Liturgy with communion for June 4, 2017 (Day of Pentecost - A)

Texts:  Numbers 11:24-30; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Acts 2:1-21; John 20:19-23

Call to Worship

On this day, may Grace’s breath
shatter the shutters of our hearts.
On this day, may we step out of our fears
to welcome the new life gifted to us.
Here, in the midst of our sisters and brothers,
may our frozen souls be enflamed by justice’s Spirit.
As we catch a glimpse of the dreams of those around us,
as we listen to the voices of the oppressed in every language.
In the days to come, may we speak
of God’s love and the Spirit’s peace for all.
So that people will find a community awaiting them,
even for those rejected by everyone else.  

Prayer of the Day
Give us just a spark
on this day, Imaginative God,
to kindle our smoldering apathy
until we burst into bonfires
to melt all the injustice
which threatens to consume the world.

Give us just a word
this day, Poet of Pentecost,
that we might be the voice
   of those dispersed by fears,
that we might proclaim the good news
   to all we would meet.

Give us a cool breeze
this day, Shattering Spirit,
stirring and shaking us
until we become a storm
of hopes to clear the despair
from all our neighborhoods and lands.

Give us yourself this day,
God in Community, Holy in One,
even as we pray as we are taught,
(The Lord’s Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation

When our lives remain hidden, when are hearts are shuttered, when our souls are fill with fear because of all we have done and said, God comes, breathing new life, blowing away our failings, restoring us to new hope.  Please join me, as we pray together, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
   Spirit of Pentecost, would that all would tell of your wonders in our lives, your overflowing grace – but we are too busy complaining of someone’s social media post.  Would that we might share the Spirit which has transformed our lives, but we bottle it up, hoping to sell it on the internet.  Would that we might let go of all the envy we have about others, but we let erode our souls day by day.
   Forgive us and pour your mercy into the closed rooms of our hearts.  Breathe your peace upon us, that we might be healers of brokenness.  Breathe your hope upon us, that we might open ourselves to the lonely.  Breath your love into us, that we might be as generous and welcoming as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.     

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
Listen!  This is the good news spoken long ago, yet brought fresh to us by the Holy Spirit.  God forgives us and fills us with all things new.
Thanks be to God!  God gives us new hope, new joy, new life – this day and in all the days to come.  Amen.  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
Blow the dust off our fears, Generous Spirit, so we might be more giving people.  Blow the dust off our material gifts we think are so paltry, so we might realize how they can bring hope and life to others.  Blow the dust off our mistaken views of others, so we might see them as our sisters and brothers, ready to grace us, even as we may bless them with these offerings.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the Spirit of Pentecost touch you this day.
And touch you, as well.
May the fresh breeze of love fill your hearts.
We open them to the Spirit who would overflow from our hearts.
May the words of Pentecost offer you new songs.
We will sing praise and thanksgiving to our God.

Wow!  What you do,
God of imagination and wonder!
You breathe your Spirit into chaos,
shattering the emptiness and
shaping all that is beautiful;
you speak your Word into silence, and
   rivers flow down mountainsides,
   creepy crawlies inhabit the grasslands,
   monarch butterflies dance with flowers,
   blue whales leap out of the oceans.
Like them, you would feed those created
in your image with goodness and grace,
   but we run off with temptation,
   locking ourselves in death’s upper room.
Because your glory is eternal,
you continued to send women and men
to tell your words of forgiveness and welcome,
   yet we continued to huddle in fear
   with sin and its disciples.
So you sent Jesus to us,
to breathe your peace upon us
and to bring us back to you.

With those who continue to live in fear
with those who share the Spirit with others,
we will sing your praise forever and ever:

Holy, holy, holy are you, Shattering Spirit.
All creation will sing until it has no more breath.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who stands in our midst speaking peace.
Hosanna in the highest!

Like your glory, may your holiness be eternal,
God of wind and flames,
and may your Child, Jesus, bless us
with words of wonder and joy.
Though we would close our hearts,
   he comes to open them with love;
though we would shutter our souls,
   he comes to throw them wide open
   with laughter and love;
though we would remain hidden away
in death’s cold upper room,
   he enters to take its power
   over us away, so the bright flames
   of the resurrection might dance
   over our lives bringing us hope.

As we would open our hearts to the Spirit,
as we would welcome the peace and power,
we tell of that faith grounded in Pentecost’s mystery:

Drawing his last breath, Christ died for us;
with the sudden breath of the resurrection,
   Christ was raised;
Christ will return, to breathe the Spirit into us forever.

Here in this place, with people gathered in this space,
may you pour the Spirit of Pentecost
upon the simple gifts of the bread and the cup.
with the brokenness of the bread,
we pray hope might dance upon our souls
   so we will rush out like a mighty wind
   to bring healing to our shattered world.
Drinking from the cup of grace,
we pray it flow through us
   to become a fountain
   of unending generosity
      to parched people
      thirsting for life.

And when that day comes

when we no longer need
to huddle under the covers of fear,
you will gather us around the Table
with our sisters and brothers
of every time, of every place,
breathing the Spirit upon us,
telling us the Word of grace and hope,
as we sing our thanks forever and ever,
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Sending
The shutters of our hearts have been flung open
by the fresh breath of God!
We will go to offer God’s love to everyone around us.
Our souls have been set on fire
by the justice of the Brother of the poor.
We will go to share visions of hope,
to listen to the dreams of the oppressed.
Our loneliness and fears have been set aside
by the Spirit of inclusion creating community.
We will speak words of peace to all we meet,
we will open ourselves to the gifts of others.

© 2017 Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy with communion for May 28, 2017 (Easter 7 - A)

Texts:  Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11

Call to Worship
At the presence of God, we rejoice:
glorifying the One who is Parent of all orphans.
In the presence of Jesus Christ, we listen:
to the Voice who calls us to humbly serve others.
Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, we speak:
making God's love known to the world-forsaken in our midst.

Prayer of the Day
Giver of power and strength,
you take a rag-tag bunch
of denying disciples and
feckless followers,
creating a new community
of servants who seek
to do your will.

Keeper of all time,
you are enthroned on the
rubble of death's shattered power,
calling us to your side
and giving us a new vocation,
by which we serve the
broken of the communities
in which we live.

Constant Presence of hope,
you strengthen us so
we never give in while
confronted by evil;
you continually pray for us
that we never quit when
faith proves to be more
of a challenge than we imagined.

God in Community, Holy in One,
we lift our hearts to you,
as we pray as we are taught,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
We know what we should do, yet don't.  We know the words people need to hear, but utter the ones that hurt them.  Yet, we also know that if we confess our failings to God, we will receive forgiveness and hope.  Please join me as we pray together, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     God of glory: we are so busy watching the skies for signs of your presence that we forget to look around to see those we can serve in your name.  We are so intent on finding just the right way to tell off someone, that we forget the words of reconciliation you have taught to us.  We are so convinced we can figure out your schedule that we forget to open ourselves to the presence of your Spirit within us.
     Mighty source of our lives, forgive us for all that we have done to others.  Fill us with the wisdom to resist evil in our lives and strengthen us in that faith which is given to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
Beloved, do not be surprised.  Our God is gracious to all, restoring us to new life.
This is the good news which is for us, and for everyone we will meet in the days to come.  Thanks be to God.  We are forgiven.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
Loving God, you pour out your grace upon us without reservation; help us to be as gracious and generous with our gifts and resources, so others might know you hope, your healing, your presence in their lives.  This we ask in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May Easter's God be with you.
And also with you.
People of God, exult before the Lord.
We lift our hearts to the One who showers us with that grace which never ends.
Sing to the One who blesses you, Beloved.
Glad songs of thanksgiving are offered forever.

You would break the grip of chaos,
Worker of Wonders,
and so you uttered a Word
     and cattle gaze up at the rain
          falling from the sky,
     while rabbits play leapfrog
          in green meadows.
You shaped us into the exact image
of yourself, so we might be your people,
living with you forever.
     But we wandered down to the
     basement where sin and death
     lurked in the shadows to steal us away.
You stood firm in your belief
that we would return, and sent prophets
who called us to humble ourselves.
     Yet we were convinced that
     it was not time to come back to you.
Then, you sent Jesus,
the Pascha of our salvation,
to come to us, to reveal your heart.

So with those who always keep an eye on you,
and with those who look around wondering
if anyone will notice their presence,
we rejoice in your gracious presence:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God of all grace.
All creation sings loud songs to you.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who will come again.
Hosanna in the highest!

You are the One only holy God,
and Jesus Christ is the Brightness of your glory.
Looking around at all the places
where we had wandered,
     he came to bring us home to you.
Hearing our cries of loneliness,
     he came to be one of us,
     so we might all belong to him.
Seeing sin rejoicing in our suffering,
     he went to the cross
     on our behalf, dying
     and then being raised to new life.,
baffling death with your gracious love.

As we remember Christ's life and ministry,
as we rejoice in the hope which is ours in him,
we celebrate that mystery called faith:

Christ died, that we would know that sin is death;
he was raised, so we would know that new life is;
he will come again, in the same way he went into heaven.

In fulfillments of Christ's promise,
pour out your Spirit on us
and the gifts which grace your Table.
We eat the Bread of life
so we might be strengthened
     to spend ourselves so others
     might be made rich in your grace.
We drink deeply from the Cup,
knowing you thirst for self-surrender,
so we might offer ourselves
as a fountain of faith
to be poured out for the world,
     especially the we-forsaken
     who are all around us.

And at the Great Wedding Feast of the Lamb,
we will gather around your abundant table,
our sisters who suffered for you on one side
and our brothers who humbled themselves
to lift others to their feet,
we will join hands, hearts, and voices
in forever singing your glad praises,
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Sending
The hour has come to go into the world,
where our worship of God will continue
in every moment of our lives.
The hour has come to serve those around us,
to shoulder the burdens of our sisters,
to ease the pain of our brothers.
The hour has come to glorify God,
with our prayers as well as our praise,
with songs as well as acts of service.

(c) 2017 Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy w/communion for May 21, 2017 (Easter 6 - A)

Texts: Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:8-20; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21

Call to Worship
Come to worship, people of God, with praises on your lips.
We glorify the One who holds our hands when we slip.
Come into the presence of the One who calls us into this sacred space.
Where the doors to grace are thrown open so all may enter.
Come and hear the stories of the One who loves you.
We will tell of the joy and of the love,
of the peace and of the hope which is ours.

Prayer of the Day
When it doesn't seem
to do any good, Creator God,
we dare to be your people,
     to love those the world
          would have us reject;
     to be just in the face
          of every reason to mistreat;
     to be unafraid
          of whatever awaits us.

When all the odds seem
stacked against, Jesus our Savior,
we dare to live as
your sisters and brothers,
     serving others
          with our hands and hearts;
     sharing in the burdens
          of our world;
     refusing to leave justice
          orphaned with no hope.

When the wind seems to be
knocked out of us
by the blows of life, Eternal Companion,
we dare to breathe
     joy upon those
         caught in the net of hopelessness;
     peace into all
         the broken places around us;
     wonder for all those
          who have lost sight of you.

In you, we dare to live and breathe and be,
God in Community, Holy in One,
even as we pray as we are taught,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
What is our hope?  Simply put, it is that God does not give up on us.  With such good news, we can dare to bring our prayers to the One who will not cast aside our words or our hearts.  Please join me as we pray together, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     We admit, Knowing God, that from plastic cards to websites, from handheld devices to stock options, we are surrounded by a variety of gods who demand our worship.  We can all too easily believe that work is our life, that wealth is the reason for our being, and that success is the very air we breathe.
     Forgive us, God of mercy.  You are not found in a computer chip, but in the child who holds our hand.  You are not a simple tweet, but the Word that can transform our very lives.  You are not a disembodied, constantly recalculating voice, but the One who calls us to life, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
Despite everything we do, God loves us.  This grace is why we can dare to hope.
We will witness to this hope in every word we speak to every person we meet.  Thanks be to God, we are forgiven.  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
Abandoned by hope, forsaken by others, left behind by those who said they loved them - there are orphans all around us, Holy God.  May the gifts we offer be a home, a family, a rest, a respite for them and all the others around us.  This we ask in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the God who knows us be with you.
And also with you.
Lift your hearts to the One who will not leave you stranded.
We offer ourselves to God who is always with us.
Bless God, all you who love the Lord.
We sing praises to the One who loves us.

You gathered that orphan, chaos,
into your heart, God of wonder,
and with a simple Word created a family:
     with horses munching meadow grasses;
     birds gliding gently on summer winds;
     snails, snakes, and tree-climbing squirrels.
Gathering up handfuls of dirt, you shaped us,
and with a simple breath, gave us life
so we might be with you in wonder,
     but we crawled out of our strollers
     and toddled off after temptation.
You did not panic, but sent prophets
to come to us and show us the way,
     but the smoke of our offerings to sin
     kept us from seeing them.
Refusing to leave us as orphans,
you sent your Child to us
to reveal your true Self.

With those who praise you every day,
with those who have lost all hope,
we would bring our songs to you:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God our joy.
All creation pays their vows to you.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who is our salvation.
Hosanna in the highest!

You cannot be contained by any human
imagining or endeavor, for your are the Holy God,
and your Son, Jesus Christ, is our hope in life.
When we could have been left
as orphans in sin's foster home,
     he came to reveal himself
     as our brother, our sister,
     our mother, our father.
When despair threatened
to take away all our strength,
     he came to plant hope
     deep within us.
When we thought death
was our final destination,
     he came to show us
     the Resurrection Way home.

As we remember the grace with which he loved us,
as we welcome the Comforter he sent to us,
we proclaim that mystery which is faith:

Christ died, doing what was right for us;
Christ was raised by the One who was in him;
Christ will come, just as the hope within us witnesses to us.

As your Spirit of truth comes in these moments
to transform the bread and the cup
and those gathered around the Table,
you show us how much you love us.
As we are strengthened by the broken Bread,
you would send us
     to plant hope in all the places
          where pessimism has taken root;
     to help love stand on the corners
          where hate's gangs hang out.
As you nourish us with the Cup,
you would have us
     take peace into the
          warzones on human hearts;
     bring healing to
          all the broken ones around us.

And when we gather around that Table of love,
with our sisters and brothers, our enemies and friends
seated side by side, as we pass grace to one another,
we will join in forever singing your praises,
as we celebrate your being in us as we are in you,
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Blessing
Go from this place, speaking of what God has done.
We will remind everyone that, despite everything, God loves us.
Go from this place, singing of what God is doing.
We will rejoice that God has not left us orphaned,
but makes us one with everyone around us.
Go from this place, imagining what God will do.
We will witness to that hope which seems to distant,
yet is as close to us as our hearts.

(c) 2017 Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy for May 14, 2017 (Easter 5 - A)

Texts:  Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14

Call to Worship
We are God's household, crafted by the Architect of creation:
our hearts a shelter for the outcast;
our hands open to the stranger.
We are God's people, created in the divine image:
to tell others of God's love,
to offer mercy as freely as we have received it.
We are God's children, called to give of ourselves:
chosen to serve the lost and lonely,
gifted to minister to a hurting world.

Prayer of the Day
Our Way:
you call us
   to celebrate your peace
      in a world which worships war;
   to celebrate your freedom
      in the face of oppression;
   to celebrate the seed of faith
      planted in the doubts of our hearts.

Our Life:
you would have us
   celebrate the safe ground of hope
      emerging from the flood of our tears;
   celebrate those who love us
      in the midst of hurt and hatred;
   celebrate our salvation
      as we struggle with sin.

Our Truth:
you teach us
   to celebrate our new life
      in the gift of the Risen Lord;
   to celebrate the grace of your heart
      which melts our fears;
   to celebrate that all our moments
      are cradled in your hands.

Our Way, our Truth, our Life,
we lift our prayers to you as we pray, saying,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
Considered too rough for their smooth plans, the builders cast out the Stone they needed.  But God builds salvation on the One who is the foundation of all hope.  Let us confess our sins to God and one another, trusting we will not be put to shame,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     Hear the brokenness of our lives, Precious God.  We cover our ears so we cannot hear the cries of those in need, or you urging us to respond.  We rush together to defend every issue that matters to us, but quickly disperse when you would call us to be your holy people.  We shout as loud as we can to cheer on our sports teams, but can manage only whispers when it comes to sharing the good news.
     Forgive us, our Eternal Guide, and do not hold our sins against us.  We lay the garments of our foolishness at your feet, so you might clothe us in grace and hope.  We would feed on the spiritual food which flows from your heart so we might be strong enough to follow Jesus as he leads us in the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
You are no longer alone - you are God's Beloved.  You are not of this world, but residents of God's    Kingdom.  You, who once had no hope, have been filled with forgiveness.
Each one of us, all of us, have received God's mercy in Christ.  Forgiven, redeemed, made    whole - we are a people made one in faith.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
We offer our gifts so that others may not feel alone, eat alone, live alone, be alone, but that they may be surrounded by your grace and love through us and the lives we offer to the.  In Jesus' name, we pray.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the God of every way be with you.
And also with you.
Lift your hearts to the One who is the Truth for God's own people.
We offer them to the One who warms them with love.
Sing praises to God, who is our Life.
Glad songs are offered to the One who provides shelter for us.

You made a way through chaos,
Constructing God,
the Word echoing on mountaintops
and whispering in valleys;
the Spirit teaching songs to the stars,
and breathing life into those created
in your image as your precious children.
You longed to cradle us in your lap,
breastfeeding us with grace and hope,
     but we slipped out of your grasp,
     covering our ears as you called us
     to come back home to you.
Prophets came to remind us that
you would not put us to shame,
psalmists sang to us of your longing
to cut the net of sin and death and set us free,
      but , together, we rushed
     into the open arms of temptation.
Then you sent Jesus, so that
in knowing and believing in him,
we would know and believe in you.

With those who have nothing
and with those who give everything away,
we lift our voices to you:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God who pulls us to safety.
All creation kneels down to worship you.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who shows us the Truth.
Hosanna in the highest!

You shape a safe place for us, Imaginative God,
and send your Child, Jesus, to show us the Way.
Born a tiny baby as we are,
     he shows us how to grow into your people.
The cornerstone of your kingdom,
     he uses us to build a spiritual home for all.
Committing his spirit to you,
     he entered the emptiness of death,
     so we might stand on the solid ground
                of the resurrected life.

Even as we celebrate the Life which was his,
as we claim the Truth that all are one with you,
we take refuge in that mystery called faith:

Christ died, trusting in God's promises;
God raised him from the dead, promising the same for us;
Christ will come, fulfilling all the promises of God.

Once, we were nobodies, alone and hopeless,
but by your mercy, Living God,
we are now a family,
gathered in your love around this Table,
where the Spirit sanctifies the bread and cup.
You lean over to serve us the bread,
enveloping us in your grace
so we might go to be your people.
You offer to us the cup of hope,
which can heal our troubled hearts
and strengthen us to serve our world.

And when the Way leads us home to you,
when your Life gathers us with our sisters and brothers
around the Table which is prepared by your Truth,
we will sing glad songs of praise to you forever,
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Sending
May the blessings of the One who is the Way be with you in the days to come.
May God guide our feet wherever we go.
May the blessings of Jesus who is our Life be with you in the days to come.
May he lead us by the hand to those who are our sisters and brothers in need.
May the blessings of the Spirit of Truth be with you in the days to come.
May we journey with the Spirit to that way which is everlasting.

(c) 2017 Thom M. Shuman