To go with The Church in the World: Poverty and Wealth

CALL TO WORSHIP & OPENING PRAYER

We are called to be people of faith in the midst of the world,

and so we mix our worship and our work, our faith and our life.

We know that in the world there are winners and losers,

People who have a lot and people who have next to nothing.

We are called to care for our brothers and our sisters,

Seeking out abundant life for all.

God of abundance, we come to this time of worship,

thirsty for the water of life, seeking to be fed with rich food.

During this time of prayer and song, speaking and listening

open our hearts and our minds so that we will be ready to face the challenging question in a world of winners and losers.

We pray in the name of Jesus, who taught his friends to pray by saying together...

 

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

God, you created the world and said that it was good!

And then you called your human creations to be stewards of what was created.

God, as stewards, we are called to manage the abundance that surrounds us,

but we know that our stewardship has been found lacking.

God, you call us to care for those who struggle in life,

to ask seriously why the world has abundance for some while others lack what they need.

In a world where there are always those who do not have enough,

and where we sometimes fail to ask the hard questions, where we have failed to be good stewards of the world's abundance,

Forgive us, redirect us, lead us back to the path that leads to Eden...

...time of silent prayer...

God created the world and said it was good! God calls us to live in the Kin-dom of God! Through Grace we continue to return to the path to Paradise, where all have what they need.

Thanks be to God! Amen. 
 

COMMISSIONING:

As people of faith we have gathered for worship.

As people of faith we now return to the world.

We go from here to a world where there is great abundance.

We go from here to a world where there is great need.

Go out to challenge yourselves and those around you.

We go to ask the hard questions about how best to respond to the reality of winners and losers

Go to share the good news of God's abundance, calling those who thirst to come and drink, those who have no money to come buy and eat.

So that all enjoy the abundance of God.

Go with God, who calls us to return to Paradise on this Earth.

Amen.