CALL
TO WORSHIP
May
the Peace of Christ be with you!
And
also with you!
We
gather as a family of faith
We
turn and see our siblings, our family of choice, with whom we
celebrate God’s presence in our lives.
God
has invited us to this place and time
In
person and in virtual space we greet each other and open ourselves to
God’s words of hope and faith
Come,
now is the time for worship...
OPENING PRAYER
Nurturing
God, God who loves us as a Parent, as we gather our hearts and souls
for worship this day,
open
our minds and ears and eyes to see and hear and know how you are
present in our lives.
As
we sing and pray and listen this morning,
awaken
in us a sense of hope and promise that life and love will indeed have
the victory.
When
we leave this time of worship,
lead
us into the world to share the promise of hope, to share the news
that you are present in our midst.
We
pray in the name of the Risen Christ, and we share together the words
he once taught his friends...
PRAYER
FOR FAMILIES
God
of many faces, today we pause to give thanks for our families,
and
we celebrate that family can mean so many different things.
We
lift up the many different combinations of people we can call family,
parents
and children, grandchildren and cousins, friends who are ‘family by
choice’.
We
also pause to remember the many ways families can be a challenge.
Broken
relationships, the grief of loss, distance both physical and
emotional,
for
all those things that may make family a mixed blessing we pray.
...time
of silent prayer...
God
who calls us to be part of a wide, expansive, many-faceted family,
we
give thanks for the places we feel we are among family,
we
give thanks for the love we find there.
Help
us reach out and share the love.
We
pray in the name of the Risen Christ, who makes us all siblings in
faith.
Amen
