Dwelling Place
Worship
THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE
Liturgical Aids
Call to Worship
Though we call this God's house, we know that God does not dwell in a house made by human hands.
Indeed, God is spirit, and we come to worship in spirit and in truth.
God is present wherever we may be; God's love, God's power is ever near.
It remains for us to recognize this and to welcome God into every setting of our lives, including this time of gathering for praise and thanksgiving, for learning and dedication anew.
For even as we ask, "Where does God live?" we would answer, "God lives in us."
We are God's temple, the spirit of God dwelling in us.
Let our worship now reflect this wondrous affirmation.
Let our living for God reflect the same glorious fact day by day.
Invocation
God, you are a God on the move. It is not your habit to sit still, to dwell in one place, to invest yourself in a particular time. We thank you for that, for thus can you be near to us; thus can you be active in this present moment. Moreover, how awesome and how humbling is this desire of yours to live in us, that your will be expressed in our being and in our actions. That calls for a personal commitment on our part. So do we come to learn what you expect of us - that we then might make our pledge of loyalty and faithfulness. Therefore, visit us today, we pray, with the wonder of your being and lead us into a commitment that is joyous and complete. Amen.
Call to Confession
Though we like God to be available when out of need we call upon the Almighty, we nonetheless would rather not have God looking over our shoulder all the time. For at times we cherish our privacy. We'd rather that God stay in his house and we in ours. Yet how quick we are to criticize and to say, "How long, O Lord?" when God appears to be absent and there is no holy intervention. Let us confess this ambivalence we have to God's being with us.
Prayer of Confession
God, do we not know that you are with us wherever we go? Rather than cause us alarm, this knowledge should bring us assurance. All of your resources - mighty in power, compassionate in application - are available for our well--being. Can we not see that by your actions you heal, and that you would use us - as your house and as your people - to carry the same good news to others? The only house you care to dwell in, O God, is a faithful people. Forgive us when by our reluctance and our inattentiveness we have spurned this, your holy will. Instill in us, we pray, the desire to represent you fully and faithfully by our every word and deed. This is our plea. In your mercy, hear us and heal us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Hear anew those words of wisdom of old: "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who would build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, those who guard it watch in vain." Praise be to God - that God both builds and guards, that we might be whole and our community holy - this through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord.
Praise God - for wherever God is, there is home.
Psalter Reading (from Psalm 84)
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.
Happy are those whose strength is in you ... they go from strength to strength.
O Lord God of hosts, hear our prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
Offering Sentences
God is present - to meet our every need. God calls for us also to be present, sharing that which God has given us to meet the neighbor's need, so making available the largesse of God, God's love, that through this sharing there be scarcity for none. So do we bring our tithes and offerings, giving new meaning to "gifts of God for the people of God."
Prayer of Dedication
You place great significance, Lord, on our giving, for it is your way of reaching out beyond this place to touch with healing those in need of health and hope, those who desperately desire renewal of purpose and spirit. So may these tithes and offerings be an extension of your holy love, your care for all of creation. Thus will they be seen as part of that total giving we have come to know in Christ, for it is in his name that we ask this. Amen.
Benediction
Go from this place convinced that you are God's temple, that God's spirit indeed dwells in you. What an awesome affirmation! What wondrous possibilities! What a great responsibility! Just remember that God is always present to aid and to guide; moreover, that God's resources are abundantly available - that we are to share even as God shares. Amen.
Though we call this God's house, we know that God does not dwell in a house made by human hands.
Indeed, God is spirit, and we come to worship in spirit and in truth.
God is present wherever we may be; God's love, God's power is ever near.
It remains for us to recognize this and to welcome God into every setting of our lives, including this time of gathering for praise and thanksgiving, for learning and dedication anew.
For even as we ask, "Where does God live?" we would answer, "God lives in us."
We are God's temple, the spirit of God dwelling in us.
Let our worship now reflect this wondrous affirmation.
Let our living for God reflect the same glorious fact day by day.
Invocation
God, you are a God on the move. It is not your habit to sit still, to dwell in one place, to invest yourself in a particular time. We thank you for that, for thus can you be near to us; thus can you be active in this present moment. Moreover, how awesome and how humbling is this desire of yours to live in us, that your will be expressed in our being and in our actions. That calls for a personal commitment on our part. So do we come to learn what you expect of us - that we then might make our pledge of loyalty and faithfulness. Therefore, visit us today, we pray, with the wonder of your being and lead us into a commitment that is joyous and complete. Amen.
Call to Confession
Though we like God to be available when out of need we call upon the Almighty, we nonetheless would rather not have God looking over our shoulder all the time. For at times we cherish our privacy. We'd rather that God stay in his house and we in ours. Yet how quick we are to criticize and to say, "How long, O Lord?" when God appears to be absent and there is no holy intervention. Let us confess this ambivalence we have to God's being with us.
Prayer of Confession
God, do we not know that you are with us wherever we go? Rather than cause us alarm, this knowledge should bring us assurance. All of your resources - mighty in power, compassionate in application - are available for our well--being. Can we not see that by your actions you heal, and that you would use us - as your house and as your people - to carry the same good news to others? The only house you care to dwell in, O God, is a faithful people. Forgive us when by our reluctance and our inattentiveness we have spurned this, your holy will. Instill in us, we pray, the desire to represent you fully and faithfully by our every word and deed. This is our plea. In your mercy, hear us and heal us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Words of Assurance
Hear anew those words of wisdom of old: "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who would build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, those who guard it watch in vain." Praise be to God - that God both builds and guards, that we might be whole and our community holy - this through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord.
Praise God - for wherever God is, there is home.
Psalter Reading (from Psalm 84)
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.
Happy are those whose strength is in you ... they go from strength to strength.
O Lord God of hosts, hear our prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
Offering Sentences
God is present - to meet our every need. God calls for us also to be present, sharing that which God has given us to meet the neighbor's need, so making available the largesse of God, God's love, that through this sharing there be scarcity for none. So do we bring our tithes and offerings, giving new meaning to "gifts of God for the people of God."
Prayer of Dedication
You place great significance, Lord, on our giving, for it is your way of reaching out beyond this place to touch with healing those in need of health and hope, those who desperately desire renewal of purpose and spirit. So may these tithes and offerings be an extension of your holy love, your care for all of creation. Thus will they be seen as part of that total giving we have come to know in Christ, for it is in his name that we ask this. Amen.
Benediction
Go from this place convinced that you are God's temple, that God's spirit indeed dwells in you. What an awesome affirmation! What wondrous possibilities! What a great responsibility! Just remember that God is always present to aid and to guide; moreover, that God's resources are abundantly available - that we are to share even as God shares. Amen.
