Below are some worship resources which you are welcome to use at no charge. Please just use a copyright acknowledgment "Copyright Lisa Frenz. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission."
Order for Worship
Prelude & Lighting of candles
Call to Worship: Unite us, God, in peace
by Dominique Ombrie, Agape Songbook, Oxford
Stand
Litany:
A: Whom do you see today?
Whom do your eyes “blank out”?
Whom do you greet?
Whom do you pass over?
Whom do you visit?
Whom do you ignore?
Whom do you associate with?
Whom do you “turn invisible”?
Whom do you welcome?
Whom does your mind “erase”?
P: We all do it. Everyday.
Open yourself and change.
Open yourself and become Christ to all you encounter.
A: See as Christ sees:
C: Everyone.
A: Consider as equal those Christ considers his:
C: Everyone.
A: Welcome as Christ welcomes:
C: Everyone.
P: For who is your inferior?
C: No one.
P: For who is more worthwhile?
C: Others.
P: Be Christ and empty yourself for others.
Gathering Song: I Was Glad
Text: Psalm 122:1, refrain; Jay Beech, stanzas
Music: Jay Beech
Augsburg Fortress
Refrain: I was glad when they said to me. . ."Let us go to the house of the Lord."
Called from ev'ry nation . . , make the walls and rafters ring. Refrain
Words that must be spoken, . . shouted out in Jesus' name. Refrain
Here the poor are welcomed. . . Here, in Christ, we all belong. Refrain
Greeting
Prayer of the Day
Sit
Suggested Anthem: Because he came into our world
Homero Perera , Agape Songbook, Oxford
First Lesson: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
Psalm 25:1-8
Refrain: You Are Compassion (see Music)
W. Michael Aguilar III , Shandy Music Industries, PO Box 10402, Portland, OR 97296.
Second Lesson: Philippians 2:1-13
Stand
Holy Gospel: Matthew 21:23-32
Sit
Music for Meditation
Message
.Stand
Theme Song: The Summons
Text: John Bell, GIA Publications, Inc.
Music: Scottish traditional KELVINGROVE
"Will you come and follow me. . . be grown in you and you in me?
"Will you leave yourself behind . . answer prayer in you and you in me?
"Will you let the blinded see. . . what I mean in you and you in me?
"Will you love the you you hide. . . and sound in you and you in me?
Lord, your summons echoes true. . . grow in you and you in me.
Testimony of Faith:
I believe in God, Creator of the universe, who is mother and father of us all.
I believe in God, Christ Jesus, who, leaving his divinity, became a human, a man who walked this earth. He was born of a woman, grew up, and became a teacher and healer, the Light of the World. He was executed by Pontius Pilate. He conquered death, rising to true life, whole and real. He returned to his Father and will come again to judge this world.
I believe in God, the Holy Spirit, our comforter and guide, who with the Creator and the Christ is God, now and before and after all time.
Prayers of the Church
Sit
Offering
Stand
Offering Prayer:
A: Let us pray,
C: O God, of love and grace, we humbly bring you all that we are and have. For being humble is not a passive thing, but an active thing. Putting others first means more than caring. It means doing. We must act. We must stand up. We must risk ourselves. We must risk our status, our wealth, our lives. This we offer to you, O God, for you first gave us everything. Amen.
Litany
A: Clothes
C: Don’t matter.
A: Cleanliness
C: Doesn’t matter.
A: Gender
C: Doesn’t matter.
A: Sexual orientation
C: Doesn’t matter.
A: Race
C: Doesn’t matter.
A: Nationality
C: Doesn’t matter.
A: Poverty
C: Doesn’t matter.
A: Possessions
C: Don’t matter.
A: Piety
C: Doesn’t matter.
A: Worldliness
C: Doesn’t matter.
A: Christ sees only
C: Faith in God:
A: Great as the ocean,
C: Small as a molecule.
A: All Christ sees is that faith, that trust, that belief.
C: And in Christ we are created a community. One community throughout time and place.
A: One people
C: Reconciled
A: United
C: Through the blood and body of Christ brought into kinship, brought back into the family of God.
Greeting of Peace
P: God has received us, pardoned us and loved us; let us forgive each other in love and share the peace of Christ. Peace be with you.
C: And also with you.
(All may greet one another in the name of the Lord.)
Communion Song: God Has Spoken, Bread Is Broken
verses 1,2,4 sung by the Cantor, All sing Refrain and verses 3 & 5
Text & Music: Jeremy Young (c) 1996 Augsburg Fortress Duplication in any form prohibited without permission or valid license from copyright administrator.
Refrain: God has spoken. . . coming through us to the world.
Jesus, the vine. . . and bear much fruit. Refrain
If you have thirst. . . water of peace. Refrain
One is the bread . . and one in Christ. Refrain
Prayer:
P: We either include or exclude.
We cannot do both.
To say it is right to allow this sinner baptism, but not full participation in ministry is to gainsay or take issue with God.
C: O God, help us to accept such a baptism and acknowledge the fullness of God’s word.
P: To say it is right to allow that sinner communion, but not full participation in community is to contest God.
C: O God, help us to share with everyone in full communion with Christ through his body and blood under the bread and the wine so that we do not separate ourselves from Christ. Help us to acknowledge the full power and breadth of God’s love and accept all of God’s people as equal heirs in the Kingdom - now and always - so we do not turn our backs on God and all of God’s creation.
P: Those God has accepted, those God has received, those God chooses to call are of God.
C: O God, help us to see that when we refuse anyone complete and full communion in the Body of Christ, we cut ourselves off from that body.
P: For what Christ shared with his disciples, he shared with all people. As Christ called the outcasts of society to his side, so today he calls to everyone, and gives to all the gift of life.
P: Blessed is the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens;
Just as God chose us to be in Christ
before the foundation of the world,
God chose us to be holy and blameless
before God in love.
God destined us for adoption through Jesus Christ
According to the favor of God’s will,
For the praise of the glory of God’s grace
which God gave us in the beloved, Jesus Christ,
In whom we have redemption through his blood—
the forgiveness of our sins—
According to the riches of God’s grace
Which he lavished on us
in all wisdom and insight.
God has made known to us the mystery of the divine will
According to the favor which God set forth in Christ
As a plan for the fullness of time
to sum up all things in Christ—
all the things of heaven
and all the things of earth in him—
In whom we also were chosen,
destined according to the purpose of the one
who sets everything in motion
According to the council of God’s will
For we exist to praise the glory of God—
we who first hoped in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3-12 (trans. Annal Frenz)
P: For I received from the Lord
that which I also handed down to you—
that the Lord Jesus
in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and after giving thanks, He broke it and said,
“This is My body, which is for you;
do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way also He took the cup after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant which is in My blood;
do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
I Corinthians 11:23-26 (trans. Annal Frenz)
P: Let us pray,
C: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.
Sit
Distribution
Stand
Dismissal from Communion:
P: Now may the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you always in God’s grace.
C: Amen.
Post Communion Song: No Longer Strangers
Text: David Haas
Music: David Haas
GIA Publications, Inc.
We once were lost, without hope. . . saved by the promise of God!
Refrain: No longer strangers. . . We are one in the house of God!
We once were cut off, but now we are brought near. . . one body of Christ! Refrain
We who once were dead. . . who raised us to life! Refrain
Post Communion Prayer:
A: Let us pray. God of love,
C: You have fed us with the bread of life and the blood of redemption. Fulfill in us the promise of Christ’s glory that we may overflow with the boundless compassion and forgiveness which was first given us through Jesus Christ our Lord that all the world may be nourished. Amen.
Blessing: May You Run and Not Be Weary
Text: Handt Hanson
Music: Handt Hanson
Prince of Peace Publishing/Changing Church Forum, Inc. (CCLI)
May you run and not be weary . . And may the road you travel always lead you home.
Sit
Announcements
A: Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Postlude