PRAYER
FOR THE JOURNEY AHEAD
Parades
are exciting, hope is exciting, we like to cheer and wave
God
we are quick to join in on the exciting stuff.
But
beyond the parade, in the hard work of changing the world, that is
less exciting.
God
help us to stay around when the cheers die down and the heat and
pressure start to rise.
We
follow Jesus into the city, we join the crowds along the roadside.
Give
us the courage to stay committed as Jesus challenges the comfortable
and familiar ways we know.
Or
if the heat and pressure get too much, if our anxiety and fear win
out.
Help
us find the way back after we have taken time to be afraid, lead us
back out of our hiding places, help us live into the love that casts
out fear.
God
as we walk through this week of triumph, challenge, defeat and
disaster,
Open
our eyes to see the new dawn that awaits, the promise of light
shining over the horizon. Amen.
Worship Offerings
A collection of worship resources I have written. Feel free to use them and/or adapt if they are helpful. For credit it would be suitable to give my name (Gord Waldie).
Thursday, April 3, 2025
PAlm Sunday 2025
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
For March 23, 2025 -- LEnt 3C
CALL
TO WORSHIP
When
the days drew near for him to be taken up Jesus set his face to go to
Jerusalem (Luke 9:51)
Thomas,
who was called the Twin, said to he fellow disciples “Let us also
go, that we may die with him.(John 11:16)
Throughout
this Lenten season we travel with Jesus to Jerusalem, daring to face
what lies ahead.
Everyone
who thirsts, come to the waters! Incline your ear and come, listen so
that you may live
We
seek God where They may be found, we call upon Them while They are
near
Come
to sing, to pray, to celebrate God’s presence! Let us worship
together...
OPENING
PRAYER
Gardening
God, you have planted us in this place and time.
Help
us to grow, to be fruitful, feed us with things that sustain and
satisfy, help us drink deep of the water of life.
In
this time together this morning,
open
our ears, our hearts, our souls to receive your life-giving word, dig
around us and feed our roots.
Then
lead us back out in joy, let us go forth with peace,
as
we join in the songs of praise of the world around us.
We pray in Jesus’ name as we remember words he once taught his
friends...
Thursday, February 27, 2025
For March 16, 2025 --Lent 2C
PRAYER
FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
God,
you invite us to follow your Way, you offer us a whole new future.
But
sometimes the promise takes so long to come true that we start to
doubt
Sometimes
we make back-up plans in case the promise somehow fails.
And
again you come to us, calling us to be people of hope, to trust in
the promise.
Help
us to trust, help us to be people of hope.
God
of the promise, there are days when we feel alone, surrounded by
people who are out to get us,
There
are days when we feel like lone voices sharing a different vision in
a wilderness of opposing voices
There
are days when it is easy to lose heart.
God
of grace, when we lose heart, when we doubt the promise, when we fall
back to our own plans,
Forgive
our weakness, remove our anxiety and despair, renew us to trust and
hope.
From
the witness of the ancient writers we hear these words of assurance:
(Psalm 27 1, 13-14)
The Lord is
my light and my salvation; whom
shall I fear?
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
In that confidence we will be people of trust and hope. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Thursday, February 6, 2025
For February 23, 2025 -- Epiphany 7C
PRAYER
FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Source
of life and love, you challenge us to love and serve each other.
And
we commit ourselves to do that.
Source
of life and love, you challenge us to go further, to love and serve
those who mistreat us.
That
is harder, but we commit ourselves to try our best.
Source
of life and love, you challenge us to avoid judging each other.
Help
us offer forgiveness, forgiveness that runs over.
Source
of life and love, in your grace help us grow in faith hope and love.
Help
us learn from our successes and failures, help
us treat others as we would be treated, help
us love and serve our friends and
our enemies as we strive to follow The Way of Jesus.
God,
who is our source of life and love, does challenge us to go beyond
the simple, to go the extra mile in love.
The same God shows us grace and mercy when that extra step feels just
too much. In grace God picks us back up and helps us try again,
offering forgiveness that runs over whatever measure we might
use.
Thanks
be to God! Hallelujah! Amen.
Thursday, January 16, 2025
For January 26 2025, working with 1 Corinthians 13 (reading for Epiphany 4C)
CALL
TO WORSHIP
Beloved
Children of God, why are you here?
We
are here to listen for God’s voice, reminding us that we are loved.
Beloved
Children of God, why have you come?
We
responded to God’s invitation to come together to grow in faith,
hope and love.
Beloved
Children of God, let us sing and pray and listen, let us celebrate
God’s presence in our midst
We
open ourselves to let God fill our hearts and souls as we worship
together.
OPENING
PRAYER
God
of love, as we gather together this morning,
move
in our hearts and minds, renew us, remind us of the love that fills
the world.
Gift-giving
God, in our time together this morning,
help
us see the abiding gifts of faith hope and love in the world around
us.
And
when we move out of our gathering this morning,
empower
us to carry the greatest gift, love, to everyone we meet.
We
pray in the name of Jesus, who reminds us of the power of love, and
encourages us to pray saying...
PRAYER
FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Gift-giver,
you call us to seek for the greater gifts in life.
Things
like faith, hope, and love.
In
grace you offer us these gifts in abundance, and ask that we use them
for the common good.
Help
us avoid the temptation to use the gifts you give only to build
ourselves up.
As
we continue to seek the greatest gift,
help
us show that we are people shaped and guided by love,
help
us put aside childish ways as we mature in faith and love.
Gracious,
loving God, we thank you for the gifts you give.
Help
us use them for the benefit of the world you love. Amen.
COMMISSIONING
Beloved
Children of God, as you go out from this place:
Commit
yourselves to be people of love,
be
patient and kind, not arrogant or rude,
rejoice
in the truth, hope in all things.
We
go to be people of love,
we
go to carrying faith hope and love, things that abide,
we
go to share the greatest gift with the world.
Beloved
Children of God, as you go out from this place:
Trust
that God who loves the world deeply,
Christ,
Love Incarnate,
and
the Holy Spirit, who pushes us to act lovingly,
is
with you each and every day.
Thanks
be to God! Alleluia! Amen
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Call To Worship For Baptism of Jesus Sunday
In
the beginning, the Spirit of God moved over the primordial waters
as
God spoke Creation into being
At
the Jordan, as Jesus emerged from the water, the Spirit descended as
a dove
as
God affirmed Jesus as Beloved, as one we should listen to.
Here,
in this place, God’s Spirit invites us to gather,
that
we would be renewed, filled with the Holy Spirit, as God reminds us
who and whose we are.
Let
us sing and pray together as God moves within this community.
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
A Christmas Prayer for 2024
Open our eyes and souls this year to see the other stories,