PROPER 27
Worship
LECTIONARY WORSHIP AIDS
Series III, Cycle A
CALL TO WORSHIP
Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the most High.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of the unchanging and the unexpected, we are hard-put to know what the day of the Lord is, let alone when it may come. Much of life seems cyclical, going around and around and not moving in any perceptible direction. Justice seems less like a flowing river and more like a fountain that occasionally rises to great heights, only to subside again. Forgive us if we are more curious than concerned, more puzzled than prepared for your judgments whenever they come. Prepare us for the day of Christ's coming, in our death or in human history. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! We believe that Jesus died and rose again; and so it will be for those who died as Christians; God will bring them to life with Jesus. Friends, believe the Good News from God! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Keep awake in the spirit for you never know when the day or hour of the Lord will come.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Ruler of heaven, grant us prudence in our preparation for your coming, that we may know what gifts of the Spirit are needed, if we are to be ready to greet you with confidence and rejoicing. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
God the unchanging and the unexpected, we are grateful for constants in nature on which we can usually depend. We are thankful also for the unexpected that wakes us to the reality of your expectations. We appreciate the warnings that come in times of danger or sickness or accident, that remind us of our mortality and our need to be prepared for the kingdom still to come. May all the beauties and bounties of the natural world create in us a longing for the beauty and bounty of the eternal realm to which you bring all who look for it, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Self-sufficient God, there is nothing we can bring to you that you need, for all is already yours. You have come to our rescue again and again, so we merely honor you by these tokens of appreciation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
PSALM 78:1-7
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD,
and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
He established a decree in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.
Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the most High.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of the unchanging and the unexpected, we are hard-put to know what the day of the Lord is, let alone when it may come. Much of life seems cyclical, going around and around and not moving in any perceptible direction. Justice seems less like a flowing river and more like a fountain that occasionally rises to great heights, only to subside again. Forgive us if we are more curious than concerned, more puzzled than prepared for your judgments whenever they come. Prepare us for the day of Christ's coming, in our death or in human history. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! We believe that Jesus died and rose again; and so it will be for those who died as Christians; God will bring them to life with Jesus. Friends, believe the Good News from God! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Keep awake in the spirit for you never know when the day or hour of the Lord will come.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Ruler of heaven, grant us prudence in our preparation for your coming, that we may know what gifts of the Spirit are needed, if we are to be ready to greet you with confidence and rejoicing. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
God the unchanging and the unexpected, we are grateful for constants in nature on which we can usually depend. We are thankful also for the unexpected that wakes us to the reality of your expectations. We appreciate the warnings that come in times of danger or sickness or accident, that remind us of our mortality and our need to be prepared for the kingdom still to come. May all the beauties and bounties of the natural world create in us a longing for the beauty and bounty of the eternal realm to which you bring all who look for it, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Self-sufficient God, there is nothing we can bring to you that you need, for all is already yours. You have come to our rescue again and again, so we merely honor you by these tokens of appreciation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
PSALM 78:1-7
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD,
and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
He established a decree in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.
