Tuesday, March 18, 2014

For March 23, 2014 -- A service looking at "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done..."

OPENING PRAYER
God of life, God of hope, God of change,
we gather here to worship, to celebrate being in your presence, to be filled with hope, to be inspired as to what could be.
God of guidance, God of challenge,
in our time of worship push us to think beyond our boxes, to be open to be conduits for Your love and hope.
God of challenge, God of hope, God of life,
when this time of worship is over lead us back into the world,
where we live, where we serve, where we pray,
waiting for Your Reign to break in to full reality. Amen.

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done,
Words we pray every week, saying them regularly.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done,
Words that hold up hope, words that hold up a vision, words that inspire us.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done,
Words we sometimes say without thinking, without contemplating what they might mean.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done,
Words that challenge us to view the world with different eyes, that challenge us to put our own will and desires aside in place of God's.
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done,
God, when our own understanding of the world and our own wills get in the way, grant us the grace and the courage to mean those words.
Gracious God, work through our mis-understandings and our mis-steps. Push us all to that day when the Reign of God is experienced in full flower in our midst. So that we may honestly pray:
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
So be it.
Amen.

COMMISSIONING:
As worship ends, we continue with our ministry,
we go from this gathering into the world where we live and love and serve.
We go into the world looking for hints of the Kingdom's in-breaking,
pledging to shine light on them, to bring them further into sight, to celebrate them.
Go with God: the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Go with God who is with you always.
Thanks be to God, who leads us to the Kingdom. Amen


No comments:

Post a Comment