Texts: Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22); Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52
Call to Worship
With our lips and with our hearts:we bless God in every moment of our lives.
With our ears and with our hearts:
we will hear the cries of our sisters and brothers,
in every painful moment, in every broken place.
With every gift and with our hearts:
we will serve God and all of God's children,
with every moment of our lives.
Prayer of the Day
Wise God,you name us your children:
feeding us with hope,
touching the cup of grace to our lips;
shaping us in your image,
that we might care for all creation;
raising us from despair,
rescuing us from our foolishness;
wrestling with our questions,
watching over us in every moment.
Brother Jesus,
Servant of the poor:patiently, lovingly, tenderly
you listen to our voices,
some filled with hurt and bitterness,
others with loneliness and grief;
some trembling with fear and worry,
others overflowing with silence;
and you offer them all to God.
Spirit of Holiness,
creation's life-giving Breath:
you refuse to walk by
when we sit in the dust
of our despair and pain,
blinded by the ashes of our actions,
cloaked in the desires
of our sinful brokenness.
God in Community, Holy in One,
who names us as your children,
hear us as we pray together saying,
(The Lord’s Prayer)
Call to Reconciliation
When we cannot do it, God can! Anything and everything - our messes, the hurts we inflict on others, the way we stand around when we could be helping - God can renew, reshape, restore us. That is how much Godloves us, this is why God calls to us to come and be healed. Join me as we pray to our God, saying,
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
Gracious and holy God, we admit that it is easier to have pain-causing words on our lips, than praise for another. Our foolishness often keeps us from seeing the deep hurts and hunger of the suffering who are around us. We stand by the side of the road, afraid to step forward in faith, afraid to trust that you are with us, afraid to cry out for healing and hope.We are not people who repent in ashes and dust, but we do know we need your mercy, and ask that you forgive our faithlessness, our fears, our hurts. Healer of all people, we lift our hearts and souls to
you, that through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we might find your grace, discover your love, and serve your people in your name.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
Take heart: God hears your prayers. Get up: God has healed your brokenness. Listen: God calls to you with hope, with forgiveness, with life.Now, our eyes are opened and we can see;
now, our ears are opened and we can hear;
now, we can follow Christ into the kingdom.
Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.
Prayer of Dedication/Offering
May our gifts be used to answer the needs of those who seek you, O God, delivering them from their fears, listening to their cries for help, offering refuge to those who are searching for hope. This we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
O taste and see how good God is!We hunger to be in God's gracious presence.
Listen for God's promises to you.
We call out to our God, and we are heard:
lives are made new, hope is restored.
Raise your hearts and voices in thanksgiving to God.
Glad songs of joy and praise will always be on our lips!
In the silence of chaos,
you serenely stood, Irenic God.
Then, with that singular Word,
craters were filled with water,
meadows rippled with crops;
with your Breath exhaled,
life flowed through all creation,
the heavens sparkled with your hope.
Blinded by our desire to be like you,
we chose the wrong role models,
thinking death could offer us life,
that sin would be our dearest friend.
Prophets came with your word,
encouraging us to change our hearts,
to repent in dust and ashes,
but we told them to keep quiet.
Then you took the initiative,
sending Jesus into our lives,
to call us back to you.
So, with those who shout out your name,
and with those who whisper of your wonder,with our sisters and brothers in every time and place,
we sing our praises to you:
Holy, holy, holy are you, God of majesty and grace.
Heaven and earth resounds with your glory.Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is he who for all time is able to save.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed are those who take refuge in you, Radiant God,
and exalted in all creation is your Child, Jesus Christ.
Throwing off his glory,
Jesus sprang up to come to our side,
to do for us what we could not do.
Refusing to stand still and do nothing,
he walked among us, healing us,
calling us to follow him on the way
to that kingdom which is yours.
Blameless, he took our sins to the cross,
where broken, he made us whole,
where dying, he made us new,
where rising, he enables us to see you.
As we remember how he heals us,
as we celebrate how he saves us,
we speak of that mystery we know as faith:
Christ has died;
Christ has been raised;
Christ will come in glory.
We seek you, Transcendent God,
and find you waiting at this Table,
your Spirit transforming these simple gifts
into food and drink for our hungry hearts,
your grace poured out on your children
who have gathered in this sacred space.
As we eat of the Bread of life,
as we drink from the Cup of hope,
may we hear the cries of the poor,
may we see you in their faces,
may we speak, calling them by name,
welcoming them as our sisters and brothers
in that community we call your kingdom.
And when we have fulfilled all our days,
when we gather with the humble and the glad
around that Table prepared for us in glory,
your praise will always be on our lips,
God in Community, Holy in One,
now and through all eternity. Amen.
Sending
Let us go to be God's blessings in the world.
With our lips and with our hearts, we will offer hope to all.
Let us go to be the ears and heart of Jesus.
Listening to the cries of our sisters and brothers,
drawing them into the refuge of grace.
Let us go with our arms full of the Spirit's gifts.
Welcoming every one, every moment of our lives.
(c) Thom M. Shuman
