Worship Prayer April 27

 

CENTERING PRAYER Gracious God, you are the God who is and was and is to be. Thank you that Christ has freed us to be a kingdom of priests serving you and your world. Give me a deeper sense, as I move through this day, of what it means to say that you are my “Alpha and Omega,” my A to Z. Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! Celebrate God in this sacred space! Celebrate God in all places under heaven! Give praise for God’s mighty deeds! Give praise for God’s resurrecting power! Praise God with a fanfare of trumpets. Praise God with the harp and the cello! Praise God with tambourines and dancing! Praise God with flutes and guitars! Praise God with cymbals and drums! Let everything with life and breath praise God!

PRAYER OF CONFESSION God of the empty tomb and our empty hearts, when we are afraid to speak our faith in the world, forgive us and help us to find our voice. When we are afraid to forgive and to love again, forgive us and give us the power to forgive. When we are afraid to stand up to misguided authority, join with the weak to make us all strong. When we are confined by our hurts, touch us with your wounded hands and set us free. When we are locked behind our doubts and fears, pass through our barricades, open our hearts, and give us peace. (Silent Confession)

† 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.

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, forever. Amen.