Liturgy w/communion for November 8, 2026 (Pentecost 24/Trinity 23/Proper 27/Ordinary 32 - A)

 Texts: Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Call to Worship
If we will but listen,
God will speak to us in parables,
God will tell us stories lived out by our grandparents.
If we will but remember,
we will discover all we have heard and known,
all the wonders God has in store for us.
If we will but share,
we can tell our children and grandchildren -
even those not yet born -
the glorious stories of our God.

Prayer of the Day
We stand at the crossing,
Holy God,
arms, hearts, souls
full of the burdens
the gods of this world
have placed on us.
You remove them,
throw then to one side,
taking us by the hand
to lead us into your kingdom.

As we turn to you in our despair,
Holy Friend,
you come and fill our emptiness
with the holy oil
of your compassion,
so we might always
be ready to serve
those who come to us.

Holy Wisdom,
you would not leave us
uninformed of God's love for us,
so you whisper in our ears
of wonders beyond imagination;
you remove the blindfolds from our eyes
so we may  behold the grace
flowing all around us;
you open our hearts
to the family God has given us.

God in Community, Holy in One,
hear us as we pray as Jesus teaches us,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
How quickly we forget - our faith, our calling, our hope.  All because we try to do everything our way, rather than God's.  But God is quicker to forgive, and to restore us to new life.  Let us confess to our God, as we pray, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     It is never easy to admit how foolish we are, Approaching God.  You have chosen us for yourself, and we continue to shelter false gods in our hearts.  You promise to be with us in every moment, but we can find little time for you.  You send your Word to us, but we are too busy listening to the noise of our culture to pay attention.
     Have mercy, Eternal One, and forgive us.  Speak to us, so we might listen, and in hearing be transformed into your people.  Fill us with holiness, so we might give ourselves wholly to others.  Enable us to serve you faithfully and completely, even as did our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
This is our assurance: God forgives us.
This is our hope: God's love is everlasting.
This is our truth: God is with us always.
We will speak the truth;
we will live the hope;
we will share God's mercy.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
We can stand at the edge and watch while you seek to bring hope, healing, peace, and joy to everyone in the world.  Or we can take that step, of committing our lives as well as our gifts, in working with you in this ministry of grace.  Bless our gifts, bless our lives, bless our service, we pray.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the Lord be with you.
And also with you.
People of God, lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the One whose faithfulness never ends.
People of God, give thanks to the Lord.
We offer our praise and thanksgiving to the One whose love is eternal.

How good and right
it is to praise you,
God who gathers us
around this Table!
You opened your mouth,
and creation's glory sprang forth;
you appointed the stars
to glitter in the night;
you established the waters
to nourish the earth.
You shaped us in your image,
calling us to be your children
to live with you in harmony and joy.
But we chose to serve sin,
crossing the River back into chaos,
hugging our false gods to our hearts.
But you would not give up
on your hope for us,
sending us the prophets
so we might pay attention
to the words of your heart.
When we would not forsake
our reliance on the world's idols,
you sent Jesus to us,
who died and was raised for our sake.

Therefore, we join with those
who await us there in heaven,
as well as those who witness to us here,
singing forever of your glory:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God of all wanderers.
All creation cries out in praise to you.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the One who comes that we might have hope.
Hosanna in the highest!

You alone are holy,
God of all time,
and blessed is Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior.
When we had walked away
from your gracious love,
you turned to us in Christ
to save us.
When we no longer
were willing to listen,
your Word of hope
came among us
to live your love in our midst.
When we foolishly clung
to sin's deadly ways,
Jesus reached out to pull us
from the grasp of death,
and showed us the Kingdom.

As we remember his death and resurrection for us,
we tell those who come after us
of that mystery we call faith:

Christ died, the witness that love is stronger than hate;
Christ was raised, the witness that life is stronger than death;
Christ will witness to us that hope is stronger than grief.

As we come to this Table
of healing and gentleness,
we pray that you would
send your Spirit upon the gifts
of the bread and of the cup,
and on your children gathered here.
As we reach out our hands
for the bread which has been broken for us,
we seek to encourage others
to discover you love;
as we drink of the Spirit of Christ,
may we no longer plead ignorance,
but with full awareness,
and open hearts, go forth
to serve all your children.

Then, when we gather at
the Wedding Banquet in your kingdom,
we will praise you,
Creating God,
Jesus of the poor,
Healing Spirit -
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Sending
Go now to tell the stories of our God.
We will listen to the lives of those around us as we do.
Go now to discover the gifts of everyone you meet.
We will remember Jesus, who blessed us with hope and life.
Go now to share all that is within you.
We will tell everyone - from the smallest child to the oldest person -
of the Spirit who longs to shape us into one community.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Alternate texts liturgy w/communion for November 8, 2026 (Pentecost 24/Trinity 23/Proper 27/Ordinary 32 - A)

 Texts: Amos 5:18-24; Psalm 70; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Call to Worship
We gather to worship our God:
not only with those whose hearts
     overflow with joy,
but with those who long to offer
     their deepest sorrows.
We gather to follow Jesus:
not only with songs and prayers,
but with lives of service and peace.
We gather to be filled with the Spirit's presence:
not only so we can wait patiently
     for the Bridegroom to come,
but so we can be with those who are impatient
     for justice and hope in their lives.

Prayer of the Day
We think we can put you
in a tiny cage made out of
our expectations, where you will stay,
but you come,
God-who-is-always-unpredictable,
     composing songs in strange languages,
     replacing pianos with steel drums,
     gathering us in pubs at closing time,
so we can learn that to worship you
is to be with your children in every place.

We will only have the patience
to wait for you,
Jesus-who-comes-as-the-Bridegroom,
     when we become impatient
     enough to challenge the excuses
     of all who tell the poor to just wait;
we will only have enough faith
     when we trust that you
     know what your are doing
     and do not stand in the way;
we will only have enough justice
     when we make sure
     that the have-nots are
     as valued as the haves.

You would have us keep nothing
from God, Spirit-who-brings-the-new,
so teach us to pray with abandon,
bringing all that that knocks
     us off our feet,
and all that takes
     our breath away;
revealing the messy rooms
     of our souls,
opening the empty
     cupboards of our souls
so you can stock them
     with grace and wonder.

Be with us now in these moments,
God in Community, Holy in One,
as we pray as Jesus has taught us,
(The Lord's Prayer)

Call to Reconciliation
We are not people who have no hope.  Despite our foolish ways of living, in the face of all the mistakes we make, God does not waste time, but comes to fill us with forgiveness and hope.  Join me, as we pray together, saying,

Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
     With insta-this and insta-that, we are an impatient people, God our help.  We are so focused on our hand-held electronics, we do not notice the changing seasons.  We are so rushed to get to our next activity, we do not see the victims of injustice by the side of the road.  We are so determined to get right the date of your return, that we forget you are waiting for us to focus on what we can do with our days.
     Forgive us, God our rescuer, and teach us patience.  As we wait, may we continue to seek to do your will.  As we do your will, may our eyes be opened to those around us.  As our eyes are opened, may we see Jesus Christ, our Lord the Bridegroom, coming toward us with justice and righteousness as his companions.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
God is please to pour salvation upon us, drenching us in the waters of grace and hope.
Thanks be to God!  We will rejoice and be glad in the One who delivers us from our brokenness and who makes us whole.  Amen.

Prayer of Dedication/Offering
It seems like just a drop, the gifts we offer to you from our abundance.  But our drop added to hers, then to his, then to theirs soon become a river of hope, a flood of peace, a torrent of grace rushing into and through our world.  May it be so, Just God, may it be so.  Amen.

Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the God of the prophets be with you.
May the God of the Bridegroom be with you.
Lift up your hearts, all you who wait for God.
We open them, that God might fill them with righteousness.
Join in the glad chorus of all who sing to our God.
Our songs will be of justice and hope for all people.

You could have brought the ordinary
out of chaos, Unpredictable God,
every planet the same size and shape,
every creature a lookalike of the next,
     but you spun rings around Saturn
          and layered Jupiter with gases;
     you stretched the neck on the giraffe
          and webbed the feet of ducks.
Then, you envisioned us in your image,
shaped by your hands, given life by your Breath,
so we might enjoy the wonders of your mind.
     Yet, we chose to seek shelter in sin
     and picked death as our boon companion.
You would not have us be ignorant
but sent Amos and others to remind us
of your love and mercy toward us,
     but we jumped feet-first
     into temptation's alluring pools.
So you sent Jesus to us,
your salvation flowing from
your heart to ours.

With those who wait patiently for you,
with those who fritter time away,
we offer our songs of thanksgiving:

Holy, holy, holy are you, God of wonder.
All creation finds joy in you.
Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is the Bridegroom who comes to us.
Hosanna in the highest!

Your kingdom is as unpredictable
as you, God who comes to us.
You could have dammed up
all your hope, but you sent Jesus
so we might see it face to face.
You could have kept your dreams
locked away in your heart,
but you sent Jesus so we
might hear them for ourselves.
You could have withheld salvation
from those who had no hope,
but you sent Jesus, so it might
sweep away death's grasp as
it flooded out of the empty tomb.

As we wait patiently for the Bridegroom,
as we seek to live as those with hope,
we proclaim that mystery called faith:

Christ died for those who are alive today;
Christ was raised, to snatch us out of death's grasp;
Christ will bring all who die into your kingdom.

Come quickly, Holy Spirit, , and grace
the bread, the cup, and all who gather here.
Feed us with the Bread which,
though broken, can make us whole,
strong enough to lift up
the poor and the needy.
When our sense of justice
is so parched we cannot speak
for the oppressed and voiceless,
may the Cup of righteousness
flood through our lives into our world,
bringing hope and new life to all.

And when the Bridegroom comes
to gather us all for the Wedding Feast,
we will join our siblings
in praising you forever and ever,
God in Community, Holy in One.  Amen.

Sending
Go forth as God's people!
We will take hope to all who have none.
Go forth as the Bridegroom's beloved!
We will open the floodgates of God's compassion for all.
Go forth to share the Spirit!
We will be rivers of justice flowing through the world.

(c) Thom M. Shuman