Worship Prayers Feb. 25

  

CENTERING PRAYER

 

God, your Son Jesus Christ bore the cross for our salvation and was raised from the dead for the redemption of the world. Give us the courage to take up our cross and follow him, that through his grace we may accept the cost of faithful discipleship and receive the joy of everlasting life with Christ, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

 

Creating Lord, we come to you with hopeful hearts.

Create in us a clean heart.

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

let us remember your mighty deeds.

Help us to believe where we cannot see

and go where you lead.

Saving God, we praise you for your loving sacrifice on Calvary’s hill.

Give us the strength to take up our crosses and follow you.

 

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 

Merciful God, we confess we are not sincere in our faith. We claim to follow Jesus, but we avoid his path of sacrificial love. We profess to be disciples, but we are not willing to bear the cost of discipleship. We affirm the virtue of self-denial, but we indulge our selfish desires and seek earth gain and acclaim. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for sincere repentance, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. (Silent Confession)

 

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – Heidelberg Catechism Question One

 

Q.1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

 

 

OFFERING

 

Invitation to the Offering

 

What will it profit us to gain the whole world and forfeit our life? With all humility let us make our offering to God, trusting not in worldly gain but in God’s sustaining grace.

 

Prayer after Offering

 

Let us pray. We thank you for your covenantal love. Accept these offerings with the dedication of our lives, that we may shine the light of your abiding love and testify to your enduring promise. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.