Worship Prayers April 7

 CENTERING PRAYER

 

Creator God, we give you thanks for your creation and everything in it. Teach us to love and care for our communities and neighbors, near and far.  Please help us to remember you and your gift of water now and always. May we recognize the sacredness and holiness in all the earth’s water and strive for care and protection.  Amen

 

CALL TO WORSHIP*    *(from: “A desert faith in a desert time”, Ghost Ranch, 2013—PEC Ferncliff Conference)

 

We gather to worship God, Giver of Life,
God, give us the waters of new life.
In the deserts of our lives, in the wilderness within,
God, give us the waters of new life.
To give us hope when our lives run dry, to give us strength when our world seems barren,
God, gives us the waters of new life.
To let peace flow like a river and love spring forth like a fountain,
God, give us the waters of new life.
To make justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a living stream,
God, give us the waters of new life.
To give us- and our world- a second chance and a new beginning,
God, give us the waters of new life.
Come, people of God, open your lives to receive God’s new life. Open your hearts to sing God’s praise.

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 

Lord, you know who we are. You know everything we have done. We thirst for things that will never satisfy us. We commit ourselves to things that will never last. We worship things that will never bring salvation. Still, you offer us the gift of living water. Still you offer us the gift of eternal life. Forgive us, O Lord, and give us this living water, so that we may never thirst again. (Silent Confession)

 

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – Confession of Belhar

 

We believe that the church must therefore stand by people in any form of suffering and need, which implies, among other things, that the church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

 

 

OFFERING

 

Invitation to the Offering

 

Resurrected Savior, you call us blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Fill us with your Spirit, and allow us to see how our cup overflows with your goodness. Let us give generously to the work of Christ’s church.

 

 

Prayer after Offering

 

Let us pray… O Lord, you are our God; we are the people of your pasture, the sheep of your hand. As you fed us by your mercy, may it be our daily bread to do your will; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.