Texts:
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
Call
to Worship
Watch
what God does:
mostly
God loves us.
We
would learn a life of such love
so
we might do as God does.
Watch
how Christ loves us:
not
with caution, but with extravagance.
We
would practice such lavish love,
not
noticing what it costs us.
Watch
how the Spirit loves us:
moving
in us, breathing love into us.
We
would live such love for others,
keeping
company with God.
Prayer
of the Day
We
gather in this place,
with
these people,
in
these moments, Gentle God,
because
we hope our self-righteous anger
might
become passionate justice for others.
We
gather in this place,
with
these people,
in
these moments, Christ our Bread,
because
we hope our complacency with half-lies
might
become a hunger for your truth.
We
gather in this place,
with
these people,
in
these moments, Gifting Spirit,
because
we hope our fumbling, faltering words
might
be transfigured into good news to others.
We
gather in this place, with these people,
in
these moments, God, Christ, and Spirit,
praying
as we have been taught,
(The Lord's Prayer)
Call
to Reconciliation
It's
this simple - God loves us. But our inactions grieve God, our
sins break God's heart. In Christ, God forgives us through and
through. Let us confess our failures and our faithlessness, trusting in
God's promise to make us new.
Unison
Prayer for Forgiveness
We break your heart, God of all the world, by the respectable lives we lead.
Blessed by you with every gift, we practice thrift towards others.
Seeking to be good and proper Christians, we overlook you in the company of the
poor, the oppressed, those without a voice. We choose to spread gossip
about our friends and neighbors, when we could speak gently to them.
Forgive us for the pain we cause you and
other people, Grieving God. Help us to make a clean break with those
habits which keep us from wholeness. Open us to the movement of your
Spirit within us. Feed us with the Bread of Life, so we might have the
love and passion to feed the world. This we pray in the name of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Silence
is kept
Assurance
of Pardon
It
is really that simple - God loves us. Through the Holy Spirit, God works in
us, transfiguring our old ways, breathing life and love into us.
We
receive God's grace, so we can offer it to others. We are caressed in
God's gentleness, so we can hold the broken. We will be quick to forgive,
even as God has forgiven us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer
of Dedication/Offering
May
we imitate your generosity, Gracious God, as we offer these gifts to you.
May we model your justice, as we seek to bring hope to the broken all around
us. May we share the gift of your love with all who are alone and
hurting, and simply looking for grace in their lives. This we pray in the
name of our Bread, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Great Prayer of
Thanksgiving
May
the Bread of life be with you.
And also with you.
Come
to the One who waits for you at this Table.
We bring our hearts to
the One with whom
there is grace and
wonder.
Children
of God, hope in the Lord!
We will sing glad songs
to the One
who listens to our
hearts and lives.
Such
slight words -
light,
water, earth, sky -
when
written on a list,
but
in your voice,
echoing
in the Spirit,
creation
bursts the logjam of chaos,
rushing
forth to fill the void
with
life, hope peace, grace,
all
the gifts you shaped for us.
Our
denial of you broke your heart,
as
we made room for sin and death,
but
you did not forget us,
sending
the prophets to remind us
that
there is forgiveness with you.
When
we continued to watch
more
for temptation than for you,
you
sent Jesus into our midst,
to
speak the truth of your love for us.
So,
as we gather with our friends and neighbors,
as
we are members of the one Body
in
every time and place,
we
lift our voices singing of your love:
Holy, holy, holy are
you, God of steadfast love.
All creation waits for
you.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who
is the living bread.
Hosanna in the highest!
Steadfast
love is who you are, God of Compassion,
and
this love is made flesh in Jesus, your Child.
Though
we struggle to follow,
he
is the Guide to your heart;
though
we rarely seek him,
he
is the Bread which can feed
our
deep-down-in-the-belly longings;
though
we resist drinking from the fountain,
he
is the living water which can quench our thirsts;
though
we are convinced we can do it ourselves,
he
is the one who gives himself up to sin and death,
defeating
forever their power over us.
As
we remember this fragrant offering for our sakes,
as
we come to the Table of joy and peace,
we
tell of that mystery we call faith:
In Christ's death, we
hope;
in Christ's
resurrection, we live;
for Christ's return, we
wait.
Here
at this Table of bread and cup,
graced
by your Spirit of hope and peace,
we
discover the extravagant love you have for us.
As
we feast on the Bread of life,
may
its lavish grace fill our hearts,
so
that we may go out to serve others,
never
minding the cost.
As
we drink from the cup,
may
we be transformed by its peace,
that
we might go out to embrace
all
who have been forgotten by the world.
And
when we no longer need to watch
but
awaken in that eternal morning,
when
we no longer need to wait,
but
will find ourselves seated around the Lamb's Table,
we
will join our voices with all your beloved children,
singing
to you forever and ever,
God
in Community, Holy in One. Amen.
Sending
Go,
with the God of gentleness, into the world.
We
will go to offer passionate justice for all
Go
with the Bread of life into the world.
We
will share compassion with the needy in our communities.
Go
with the Spirit of holiness into the world.
We
will speak the good news, even with our fumbling words.
(c) Thom M. Shuman
