CENTERING PRAYER - “O most holy Christ, draw me, weak as I am, after Yourself, for if You do not draw us we cannot follow You. Strengthen my spirit, that it may be willing. If the flesh is weak, let Your grace precede us; come between and follow, for without we cannot go for Your sake to cruel death. Give me a fearless heart, a right faith, a firm hope, a perfect love, that for Your sake I may lay down my life with patience and joy. Amen.”
(words from prison by Czech reformer Jan Hus, before being burned at the stake July 6, 1415)
CALL TO WORSHIP
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
In you, we come home—to rest, to wrestle, to love, to be loved. We dwell in you.
Before the mountains were born, before you delivered the whole world, from everlasting past to everlasting future, you are God.
In you, we are home—we dream, we flourish, we fade, we rejoice. We dwell in you.
Come, let us worship the Lord.
SCRIPTURE Ephesians 4:1-6
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
We resist being your prisoners, O Christ: we have not always led lives worthy of our calling, but have, all too often, sought to go our own way, and so we have fractured your Church when we seek to reform it. Hear us as we own and confess our self-importance and severity, our impatience, our shunning of one another in conceit, and our reluctance to be bound by unity or peace. Silence
We resist oneness, O Spirit: we too often struggle against the fervent hope you express in continually calling us, and so we have fractured your Church when we seek to reform it. Hear us as we own and confess our refusal to share our Savior, our insistence on a tailor-made faith, and our fantasy that baptism is our experience rather than your gift. Silence
We resist giving ourselves to you, God of all: we too often see you only in ourselves rather than above us and everyone, working through us and everyone, present in us and everyone, and so we have fractured your Church when we seek to reform it. Hear us as we own and confess our selfish insistence at exclusivityand our rejection of your glorious family. Silence
Triune God, forgive our resistance, break down our divisions, and scatter our fears. Make us truly one, even as you are one. Hear as we continue to pray in Jesus’ name. (Silent Confession)
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
[Prayer requests may be given to one of the pastors before the service.]
† AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – The Heidelberg Catechism
Q. 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
A. That I belong--body and soul, in life and in death--not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
SCRIPTURE Matthew 22:34-46
For Pastor Dave's sermon "Renewed: Time", click here if video doesn't appear.
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