PROPER 25
Worship
LECTIONARY WORSHIP AIDS
Series III, Cycle A
CALL TO WORSHIP
Revere our Sovereign God. There are many blessings in store for those who honor God and do the will of our Sovereign.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of high places, God of low places, God of all places, we confess that we are not full of compassion as you are. We are prone to forget what it is like to be aliens, to be powerless, to be vulnerable, to be without an advocate, to be without credit. Forgive our complicity in heartless systems that make credit cheap and easy for those who need it least and prohibitive for those who need it most. Forgive indifference toward, or ill-treatment of, widows and orphans, when we forget that they could be our own future widows and orphans. We need to repent of all our less-than-loving behavior and attitudes for the sake of your all-loving Son, Jesus of Nazareth. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! God has approved us as fit to be entrusted with the Gospel. Friends, believe the Good News. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Love our Sovereign God with all your heart and soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Loving God, captivate our emotions in the worship of you, integrate our personhood in communion with you, and make us wise in the knowledge of you, that we may love ourselves truly and our neighbor in the same way, like our loving brother, Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
God of strength and gentleness, we rejoice in the gentleness we see in those who care fondly for children. We are grateful for the deliberate beneficence of those who have more than they need and provide for those who are needy. We are thankful for those who use their power not to exploit others, but to defend and protect those who are vulnerable to exploitation. We are glad to honor all who declare the good news of Jesus Christ without base motives of greed or hunger for power. Help us always to seek only your favor and to pass every test of our motives in serving others, as did Jesus Christ, our example. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Receive, our gifts and ourselves, sovereign God, so that we may be faithful envoys of the good news and the witness of our church he fruitful with your help. Amen.
PSALM 90:1-6, 13-17
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn us back to dust,
and say, "Turn back, you mortals."
For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday
when it is past, or like a watch in the night.
You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning;
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
Turn, O LORD! How long?
Have compassion on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and he glad all our days.
Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us,
and as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be manifest to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and prosper for us the work of our hands -
O prosper the work of our hands!
Revere our Sovereign God. There are many blessings in store for those who honor God and do the will of our Sovereign.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of high places, God of low places, God of all places, we confess that we are not full of compassion as you are. We are prone to forget what it is like to be aliens, to be powerless, to be vulnerable, to be without an advocate, to be without credit. Forgive our complicity in heartless systems that make credit cheap and easy for those who need it least and prohibitive for those who need it most. Forgive indifference toward, or ill-treatment of, widows and orphans, when we forget that they could be our own future widows and orphans. We need to repent of all our less-than-loving behavior and attitudes for the sake of your all-loving Son, Jesus of Nazareth. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! God has approved us as fit to be entrusted with the Gospel. Friends, believe the Good News. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Love our Sovereign God with all your heart and soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Loving God, captivate our emotions in the worship of you, integrate our personhood in communion with you, and make us wise in the knowledge of you, that we may love ourselves truly and our neighbor in the same way, like our loving brother, Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
God of strength and gentleness, we rejoice in the gentleness we see in those who care fondly for children. We are grateful for the deliberate beneficence of those who have more than they need and provide for those who are needy. We are thankful for those who use their power not to exploit others, but to defend and protect those who are vulnerable to exploitation. We are glad to honor all who declare the good news of Jesus Christ without base motives of greed or hunger for power. Help us always to seek only your favor and to pass every test of our motives in serving others, as did Jesus Christ, our example. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Receive, our gifts and ourselves, sovereign God, so that we may be faithful envoys of the good news and the witness of our church he fruitful with your help. Amen.
PSALM 90:1-6, 13-17
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn us back to dust,
and say, "Turn back, you mortals."
For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday
when it is past, or like a watch in the night.
You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning;
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
Turn, O LORD! How long?
Have compassion on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and he glad all our days.
Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us,
and as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be manifest to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and prosper for us the work of our hands -
O prosper the work of our hands!
