CALL
TO WORSHIP
The
God who was present at Creation,
calls
us to gather together.
The
God who continues to create and re-create,
invites
us to worship
As
we open ourselves to worship, we greet each other with words and
signs of Christ’s peace.
Opening
PRAYER
God
of life, as a new week begins,
we
gather together to sing and pray and listen.
God
of renewal, as a new week begins,
we
open our eyes and ears to see and hear what you are doing in our
midst.
God
of wholeness, as a new week begins,
we
ask for healing, we seek the courage to follow where you lead us.
God
made known in Christ, we pray in His name, sharing words he taught so
long ago...
PRAYER
FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE
God
you continue to invite us to see the new thing you are doing
but
if we are honest, we don’t always do new things well.
In
the life, death, and resurrection of Christ you transform the world,
but
transformation may be uncomfortable, and so we sometimes work against
it,
and
so we try to contain the new in old containers
But
still God you persist in the new thing,
revealing
the promise of New Life, challenging us to try out new containers,
God
who is doing a new thing, when we are unwilling to follow the new
path,
open
our eyes and hearts, move us beyond protection of old understandings,
lead us to see where you are pointing.
God
of Grace,
forgive
our stubbornness and unwillingness to change,
forgive
our willingness to strike back against the new simply because it is
not what we have always done,
forgive
our periodic blindness to what you are doing in our midst
God
is doing a New Thing to share the old message of Love. Where we
resist, God is patient and coaxing. God forgives us and calls us to
try again. God opens our eyes to see what God is up to.
Thanks
be to God! Amen.
COMMISSIONING:
Jesus
meets us where we are and calls us to follow
Healing
our dis-ease and making us whole.
Jesus
brings new life and new possibilities
Pushing
us to put away the old boxes which are no longer useful.
AS
people of faith we step out into a new way of seeing the world,
Following
where Jesus leads us, proclaiming the Good News of healing and
wholeness.
Go
with God: who has created and is creating
who
is made known in Jesus, the Word-Made-Flesh
Who
works in us and others by the Spirit
