds of sheer silence.
And may God be your fortress;

May Christ Jesus release you from all that torments you;
And may the Holy Spirit give you light and truth
........to sustain you day and night.

�2001 Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net