Ordinary Time 10-C/Proper 5

Call to Worship
You we praise, O God!
You we praise!
We will sing our songs of joy
this day and in all days to come!
School is out, many of us are
planning vacations, life changes
from day to day.
Yet, you keep your promises every day;
you hold your faithfulness in your heart.
You shower us with your hope;
you offer us help in every moment.
You we praise, O God!
You we praise!

Prayer of the Day and Our Lord's Prayer
You we praise, Fountain of Hope:
you turn our hearts
toward the outsiders
in our midst,
so we can see you
in them;
you take off
the sunglasses of sin
we have worn for too long,
so we may see your kingdom
of peace and joy.

You we praise, Friend of the poor:
when we trip
over our foolish feet
in our headstrong rush
to catch the world's whims,
you pick us up,
bandage our scraped knees,
and put us back on
the path to faithfulness.

You we praise, Spirit of blessing:
you hold the hands
of the widows and orphans
as they wander the busy streets
of greed and consumption,
leading them to your
compassion and grace.

You we praise,
God in Community, Holy in One,
as we lift our prayer as Jesus has taught us,
Our Father . . .

Call to Reconciliation
In our pride, we think life is all about us - our desires, our needs, our achievements. And, so in our pride, we ignore the gospel proclaimed to us by God's love and hope for us. Let us confess our faulty lives, as we open ourselves to God's healing grace.

Unison Prayer of Confession
We do not want you to know how our lives do not proclaim your good news, God of all hearts. But you have heard the words we have spoken which injure those we love. You see how insistent we can be in clinging to the ways we have always lived, rather than walking your new paths. We have trouble believing that when our souls are empty and our hearts have only a small portion of love, that you can do miracles in and through us.

So, what we need to know is that you do indeed forgive us, and still love us. God of comfort. Let your grace shower us and end the drought of fear and doubt in our lives, so we can believe the good news which comes to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
Do not be sad. God feeds us with grace and hope, God watches over us, and raises us to new life.
ou we praise, Holy God, for this good news of joy and peace for our lives. Amen.

(c) 2007 Thom M. Shuman