Liturgy w/communion for November 17, 2024 (Pentecost 26/Trinity 25/Proper 28/Ordinary 33 - B)

 Texts: 1st Samuel 1:4-20; 1st Samuel 2:1-10; Hebrews10:11-14 (15-18), 19-25; Mark 13:1-8

Call to Worship
Come, let us give thanks to God!
We gather together to praise the One who strengthens the weak,
and hears the prayers of the forgotten.
Come, let us give thanks to Christ!
We gather together to sing of the One who calls us to serve those
who are hungry and alone at this time of year.
Come, let us give thanks to the Spirit!
We gather together to exalt the One who provokes us to love
not only our family and friends, but the guest among us.

Prayer of the Day

You raise up the poor,
to give them the best rooms in your house;
you pull the broken
from the dust of the world,
brushing them off and clothing them with joy;
you exalt those we have pushed aside,
and let them say grace at the feast in heaven.
You are our God, and we worship you.

When we are tempted to wander off after

the rumors of sin,
you guard our feet so we can walk
as faithful people;
when we think we need to pay attention
to all the gossip around us,
you give us a double portion
of good news, so we will not fear.
You are the Christ, and we will listen to you.

When no one else will listen to us,
we can pour out our soul to you;
when no one notices us,
you see our misery, and fill us with joy;
when everyone else forgets who we are,
you remember us and call us by name.
You are our Spirit of Love, and we welcome you into our hearts.

God in Community, Holy in One, we raise our prayers to you,
even as we speak the words of Jesus,
(The Lord’s Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
Longing for the touch of God, we cry out; humbled by the awareness of our human nature and brokenness, we bring our prayers of confession to God, praying together,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness

     We have to admit, Holy Listener, that we are more likely to be irritated by the lives of others, rather than being provoked to love them. When we are called to encourage those around us, too often our actions and words discourage them. Offered lives of peace and hope, we wander around filled with anxiety and despair.
     Forgive us, Rock of Redemption. Cleanse our hearts, so we might be more loving; keep us on the path of faithfulness, so we might find those whom we are called to serve; give us your words, so we might confess your hope offered to all who are broken, who are lost, who cry out to you. This we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
This is the good news: God gives us hope, God gives us peace, God gives us joy so we may share these gifts with everyone we meet.
Thanks be to God, who has forgiven us and provoked us to love others and to serve all who are around us. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
We who are full can now give bread to others.  We who are well-off can reach out to raise up the poor.  We who have everything can offer a seat of honor to those who have nothing.  We who are blessed by you, Exalted God, can be blessings to others.  And so we pray that the gifts we have may give hope to the despairing, give strength to the weak, and justice to the oppressed.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

May God who is faithful be with you.
And also with you.
Hold fast to the confession of our hope, God's people!
Our hearts will not waver in testifying to God's grace.
Encourage one another to go forth to serve the world.
With glad songs, and lives of service, we will proclaim our God.

God of wonder and power:
by a single word spoken into
the silent emptiness of chaos
creation burst forth early in the morning.
Day after day, your imagination
crafted beauty beyond compare,
meadows sprinkled clean with joy's water,
the sun appearing through dawn's curtains.
You offered humanity a home for all time,
but we hired ourselves out to sin,
becoming bloated on the bread of death.
Through the prophets, you offered
again and again to take us back but,
year after year, we continued to provoke
you with our rebellious nature.
You sent Jesus to us, so your hope
might be written upon our heats,
so we might be redeemed
by your singular Word of love.

So, we lift our voices in praise to you,

joining with Hannah and Samuel,
with Penninah and her forgotten children,
singing your grace forever and ever:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God who listens to prayers.
All heaven and earth reveals your creativity.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who comes to give himself for us.
Hosanna in the highest!

Holy are you, God of all the faithful,

and blessed is Jesus Christ, perfecter of the sanctified.
He sat beside the doorpost of glory,
seeing the acid tears of our despair
etch our faces with deep canyons,
listening while our lips struggled
to form our cries for help and hope.
Though he found favor in your sight,
he became one of us,
knowing our misery,
befriending our loneliness,
cradling our despair in his heart.
By the single act of going to the cross,
and giving himself to the grave,
he destroyed the power of sin and death,
that we might live with you
for all time beyond time.

As we celebrate the faithful life of our Brother,
as we remember the redemptive death of our Savior,
we would laud that mystery we call faith:

By Christ's death, we are made whole;
by Christ's resurrection, we are made alive;
by Christ's return, we will inherit a seat at the Lamb's Feast.

With a single word of 'welcome!'

you pour out your Spirit
upon the simple gifts of redemption,
writing the names of your children
on the place cards which seat them
next to the Groom at the Wedding Banquet.
As we brush the crumbs
of the Bread of life from our lips,
may we reach out to brush
the ashes of despair off
the hopeless around us.
As we lift the cup of hope
to our lips and drink deeply,
may we be as eager to lift
the poor from poverty's dusty floor,
offering them your living waters.

And when our lives are perfected in glory,
when we are gathered for all time
with our sisters and brothers from every time,
our hearts will celebrate your love and hope for us,
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.

Sending
Go forth now as God's people.
We will go to offer joy to those in misery,
to remember all who have been forgotten.
Go forth now as sisters and brothers of Jesus.
We will go to offer the best rooms of our hearts to the lonely,
to pick up all those we have knocked down.
Go forth now as hearts of the Spirit.
We will go to share a double portion of grace with the empty,
to invite others to walk the paths of faith with us.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy w/communion for November 10, 2024 (Pentecost 25/Trinity 24/Prober 27/Ordinary 32 - B)

 Texts: Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17; Psalm 127; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

Call to Worship

God's Word called into being the pumpkins,
the geese who fly south, the leaves which litter our lawns.
In awe, we come into the presence of the God of vivid imagination.
God's arms reach down and gather up
children, lovingly placing us in grace's lap.
In joy, we reach up to the God who loves us completely.
God's Spirit fills our lungs, so we can cry out for justice
for the broken, the young, the old, the abandoned of our time.
In service, we join with our God to build hope in our world.

Prayer of the Day
In gentle touches of fathers,
in calming words of mothers,
you care for us;
through teachers in schools,
neighbors at the corner,
colleagues who share jobs with us,
you touch us with your peace.
We worship you, Holy God,
with our words and with our silence.

You appeared but once,
yet all people have been
cleansed in your grace;
you lived but once,
yet every life is redeemed
by your love;
you died but once,
and all people will live
in your kingdom forever.
Jesus, Friend of the fallen,
we follow you with our lives.

Stained by the pride of the world,

you wash us with your tears;
made naked by the criticisms of others,
you clothe us with your grace;
condemned by those around us,
you hallow us with your hope.
We welcome you into our hearts,
Spirit of Joy.

God in Community, Holy in One,
we lift our prayers to you
as we use the words Jesus taught us,
(The Lord’s Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
We bring our flawed lives to God, not so much to be made perfect, but to be whole. Let us confess our sins to God, trusting the One who builds joy from our despair.  

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness

     Bountiful Love: our self-focus causes us to imagine how poor we are. We are convinced we don't have enough:
     enough honor,
     enough respect,
     enough recognition,
     enough to live on.
And so, in our poverty, we cannot trust you, we cannot see the emptiness of others, we cannot help but cling to more than we need.
     Forgive us, Bestower of Blessings. Tell us we can be more loving; whisper to us of how we can be more compassionate; sing to us of how we can serve others - all in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon

The good news is that we are made whole; not by our efforts, not by any work we have done, not by any word of ours.
Out of the riches of grace, God pours forgiveness into our lives, giving us all we need in Jesus Christ, so we might live in hope and joy. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
Imagining we are very poor, we think our gifts don't matter, and so give very little.  Yet, from the abundance of your love, you challenge us to be as faithful as the woman Jesus speaks about.  Make us more generous and gracious givers, even as you take what we offer in these moments, and use them in the work of your kingdom.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May God watch over you!
And also over you!
Offer your hearts to the One who creates new life for those who are empty.
We bring our lives to God, the restorer of new life.
People of God, give thanks to the One who gives us all things.
We praise the One who is abundant beyond all expectations

Once and for all, you spoke,
God of overflowing gifts:
as your Word called the sun
to shine and the earth to spin;
as your hand stirred the dust,
shaping us in your image;
as your Spirit breathed grace
into our empty lungs.
You would feed us with peace,
but we gnaw on the bread moldy with anxiety;
When you would clothe us with glory,
we put on the long robes of sin,
the hems dragging through dusty death.
In vain, the prophets rose early
to speak your words of invitation;
in vain, they stayed up into the late hours,
watching for our return to you.
Yet, out of the abundance of your love,
you sent Jesus to us,
so that we might not live in the poverty
of our despair and fear.

With Ruth and Naomi, with Boaz and David,
with widows in poverty, and children on the streets,
we join our voices as we sing to you:

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God of grace!
All creation is filled with the bounty of your love.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is he who has not left us without hope.
Hosanna in the highest!

You are holy, God of wonder and wisdom,
and blessed is Jesus Christ, our Brother,
who left you, in faith and obedience,
to enter humanity's world,
not as a mere copy, but truly one of us.
Again and again, he pointed to you:
Restorer of broken lives,
Nurturer of every hungry heart,
Lover of each child.
Sitting opposite death, watching as
we went down to its threshing floor,
he offered himself in our place,
putting in everything he had,
so we might receive the gift
we need to live on with you.

Remembering his gentleness and generosity,
remembering his compassion and clarity,
we speak of that mystery we call faith:

Christ died, once, and it was for all;
Christ was raised, once and for all;
Christ will return, for those who wait for him,
     to bring them home to God,

Once and for all,
pour out your Spirit
upon those who gather
around your bountiful Table,
where life and love are placed.
You nourish us with your bread
filled with gentle grace,
so, that fed, we may serve those
who hunger for hope in their lives.
You restore our flagging spirits
from the overflowing cup of joy,
so, that refreshed, we may take
new life to the poor and hopeless
in every place where they are found.

And when the foundation of the world is no more,
when we enter that haven made by your hands,
when we sit with our sisters and brothers
at the feast where we are fed from your heart,
we will offer glad songs of joy to you,
God in Community, Holy in One. Amen.

Sending
God sends us out into the world.
We will gather up God's children and bring them to the lap of grace.
Jesus invites us to watch with him.
We will notice those who give from their scarcity,
challenging us to offer our abundance to those in need.
The Spirit clothes us with grace.
We will go forth to welcome all we meet into our hearts.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Alternate texts liturgy w/communion for November 10, 2024 (Pentecost 25/Trinity 24/Proper 27/Ordinary 32 - B)

 Texts:  1 Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

Call to Worship

We gather to praise our God.

The One who created everything;

the One who keeps faith with us.

We gather to follow Jesus.

Who comes to build justice on the ruins of despair;

who comes to set us free from our fears.

We gather to listen to the Holy Spirit.

Who teaches us to care for the most vulnerable;

who shows us how to see the forgotten in our midst.

Prayer of the Day

In your kingdom of surprise,

God of all people,

it is the broken who bring healing,

the lonely who reshape communities,

the vulnerable who will feed us,

the shoved-aside who come to rescue us.

In your kingdom of unexpected grace,

Jesus who watches those we don’t,

it is not those with million-dollar smiles

and $5000 suits who share the gospel,

but the little child with her smile,

the wisdom-wrinkled grandparents’ stories,

the trust of those who give from their scarcity.

In your kingdom of amazing wonder,

Spirit who calls us not to be afraid,

it is not those who seek the limelight

or go around on book tours who teach us,

but those whose hope is offered freely,

whose joy never runs empty,

whose welcome is never taken away.

In the topsy-turvy kingdom you bring,

God in Community, Holy in One,

we find life, hope, peace, freedom,

and so we pray as we are taught,

(The Lord’s Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation

We always seem to notice the rich, the powerful, thinking those are the people we should emulate.  But we find you in those who are broken, we find you in those who sacrifice, we find you in those who care deeply for others.  Hear us, as we confess how we have noticed the wrong people, and longed after the wrong values.  Join me, as we pray together saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness

   In these moments, we must confess that we have listened more to the politicians, the wealthy, the celebrities than to you, Faithful God.  We have failed to keep faith with those around us.  We have let others become captive to the angry words that have no life.  We have pushed aside those around us in our eagerness to follow those whose words offer only empty air and broken promises.

   Forgive us, Merciful God, for not noticing all who give from their scarcity, when we have so much.  Forgive us for watching out more for ourselves than keeping an eye on families who suffer.  Forgive us for caring more about ourselves than for those who are more vulnerable.  Forgive us and strengthen us to follow Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon

Despite our foolishness and poor choices, our God remains faithful in this and every moment.  The One who created everything, continues to renew us, to restore us, and to forgive us with love.

Thanks be to God. God’s hope never fails us, God grace continues to fill our emptiness, and God mercy continues to make us new.  We are forgiven.  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering

Whether out of our scarcity, or from our abundance, we pray that these gifts might offer life instead of despair, hope instead of grief, grace instead of fear to our sisters and brothers around us.  This we pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

God welcomes you to this Table.

Our God invites you as well.

Here, when we think our hearts are hollow and lifeless,

our God fills them with love and grace.

And so, we lift our hearts to our God.

Here, in the silence and scriptures, in the word and the wonder,

we are called to praise our God.

And so, we join our voices in songs of thanksgiving to our God.

Then, God spoke, ‘go now,’

and creation rushed forth

into the emptiness of chaos, as

   beauty was brushed on butterflies’ wings,

   goodness was poured into tumbling waters,

   joy tumbled through desert lands,

   hope graced the sunrises with glory.

All this and so, so much more

was offered to those shaped in your image,

God of love, hope, and peace,

   but we wanted the adulation sin offered,

   and longed to put on death’s garments.

You whispered to men and women, ‘go now,’

so prophets and poets came with your words

of welcome to call us back to you,

   but we were too eager to embrace foolishness,

   and pushed them aside.

So that we might know of your hopes and love for us,

you whispered to your Child, ‘go now,’

so that glory might transfigure into grace.

With those who picked us up when we had fallen,

with those who seek to keep faith with you,

we join in offering our praise:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God who overturns the world.

All creation trusts you and offers exultant praise.

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who was eager to be with us.

Hosanna in the highest!

Though holy as you, Eternal God,

Jesus set it to one side, so we might know of your hope.

Born into economic scarcity,

   he offers us the abundance of your grace;

living among people oppressed by power,

   he builds the foundation of justice for all;

knowing what it is like to be rejected,

   he offers a welcome to all outsiders;

experiencing the hunger pangs of loneliness,

   he calls each of us ‘sister’ and ‘brother’;

Daring to challenge sin’s power,

   he is placed in death’s cold cell,

   where your resurrection power sets him free,

   as the same promise is made to us.

As we seek to live as he did, watching and learning

from those too easily dismissed by our society,

we declare that mystery we call faith:

Jesus died, trusting God in that moment;

Jesus has been raised, and will never die again;

Jesus will come, opening our eyes to your resurrection love.

‘Come now,’ you invite us, God of the feast,

as you pour out your Spirit on us

and the bread and the cup.

All we need is a morsel of the broken bread

to strengthen us and send us

   to feed the hungry and build justice,

   to open the eyes of those who never notice suffering,

   to lift others back to their feet.

All we need is a sip of the cup’s grace

to be willing and empowered to go out

   to set free all the captives of cruelty,

   to offer a warm heart to those who know only cold shoulders,

   to share hope, love, and peace to everyone we meet.

And when all time and history has come to an end

and you gather us from all generations

around that Table of life and grace,

we will sing our praises to you,

God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

   

Sending

‘Go now,’ God says to us in this moment.

And so, we will go to share from our abundance

with all who live in scarcity’s shadows.

‘Go now to serve,’ Jesus challenges us in this moment.

And so, we will join in building neighborhoods of justice,

in keeping faith with all who have been forgotten.

‘Go now to understand,’ the Spirit urges us in this moment.

And so, we will go to watch (and learn from)

those who welcome outsiders into their lives.

  

© Thom M. Shuman

Liturgy w/communion for November 3, 2024 (Pentecost 24/Trinity 23/Proper 26/Ordinary 31 - B)

  Texts: Ruth 1:1-18; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34

Call to Worship

You are welcome in this place,

where God meets us in love.

Why are we here?

We are here to love God

with all that we have and all that we are.

You are welcome in this place,

where God loves us as children.

Why are we here?

We are here to love ourselves

as deeply as God loves us.

Welcome to this place,

where God serves us at the

Table of love and grace.

Why are we here?

We are here to be sent forth

to love others as deeply as

we love God and ourselves.

Prayer of the Day

Living God:

when there is a famine

in our souls,

you feed us with grace;

when there are pockets of poverty

in our love for others,

you bless us with generosity;

when we are empty and alone,

you move into our hearts.

Jesus, Bearer of the good things

which have come to us:

you bend down

to lift us from despair;

you embrace those

who haven't a friend in the world;

you open the eyes of those

struck blind by arrogance and ambition.

Eternal Spirit:

you walk with us

wherever we go;

you take the fragments of our lives

and reshape us into holy people;

you are with us,

and not even death can separate us.

God in Community, Holy in One,

hear us as we pray

as Jesus taught us, saying,

(The Lord’s Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation

The world teaches us many ways to love, but all are based on selfish desires and needs. God teaches us how to love: completely, uniquely, unconditionally. Let us confess our difficulty to be as loving as God teaches us, as we pray, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness

     We are hesitant to confess, Holy God, how hard it is to love as you wish. It is easy to love you with all that we are, except when you ask us to love our neighbor with all that we have. We find it hard to love our neighbor, when it is linked to the way we love ourselves. And it is difficult to love anyone - even You - more than we love ourselves.

      Forgive us, Love Eternal. As you took a risk in creating us, help us to take risks to love others compassionately, to love ourselves genuinely, and to love you as completely as you love us in Jesus

Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon

In God's Kingdom, all are loved for who they are, not what they do;

in God's Kingdom, all are forgiven for what they do, and don't;

in God's Kingdom, all are welcomed and fed by God's grace and hope.

Forgiven, loved, sent forth -

we are not far from God's Kingdom!

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering As we offer our gifts, our hearts, our lives to you, may we see your kingdom of hope and wonder, of healing and kindness unfolding in our midst.  This we ask in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

My beloved sisters and brothers, may the Lord be with you.

And also with you.

My beloved brothers and sisters, lift up your hearts.

Our hearts are lifted high to God.

Beloved of God, let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Thanksgiving is in our hearts, and praise is on our lips.

We will sing praises to you all life long,

O Lord our God,

maker of the earth, the heavens, the seas,

and all that dwell in them.

You made us in your image

so we might be your people

and worship you forever.

But blinded by the seductions of the world,

we wandered far from your Kingdom,

putting our trust in those powers that cannot save us.

Despite our turning our backs on you,

you have clung to us in grace and love,

determined to be faithful to the covenant

you established with us.

Therefore, we join our voices,

with the saints of every time and of every place,

singing our praises to your heart:

Holy, holy, holy are you, Lord God of our souls.

Heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them

     glorify your name forever.

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One whose help is in you.

Hosanna in the highest!

We praise you, Holy God,

and bless your Son, Jesus Christ,

our Help, our Hope, our Lord.

He opened the eyes of the blind,

so we might behold your grace;

he loosed the bonds of the captive,

so we might follow in freedom;

he watched over strangers,

so we might become brothers and sisters;

he lifted up those who had fallen,

so we might walk the streets of the Kingdom;

he gave his heart to those ignored by the world,

so the widow and orphan might find

their heart's home in you;

he endured death's embrace,

so we might be welcomed

into eternal life with you.

His life, his words, his death, his resurrection

are mysteries we may not understand completely,

but which we will proclaim with faith:

Christ died, loving us more than himself;

Christ rose, loving God with all that he was;

Christ will come again, loving all God's children,

     so we might be neighbors forever.

As we break the Bread of Life

and drink from the Cup of Salvation,

pour out your eternal Spirit

upon these gifts

and those who will receive them.

Despite our unfaithfulness,

we are determined to go with you;

despite our weakness,

we are resolved to worship you;

despite our fears and prejudices,

we are unfaltering in our commitment

to justice and hope for others.

Through your Son, Jesus Christ, who is our grace;

through the Spirit, who is our hope;

we honor and glorify your love

for all people in creation,

Great God, our peace and our joy,

now and forever. Amen.

Blessing

As you leave this place, go with God.

We will go wherever God goes.

As you depart to serve, go with Christ.

We will not turn back from following Jesus.

As you live the coming days, go with the Spirit.

God's people will be our people,

and we will share our lives with them.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Alternate Texts liturgy w/communion for November 3, 2024 (Pentecost 24/Trinity 23/Proper 26/Ordinary 31 - B)

 Texts:  Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Psalm 119:1-8; Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34

Call to Worship

Blessed are those who pay attention to God’s words.

We will keep them close to our hearts

and write them on our souls.

Blessed are those who seek to walk with God’s Word, Jesus.

We will seek to love our God completely

and our neighbors as if they were us.

Blessed are those keep their eyes on the Spirit.

We will learn the ways of peace

and practice the art of hope.

Prayer of the Day

When we could offer our hearts

to the highest bidder,

may we give them to you

without reservation;

when we could find love

in the shadowed streets of temptation,

may crawl up into your lap,

and be wrapped in your embrace,

God who alone is God.

When we could sprint after

the wealthy and powerful,

trying to keep up with them,

may we serve the vulnerable

in the neighborhoods everyone ignores;

when we could lose our souls

seeking to bargain with prevaricators,

may we listen to your truth

in the simple songs of little children,

Brother of the oppressed.

When we could easily forget

your words of grace and hope,

may we teach them to our kids

before they head off into the day;

when we could tell them stories

of folks who think might makes right,

may we read them bedtime stories

of grace that rebuilds families,

of hope which restores communities,

Spirit who would draw us close to the kingdom.

When we could keep trying to do it our way,

may we walk in your way of love,

God in Community, Holy in One,

even as we pray as we are taught,

(The Lord’s Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation

The books, movies, television shows make it seem so easy, so wonderful.  Yet love is more difficult than we realize, whether it is our inability to love those around us, our hollow words of how much we love God, or the simple truth that we know ourselves too well to think we our loveable.  So let us bring our lives, our emptiness, our hopes to our God who does, who has, and who will love us unconditionally.  Join me, as we pray together saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness

   When our neighbors think and act like us, God of words, it is easy to love them, but harder when they dress and talk in a different way.  It is so simple to love you in moments of worship, but at work or the gym, in the stores or in school seems to be more difficult.  It is easy to love ourselves, until someone asks us why we said a certain thing or why we made that foolish choice.

   Yet you continue to love us, God of mercy, and so may our hearts be changed by your faithfulness; may our souls take comfort in the realization that you are always with us; may we discover the wisdom and hope others offer as we listen more closely to them; may we be strengthened in our discipleship by the One who models weakness and compassion for others, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon

Hear God’s words of forgiveness and hope;

keep these words in your hearts;

share them with every person you meet;

for this is the good news:  God loves us.

We will pay attention to God words, we will cradle them in our souls, we will live them in every moment we have.  Thanks be to God, we are forgiven!  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering

By sharing from the blessings you have given us, Holy God, we can love our neighbors, especially those who are hungry, those who huddle in shadowed doorways, those we need medical care, and those who need to know they are loved – by us as well as by you.  Bless our gifts and use them so all might draw closer to your kingdom.  We pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

May God’s love surround you!

May God’s love embrace you!

Let us love our God with every fiber of our lives.

We open our hearts and souls to God,

serving God with our strength and thoughts.

Let us praise God with loud voices.

Let us keep God’s words close as we sing in joy.

You heard the silence of chaos

and spoke, God of love,

your Word calling forth all creation

and your Spirit breathing life into

   trees growing tall in forests,

   dolphins splashing in seas,

   butterflies and bees pollinating flowers.

You did not do all this for yourself,

but for those shaped in your image,

that we might love you completely

and share this goodness with others,

   but we would not tell of this wonder,

   preferring the anger and hurt

   sin and death poured into us

   to offer to those around us.

Walking in your way,

prophets came, calling us to pay attention

to your words of hope and restoration,

   but we continued to dwell

   in the crumbling hovels of temptation.

Than you sent your Heart to us,

so that we would know, once and for all,

of your great love for us.

With those who tell of you to their children,

with those who have tattooed you on their souls,

we sing our praises to you:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God of all people.

Creation in its beauty and wonder sings praises to you.

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who is the bearer of all good things.

Hosanna in the highest!

You alone are holy, Merciful God,

and could remain aloof from us,

but you chose to bear our human frame

in the One whose birth we draw near.

Jesus came with words of hope,

   so that we could share them with children.

Jesus came with words of wonder,

   so that we could find joy in the midst of despair.

Jesus came with words of grace,

   so that we could be neighbors to the broken.

Jesus came with words of life,

   so that death could have no power over him,

   as he was brought forth from the grave

   in resurrection’s power.

As we prepare to celebrate the feast of grace,

as we seek to love others as we are loved,

we proclaim that mystery we call faith:

Jesus died, defeating fear once and for all.

Jesus was raised, defeating death once and for all.

Jesus will come, gathering us to your side once and for all.

Here, you gather your beloved children at the Table,

pouring out your Spirit on the gifts prepared

and on those gathered in these moments.

Though broken, the bread strengthens us

   to welcome all turned away by fear,

   to bring healing to those who have no hope,

   to feed those who have empty pantries.

Though ordinary liquid, the cup enables us

   to see the broken hearts of others,

   to listen to the cries of the forsaken,

   to share our souls with the lonely.

And when we are gathered at the end of time

with our sisters and brothers from every place,

we will lift our voices to you,

God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Sending

Our hearts filled with God’s love,

we will go to share it with those around us

who know only rejection and fear.

Our souls filled with the grace of Jesus,

we will carry it into neighborhoods

where hate threatens to tear people apart.

Our minds filled with the wisdom of the Spirit,

we will have the strength to call out bigotry,

to denounce the mongers of anger.

© Thom M. Shuman