Texts:
Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52
Call to Worship
Like
water drenching a desert,
God’s grace is poured into our hearts.
Like an
optometrist putting a pair of glasses on a child,
Jesus helps us to see the wonders around us.
Like a
mother wiping tears off a child’s cheeks,
The Spirit comforts us when everything falls
apart.
Prayer of the Day
When
fear’s nightmares
dissolve
into morning wonder;
when
despair’s monsters
hiding
under our beds
turn out
to be hope’s dust bunnies;
when our
tears drip
into the
soil of our hearts
and
bouquets of joy blossom,
you
restore our lives,
God of
grace.
When you
pick up those
we trip
as they try to meet you;
when you
gather the lonely
into the
widening circle of your heart;
when you
call those
to your
side that we push
aside all
too easily,
you help
us to take heart,
Jesus of
justice.
When you
bring us home
from
addiction’s neighborhoods;
when you
wipe the cheeks
of all
those who grieve rejection;
when you
sit by us,
holding
our hands while
we dangle
our feet in still waters,
you whisper
words of life,
Spirit of
loveliness.
And we
tell all of what you do,
God in
Community, Holy in One,
even as
we pray as we are taught,
(The Lord’s Prayer)
Call to Reconciliation
We say we
want to be close to God, but through our foolish choices and wandering hearts,
we usually end up so far away that we cannot find our way back. But our lives will not keep God from
searching for us, forgiving us, and bringing us back to God. Let us confess our lives to the One who is
our hope, our mercy, as we pray together, saying,
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
We
hear people crying out for justice, God of compassion, but tell them to be
quiet so we can hear our favorite politicians.
There are those who stand by the side of the road with a sign reading
‘will work for hope,’ and we speed up to get past them. There are those who have been tripped by the
struggles of life, and we wonder why they can’t pull themselves back to their
feet.
Have
mercy on us, God whose tears mingle with those we have ignored. You challenge us to gather up the poor, the
angry, the hopeless, the lost, the most vulnerable and to bring them to you,
even as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, has brought us to you through his
life and love.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
Take
heart, dear friends. Look at what God
has done! God gathers us from wherever
we have wandered and brings us home along hope’s highway.
With forgiveness, God has restored our hopes;
with grace, God takes our tears and transforms them into bouquets of joy; with
the light of love, God rescues us from nightmares of our fears. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer of Dedication/Offering
Wow! Look what God does. Whatever we offer, large sums and pocket
change, God uses it in serving the forgotten, in healing the broken, and in
welcoming those who have wandered far from home. Receive our gifts in gratitude and
faithfulness, O God. This we pray in
Jesus’ name. Amen.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the
God who does wonders for us be with you.
May God do amazing things for you.
Let us
lift our hearts to our God who loves us.
We open our hearts to the One who restores our
hopes.
Let praise
tumble off our lips in these moments.
We shout joy and thanksgivings to our God.
To
restore your hopes, O God,
you spoke
into chaos
and
brought forth creation,
horses who just gave birth,
foals who struggle to get to their feet,
still waters where all creatures could
drink.
All that
was imaginative and beautiful
was
offered to those who are in your image,
but we chose to live in fear’s farthest
places,
planting seeds into sin’s deepest soils.
You sent
prophets to call us to your side,
and with
tears flowing down their cheeks,
sought to
bring us home,
but we preferred to wander death’s deserts,
to continue to feast at temptation’s table.
So that
you could restore us to whole life,
you chose
to send your Beloved to us,
who would
bring us home to you.
With joy
tumbling off our lips,
with our
tongues tingling with delight,
we sing
our praises to you:
Holy, holy, holy are you, God who does wonders.
All creation exults in all you do.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who is our teacher.
Hosanna in the highest!
Holy are
you, God of the faithful,
and
blessed is the Child
who came
to us at Bethlehem.
He came
to bring the lost home,
all those who had wandered into fear;
he came
to lift to their feet,
all who had stumbled trying to find you;
he came
to open your doors
to all who had no place to live;
he came
to confront sin,
telling it to be quiet in its demands on us;
he came
to conquer death,
being embraced by its cold tomb,
but was brought to new life
by your resurrection love.
As we
prepare to come to your Table,
as we
celebrate the life offered to us,
we speak
of that mystery we know of faith:
Jesus died, planting seeds in death’s desert;
Jesus was raised, as resurrection bloomed in
his heart;
Jesus will come, bouquets of life in his hands.
Here at
this Table, you gather your Beloved,
pouring
out your Spirit
upon the
gifts of the bread and the cup.
As we are
fed by the broken bread,
strengthen
us so we may
wipe the cheeks of those
stained by the tears of fear;
feed the babies of families
who have no food for them.
As we
drink deeply of the cup of salvation,
may we
have the courage to
challenge all who would put
the vulnerable at even more risk;
offer hope to those who find themselves
forgotten by the side of the road
by those who see only their greed.
And when
the seeds of grace you planted
at the
birth of creation bursts forth at the end of time,
you will
gather us around your Table
with our
sisters and brothers from every moment,
and we
will lift our voices in praise to you,
God in
Community, Holy in One,
forever
and ever. Amen.
Sending
Now, let
us go forth in God’s love.
We will go to answer the cries of those in
need.
Now, let
us go forth with the grace of Jesus.
We will go to let all know that Jesus
wants to see them and offer them hope.
Now, let
us go forth in the community of the Spirit.
We will go to gather all who are forsaken and
alone.
© 2018
Thom M. Shuman
