Call to Worship
You clapped your hands, Holy God,
and the sea rippled with waves,
mountains turned cartwheels,
and creation broke free of the chains of chaos.
The God who feeds us and sets us free
welcomes us here, and we come with joy.
As the faithful rejoice in the Lamb of God,
singing with loud voices:
‘God has gifted us with salvation!’
we gather with neighbors and strangers,
with our siblings in faith, to worship
the Good Shepherd who wipes away our tears.
Prayer of the Day
You gather us in your presence,
God of wonder and hope,
offering a feast of hope
when we hunger for kindness,
carrying us in your grace,
just as you bear our sorrows
and those burdens too hard for us.
Every time we wander from you,
Shepherd of every soul,
you call us by name,
your voice weaving its way
through the noise of our days.
You hold us with loving hands
which never release us, a love
from which no one can pull us.
Breath which parts the waves
and can melt our frozen hearts,
teach us to skip like lambs with joy,
flood the barren places of our lives
with rivers of living water.
Move through us this day,
Empowering us to be people,
who remember,
and in remembering, rejoice,
and in rejoicing,
and in rejoicing,
share the mercy we have received.
Continue to be our songs,
our hope, our life, our shepherd,
God in Community, Holy in One,
even as we pray those words
we know so well and long to live,
(The Lord’s Prayer)
Call to Reconciliation
Like kids who can wander away at a picnic, like folks who get distracted from a conversation by a text, it is easy for us to drift away from God, and yet God continues to call us, to listen to us, to forgive us. Join me as we pray about our lives to God, saying,
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
When we swap lies for truth, when we choose security over speaking out, when we settle into comfort rather than seek justice for others, we know how far we have wandered from you, God of all people.
In Christ, you were wounded for us, so forgive us when we hurt others. In Christ, you carried our burdens and our sorrows, so forgive us when we dismiss the pain of others, In Christ, you laid down life for us, for forgive us when we don’t have time to care. For in Christ, our Lord and Savior, we can be Easter people. Amen.
Silence is observed
Assurance of Pardon
Friends, here is the good news which never grows old. The One who gave his life for us, is the One who offers a new life for us. Believe these words.
We are forgiven. We are made whole. We are cradled in the loving arms of God. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Affirmation of Faith
Let us affirm what we believe:
We believe in God,
whose whispers cause mountains to skip
and lambs to dance across meadows.
We believe in Jesus Christ,
who sets a table for the hungry,
who cradles the lonely,
who turns our tears into living water.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the mist drifting over grasslands,
the breath we makes all things new.
Amen.
The Great Thanksgiving
May God be with you.
May God be with you as well.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to God.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
There in the silence of chaos you spoke,
there in the emptiness of nothingness, you acted,
Imaginative God,
and mountains burst forth
Continue to be our songs,
our hope, our life, our shepherd,
God in Community, Holy in One,
even as we pray those words
we know so well and long to live,
(The Lord’s Prayer)
Call to Reconciliation
Like kids who can wander away at a picnic, like folks who get distracted from a conversation by a text, it is easy for us to drift away from God, and yet God continues to call us, to listen to us, to forgive us. Join me as we pray about our lives to God, saying,
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
When we swap lies for truth, when we choose security over speaking out, when we settle into comfort rather than seek justice for others, we know how far we have wandered from you, God of all people.
In Christ, you were wounded for us, so forgive us when we hurt others. In Christ, you carried our burdens and our sorrows, so forgive us when we dismiss the pain of others, In Christ, you laid down life for us, for forgive us when we don’t have time to care. For in Christ, our Lord and Savior, we can be Easter people. Amen.
Silence is observed
Assurance of Pardon
Friends, here is the good news which never grows old. The One who gave his life for us, is the One who offers a new life for us. Believe these words.
We are forgiven. We are made whole. We are cradled in the loving arms of God. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Affirmation of Faith
Let us affirm what we believe:
We believe in God,
whose whispers cause mountains to skip
and lambs to dance across meadows.
We believe in Jesus Christ,
who sets a table for the hungry,
who cradles the lonely,
who turns our tears into living water.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the mist drifting over grasslands,
the breath we makes all things new.
Amen.
The Great Thanksgiving
May God be with you.
May God be with you as well.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to God.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
There in the silence of chaos you spoke,
there in the emptiness of nothingness, you acted,
Imaginative God,
and mountains burst forth
to skip across valleys,
seas chased one another
seas chased one another
like children on a summer night,
rocks split open to become fountains
for parched creatures of every kind,
including those you crafted from earth’s dust
to be in your loving image.
You whispered to us of grace and life
but we could not believe what we heard
and so put our trust in lies and fears.
Refusing to give up on us,
you sent those women and men
we call prophets to call us back,
but we continued to skip like
foolish children after death.
Finally, you chose to send
your beloved Child
to show us what grace
looks like, talks like, serves as.
So, with those who love to play hopscotch
as well those who wash chalk off sidewalks,
we sing our praises to you:
Holy, Holy, Holy are you, God of love.
skipping mountains and dancing waves
join us in praising you.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who we rejected.
Hosanna in the highest!
You set aside holiness, God of life,
to become humble in Jesus.
Who would ever have believed
such a story:
the grace of God
came to take our grudges
off our weary backs,
the love of God
came to welcome all
whom the world hates,
the heart of God
came to be broken
whenever our hearts shatter,
the arm of God
of God came to have his
stretched in passion for us,
the glory of God
was placed in a tomb
until the heart of God
whispered resurrection life.
So, with those in white robes,
and the multitudes throughout all creation,
we proclaim that mystery we call faith.
Christ died, while we hid our faces.
Christ was raised, while we hid
behind locked doors.
Christ will come, even though
we continue to go our own way.
Here in this place, with these people,
we pray you would pour out your Spirit
not only on the bread and the cup,
but on your children, gathered and scattered.
This bread which represents
the broken life of your Child, O God,
may it strengthen us
to speak out for the voiceless
to bear the burdens of others,
to be willing to be rejected by the privileged.
And this cup, which is the spirit
of Jesus poured out for us,
may it transform us into those
who refuse to see anyone
as having no value,
who seek to heal the world’s
broken people and places,
who believe the stories
of those forgotten by others.
And when all time and history has ended,
gather us with our siblings of every generation
around that Table of grace and life,
where we will forever sing to you,
God in Community, Holy in One,
forever and ever. Amen.
Sending
Let us go now.
For we are held by our God
who calls us by name.
Let us follow the Shepherd
We will follow Jesus
into our communities to serve all
Let us go with the Holy Spirit.
Who will be our guide as well as
our fellow pilgrim in this life.
rocks split open to become fountains
for parched creatures of every kind,
including those you crafted from earth’s dust
to be in your loving image.
You whispered to us of grace and life
but we could not believe what we heard
and so put our trust in lies and fears.
Refusing to give up on us,
you sent those women and men
we call prophets to call us back,
but we continued to skip like
foolish children after death.
Finally, you chose to send
your beloved Child
to show us what grace
looks like, talks like, serves as.
So, with those who love to play hopscotch
as well those who wash chalk off sidewalks,
we sing our praises to you:
Holy, Holy, Holy are you, God of love.
skipping mountains and dancing waves
join us in praising you.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who we rejected.
Hosanna in the highest!
You set aside holiness, God of life,
to become humble in Jesus.
Who would ever have believed
such a story:
the grace of God
came to take our grudges
off our weary backs,
the love of God
came to welcome all
whom the world hates,
the heart of God
came to be broken
whenever our hearts shatter,
the arm of God
of God came to have his
stretched in passion for us,
the glory of God
was placed in a tomb
until the heart of God
whispered resurrection life.
So, with those in white robes,
and the multitudes throughout all creation,
we proclaim that mystery we call faith.
Christ died, while we hid our faces.
Christ was raised, while we hid
behind locked doors.
Christ will come, even though
we continue to go our own way.
Here in this place, with these people,
we pray you would pour out your Spirit
not only on the bread and the cup,
but on your children, gathered and scattered.
This bread which represents
the broken life of your Child, O God,
may it strengthen us
to speak out for the voiceless
to bear the burdens of others,
to be willing to be rejected by the privileged.
And this cup, which is the spirit
of Jesus poured out for us,
may it transform us into those
who refuse to see anyone
as having no value,
who seek to heal the world’s
broken people and places,
who believe the stories
of those forgotten by others.
And when all time and history has ended,
gather us with our siblings of every generation
around that Table of grace and life,
where we will forever sing to you,
God in Community, Holy in One,
forever and ever. Amen.
Sending
Let us go now.
For we are held by our God
who calls us by name.
Let us follow the Shepherd
We will follow Jesus
into our communities to serve all
Let us go with the Holy Spirit.
Who will be our guide as well as
our fellow pilgrim in this life.
(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman
Venmo: @Thom-Shuman
