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Call to Worship
We come to worship Jesus the Christ.
He is the vine from whom we draw our sustenance.
Being the branches, we are dependent upon him in every way.
Thus are we fed and are able to bear fruit.
This is the plan of the vinegrower, who has planted the vine for a purpose.
The vinegrower is God, the one who provides, the one who also judges.
Our worship confirms God's plan for our lives.
Our worship indeed confirms how we are to live: as ones who abide in Christ.

Invocation
Rather than cut off, we are thankful, O God, that we are attached to. You include us -- as part of your nurturing of creation. You feed us each day that we might in turn produce good fruit and so be able to feed others. Our only real sustenance is from you. Our health is totally dependent upon our willingness to attach ourselves completely to that life support which is Word and Spirit. May our worship today instill within us that desire. May what we do here cause good fruit to be formed. This in Christ's name and by the power of his holy love. Amen.

Call to Confession
We know that vines need pruning to produce well. That which is nonproductive must be removed in order that new, hearty growth can occur. So it is with our lives. We need pruning -- to rid ourselves of that which is ineffectual and empty of value, that our lives might be useful and of worth to God and our neighbor. Are we ready to ask God to prune us? For the moment we may indeed feel some pain, but then exhilaration and joy. Will you join me?

Prayer of Confession
God, you know better than we what needs lopping off. We submit ourselves to whatever vine surgery you may find it necessary to perform. For we realize that all is done with the greatest of care -- that we be shaped into able, life-giving purveyors of your Word and Spirit. So instill within us, we ask, renewed fervor and zeal, that we produce fruit worthy of the good news we are to represent. For thus will our focus be lifted beyond self to that which we may share with family, friend, and stranger. And so will we be doing our part in the uniting of all of creation within your single purpose of love and peace. Prune us, shape us, direct us, use us -- that we truly abide in you, and by our faithful response serve you in helpful ways. This in the name of Christ. Amen.

Words of Assurance
God's love is always at work for our well-being. Whether it be pruning, or causing us to bud and blossom, or nurturing us that fruit be formed in abundance, all is evidence of God's gracious care -- available to each of us, without exception. Let us with gratefulness of heart accept all that God has in store for us.
Thanks be to God -- for so patiently molding us, that we be faithful and productive children of the Most High.

Psalter Reading (from Psalm 22)
From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who revere him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.
To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
Before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,
And proclaim his deliverance to a people as yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Offering Sentences
What better means of giving evidence of good fruit than by the tithes and offerings we now bring forward for God's work in this place. Let this be done as a joyful expression of who we are as God's people and of what we propose to do in his name with our lives. May much good fruit by this means be shared -- that hopes be raised and unity be our witness to all around.

Prayer of Dedication
Each gift of love here offered is, O God, a sign of your presence in this place. May our continuing commitment here be translated into a faithful witness of words and a host of caring deeds. Let much good fruit be the mark of this congregation. It will be so, even as we depend upon you each day in all of our doing. Amen.

Benediction
Remember always that Christ is the vine. We have the good fortune of being the branches, that is, if we abide in him, if we purposely cast our lot with him for the whole of life. We have all to gain -- or all to lose. Which will it be, dear friend? My advice to you, my prayer for you: Choose Christ, and so find yourself in a position truly to live.