Proper 14
Worship
Lectionary Worship Aids
Series VI, Cycle A
Object:
Words Of Assurance
Jesus said: "Take heart, do not be afraid." You of little faith, why do you doubt?
Pastoral Prayer
Eternal Spirit, to whom we belong and in whom we live, we worship you, seeking a fresh consciousness of your reality and your penetrating presence. Too often, like creatures of the sea, we question whether there is any water; like birds upon the wing, we ask whether there is air. For, lo, in you we live and move and have our being; yet we spin long arguments about your existence and labor our debates about your attributes. This day we would not debate, but experience you. We would not argue, but would know.
O God, help us never to lose our vision of you. You are the center and the circumference. You bind together all that is worthy and meaningful in life. Steady our faith in you. If some of us here today have been shattered by doubt, hurt by disbelief, until life has been drained of its worth, restore to us such a vision of you that we may believe triumphantly again.
Beget in us a new love for people. Forgive us that so often we are fatigued by them, worn out by their multitude and the irritation of their demands. Give us grace to see beneath the surface into the hearts of persons; to sympathize more deeply with the needs of human lives; to love better the things that are unlovely; to mend more helpfully the things that are amiss.
Beget in us a new hatred of sin. Forgive us that we ever by familiarity become accustomed to wickedness until we first tolerate and then embrace it. O God, by as much as we love people, may we hate the things that ruin people, despoil them of their loveliness and hope, and wreck them like shattered hulks upon the shore. Give us again indignation against things that are base and vile.
Now gather all of us into your everlasting arms, and according to the diversity of our need be the multiplicity of your supplies, O God of grace and truth. We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord. Amen.
Benediction
May God, through his Son Jesus Christ, restore and renew daily his life within you, giving you the courage you need in the face of life's unpredictables, and granting victory over all that would threaten you; and the blessing of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit abide with you now and always. Amen.
Jesus said: "Take heart, do not be afraid." You of little faith, why do you doubt?
Pastoral Prayer
Eternal Spirit, to whom we belong and in whom we live, we worship you, seeking a fresh consciousness of your reality and your penetrating presence. Too often, like creatures of the sea, we question whether there is any water; like birds upon the wing, we ask whether there is air. For, lo, in you we live and move and have our being; yet we spin long arguments about your existence and labor our debates about your attributes. This day we would not debate, but experience you. We would not argue, but would know.
O God, help us never to lose our vision of you. You are the center and the circumference. You bind together all that is worthy and meaningful in life. Steady our faith in you. If some of us here today have been shattered by doubt, hurt by disbelief, until life has been drained of its worth, restore to us such a vision of you that we may believe triumphantly again.
Beget in us a new love for people. Forgive us that so often we are fatigued by them, worn out by their multitude and the irritation of their demands. Give us grace to see beneath the surface into the hearts of persons; to sympathize more deeply with the needs of human lives; to love better the things that are unlovely; to mend more helpfully the things that are amiss.
Beget in us a new hatred of sin. Forgive us that we ever by familiarity become accustomed to wickedness until we first tolerate and then embrace it. O God, by as much as we love people, may we hate the things that ruin people, despoil them of their loveliness and hope, and wreck them like shattered hulks upon the shore. Give us again indignation against things that are base and vile.
Now gather all of us into your everlasting arms, and according to the diversity of our need be the multiplicity of your supplies, O God of grace and truth. We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord. Amen.
Benediction
May God, through his Son Jesus Christ, restore and renew daily his life within you, giving you the courage you need in the face of life's unpredictables, and granting victory over all that would threaten you; and the blessing of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit abide with you now and always. Amen.
