18th Sunday in Ordinary Time/Proper 13 - B

Texts: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Psal 51:1-12; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35

Call to Worship
Called to lead a life that is worthy, we gather as God's people.
Whatever roads we walk, whatever waters
we have passed through, we share one baptism.
Called to model lives of service, we share in the building up of Christ's Body.
Our backgrounds are different, our habits vary,
but we share a common faith in Christ.
Called to be people of peace and gentleness,
we offer these gifts to all of God's creation.
Though each of us is unique and precious to God,
our hearts beat as one with hope.
Lead a life worthy of the One who has called you
by one faith, one hope, one baptism.
We gather as God's family at the Table prepared for us,
to be fed by the Bread of life.

Prayer of the Day
Grace us,
God in Community,
with love which is never exhausted,
with mercy ever flowing through our lives.
Scrub us
with your gritty grace
and plunge us deep into living waters.
Break the good news to us
that Joy and Gladness
want to be our best friends.
Craft us
new hearts from the fragments
of your Calvary-broken own.
Grasp us
close in your healing embrace,
spoon-feeding us
with the Spirit's sweet peace.
Buoy us
in the sustainable wonder
of your dreams for us,
Holy in One. Amen.

Call to Reconciliation
God longs for us to be faithful children, God begs us to live as role models for a world desperate for hope. But, we know how often we raise up trouble by our words, our actions, our failures. Let us speak truthfully in love about our lives, as we come to the One whose love is as constant as the air we breathe.

Unison Prayer of Confession
We know the mistakes we have made, Just God, the harsh words we have spoken, the hurt we have inflicted on those around us. Like children who run from one distraction to another, we chase after the easy temptations of the world. Chewing on bread made out of the ashes of our brokenness, we act as if we were allergic to your Word. We continue to do all those things which break your hurt, not wanting to look in the mirror and see our true selves.

Forgive us, Cradler of Compassion. Grace us with the new life gifted in the Bread. Heal us with the joy and gladness of the Cup. Craft us new hearts, which beat with one another, and as one with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is observed

Assurance of Pardon
Seeing our brokenness, God puts us back together; knowing our hunger for hope, God feeds us with Christ; hearing our prayers, God chooses to forgive us. Hear the Good News: we are forgiven.
One hope, one faith, one baptism, one Body - these are the gifts God gives to us, in this moment and in all the moments to come. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the God of grace be with you.
And also with you.
People of one faith, one baptism, lift your hearts to God.
We offer our hearts to the One who has reshaped them by grace.
People of one hope, one Spirit, lift your songs of praise to God.
We lift them to God who has called us to one Body in one Spirit.

Chaos waited for you to speak,
Grace-giver, Healer of all brokenness,
and all beauty was created for our eyes;
all wonder was composed for our awe;
all majesty was shaped for our praise;
all mystery was crafted for our silence.
Giving us everything we needed,
we despised the words of hope you spoke.
Certain that life was all about our appetites,
we gorged on the moldy bread of death;
although our only hope came from you,
we rebelled like little children;
called to be one in you,
we held close all that keeps us apart.
We have fallen,
and in grace you lift us up;
we are broken,
and you restore us to new life;
we turn our backs on you,
and you come to us in Jesus.

So, we praise you in this time and place,
our voices merging with our sisters and brothers,
one Body in faith, hope, and baptism,
forever singing of your steadfast love:

Holy, holy, holy! God of new hearts and hope.
Creation resounds with your glory and grace.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the Bread of life who comes in your name.
Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, God of grace and tenderness,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Hope, our Joy.
Though we look for him for all the wrong reasons,
he offers the bread of life to us;
though we offer the cross to him,
he graces us with life;
though we thirst for more and more,
he hands us the cup of sacrifice;
though we gossip and slander one another,
he speaks the truth in love to us;
though we would divide each other
by class, race, gender, or condition,
he calls us to oneness in you.

Recalling your never-ending love in Christ,
knowing we cannot comprehend your grace,
we take this bread and this cup,
giving you the praise and thanksgiving,
even as we proclaim that mystery we call faith:

Christ came that we might have the bread of life;
Christ died that we might drink from the cup of grace;
Christ is risen that we might be part of the one Body.
Christ will come again to give us eternal life.

Holy God of wonder,
we come to your Table as many,
make us one body by your one Spirit.
Feed us with the bread of life,
so we might feed those who know true hunger;
as your justice shines in the shadows of our hearts,
may we light the way for the lost and despised;
as you speak in truth of your love for us,
may we be the voice for the unloved and forgotten;
as you reshape our brokenness into wholeness,
may we bind up the wounds of our world.

And when we are gathered together in glory,
one faith, one hope, one joy, one Body,
around the one Table of peace and grace,
we will join our voices in singing through all eternity,
to you, God in Community, Holy in One,
as we pray as you have taught us, saying,
Our Father . . .

(c) 2009 Thom M. Shuman