For January 10, 2021 -- 2nd After Epiphany, Year B

 CALL TO WORSHIP
Maybe the voice came like a whisper in the night,
filling your dreams with hope and meaning.
Maybe it came in in the early dawn,
waking you from sleep, preparing you for the day.
Maybe it came in the middle of the day,
pushing you onward, energizing your work for love.
Whenever you hear it, God’s voice whispers to us, calling us to worship, calling us to serve.
Let us worship together...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE
God you whisper into our ears, calling us by name.
Like Samuel we do not immediately know who is there.
You whisper again, and again, and again,
waiting until we recognize what is happening and open our hearts to listen.
You challenge us with hard words to hear, hard truths to share.
So sometimes we choose to put it off for another day, pretending we did not hear you calling in the night.
But still you call, still you urge us back to the road of wisdom, you do no give up.
For the times we have rolled over and gone back to sleep,
for the times we have closed our ears and our hearts to your truth,
for the times we have chosen to keep silent when you call us to speak,
forgive and strengthen us we pray.
...time of silent prayer...
The God who calls us by name, who challenges us to live and serve, who moves us to share God’s truth, does so in love always. Where we miss the mark we are forgiven and called again to complete the task.
Call us again God. We will listen and we will answer. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:
Stop! Listen! Do you hear it?
Like the whisper of the wind, like the roaring of the storm.
God is calling us onward and outward.
As our worship concludes our service continues, as we share God’s truth and God’s love,
may we know that the God who calls us by name is with us always.
Thanks be to God! Amen