Worship Oct. 21

CENTERING PRAYER  Eternal One, whose thoughts and ways are not ours, you alone are God, awesome, holy and most high.  School us in the ways of faith and wisdom, that we, like Job, may learn to truly see and hear, and in silent humility and find blessing. Amen. 

     

CALL TO WORSHIP

Welcome!  There are many places you could be this morning, but you have chosen to be here.

        where we learn how to live in God’s Kingdom.

Welcome to this place – full of music, of words, of prayer – yet also filled with vulnerability:

        where we encounter a Wisdom we cannot always understand.

Welcome to God’s House, the most vulnerable place in town:

where we talk about and with God, and are reduced to silence so we may hear the call to discipleship.

Let us worship God together.

   PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Creation’s Heart, we look around and see how we fall short in our attempts at faithfulness.  We often do things, not because it is what you call us to do, but in hopes of earning points with you.  We can become so self-absorbed, we cannot see the suffering and struggles of friends, family, strangers.  We are so desperate to get to the front of the line, we push aside the very ones you seek to honor. 

Forgive us, Holy One.  Remind us that the cup we are offered overflows with grace, that the waters of baptism cleanse and make us new, and that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is the One who calls us to service, standing by our side, as we seek to be faithful disciples.  (Silent Confession)

SCRIPTURE READING                                                    Job 38:1-7, (34-41)

  

† AFFIRMATION OF FAITH - Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.

For the Donna Schiro's sermon "Humbled  by Silence", click here.