6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C

Call to Worship
Blessed are those who trust -
in God.
We come in trust,
to be grounded in God's love.
Blessed are those who hope -
in God.
We come in hope,
trusting in the One who gives us life.
Blessed are those who delight -
in God's Word.
We come to hear God's Word,
and to be healed of our brokenness.

Prayer of the Day
God of our hearts,
Heart of creation:
we are blessed
when we feast on your Word:
that Word which embraces us;
that Word which teaches us;
that Word which transfigures us;
that Word which grounds us.
Give us your Word.

Jesus Christ,
Heart of God's children:
we are blessed
when we have your heart:
a heart for the poor;
for the hungry;
for those who weep;
for the rejected.
Give us your Heart.

Holy Delight,
Grace's Heartbeat:
we bear fruit
when we are filled with your spirit,
the spirit of generosity,
the spirit of emptying ourselves for others;
the spirit of bearing one another's burdens.
Give us your Spirit.

God in Community, Holy in One,
may our hearts beat as one with your heart,
even as we pray as one as Jesus has taught us,
Our Father . . .

Call to Reconciliation
Now if what we have heard from the world is true, we would have no need to come before our God. But in fact, the witness of scripture, and of the faithful, is true: God is to be trusted with the secrets of our hearts, as well as our brokenness. Join me as we pray to the One who is waiting to forgive us,

Unison Prayer of Confession
We confess what we are afraid to confront, Blessing God, that the seductions of the world nibble away at our hearts. We have more and more to pick from at the supermarket, and so we forget those whose only choice is hunger. Our sense that we are your favorites causes us to make fun of those we believe are not. We are so consumed with saving enough for the future, we ignore those who have so little today.

Forgive us, Heartbroken God, for thinking we are the center of your world. Pour your living water into us, so we might send down roots into your heart, and so become those people who are blessings to others, as we have received new life from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is observed

Assurance of Pardon
Blessed are you: for God forgives you and restores you to new life. Rejoice in this day and dance for joy.
Thanks be to God. Our faith is true and our hope is grounded in the promises of One we can trust, not only on this day, but in all the days to come. Amen.

(c) 2007 Thom M. Shuman