Worship Prayers July 5

THE TIME OF CENTERING:  Eternal God, conceiver and shaper, ruler and savior of the world, we bless you that, awake and aware, we are free to praise you.  Bound in the family of Christ to worshippers in every land, we worship you in our mother tongue as others do in theirs, glad to be part of your pattern and purpose.  Amen 

CALL TO WORSHIP

We are here because we have heard the call of Jesus’ in our lives.

        We are here to challenge and support one another to rise up and follow.

We are here because we want to be God’s people.

        We want to learn more about what it means to be the people of God.

We come, seeking to be moved, changed, and made whole by the Spirit of the living God.

        Let us open our hearts to the moving of the Spirit, and prepare to leave this place as true disciples of Christ.  Amen

   PRAYER OF CONFESSION

God of mercy, we confess our struggle with pride.  We confess that we succumb to the temptation to try to bring in your reign by our own effort.  We become impatient and discouraged when others do not respond to our witness, feeling the pangs of unjust rejection.  We forget that the work of softening hearts and opening minds is yours, and that our responsibility is only to speak, by our words and deeds, what we know of your gospel by our faith and our experience.

We confess that our well-intentioned efforts can get in the way of what you are about in another’s life, for you alone know the ways and timing best for another’s learning, healing, and believing.  We are reluctant to “shake off the dust” and go on, leaving others with you.  Forgive us our judgments and the times when we too have been deaf and blind, stubborn and unbelieving.  And grant us your peace.  Amen.

Click here for Susan's sermon "Homeboy".