Spiritual Gifts/One Body
Worship
THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE
Liturgical Aids
Call to Worship
We come here as people of many talents;
Yet we confess a common faith in one Creator and in one Savior Jesus Christ.
We gather as a particular expression of the church of Jesus Christ;
Yet we affirm the church universal and all in Christ as our sisters and brothers.
In each case, we would discover how individual members fit into the whole -
That our witness be whole - that the world may see and believe.
Invocation
We praise your love, O God, which can indeed make all things whole. For this love of yours is at all times found to be working miracles in our midst. You work them through a whole host of instruments, all attuned to your will and purpose. Help us to appreciate these many and varied manifestations of your power and tender care. May we joyfully affirm them all and be ready to work in concert with each, thereby acknowledging that wonderful tapestry wherein all are woven into one great offering of life and peace and beauty - this for the healing of the nations, this to display your glory in all the world. Praise to you, O God, that wherever there be estrangement and division, you are present to reconcile and unite. Amen.
Call to Confession
How appreciative are we of the spiritual gifts of other brothers and sisters in Christ? How many Christians of other congregations do we even know? With how many do we labor side by side in ministries of hope and healing? Could it be that even within our own ranks there is estrangement and division, not so apparent perhaps, but nonetheless there and deadly? Let us look at our own witness to the oneness of the body of Christ, and let us confess wherein we have failed to live as one.
Prayer of Confession
Though we would like to think that we are all one in Christ - in our own congregation, in Christian witness within our community, in holding high the banner of Christ the world around - yet we fail in so many ways to be in communion with sisters and brothers in Christ - at all these levels and locales. We confess our ignorance of our brother's need. We confess our ignorance of our sister's hurt. We confess our apathy in that we allow this ignorance to persist, that we see not the urgency of repairing the many breeches that cause the body of Christ to be broken and for that very reason ineffective. Awaken us again to our calling as your church, O God. Forgive us these shortcomings that have ended in division, and enable us to value that unity of spirit which can again make us healthy. Restore us, we pray, in the name of our Savior Christ. Amen.
Words of Assurance
In spite of our waywardness, Christ bestows love, forgives, and offers to make us whole. In spite of our stubborn individualism, Christ grants communion about one table and an appreciation of each sister and brother. In spite of our many loose ends, Christ can nonetheless make of them a single weaving of great beauty and usefulness.
Praise God for this, which is miracle indeed.
Psalter Reading (from Psalm 36)
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!
Offering Sentences
Do you believe in your inmost being that God has the power to turn your offering into a miracle, a miracle that will benefit a whole host of God's people in need? Let your faith grow, even as you allow your offering of self to grow - and you will be amazed at what God can do and will do through you. Let us as an act of thanksgiving, and with great joy, present our tithes and offerings for God's work here on this earth.
Prayer of Dedication
Even as we entrust these tithes and offerings to your holy work, O God, so do we entrust the living of our lives to your service. May we with enthusiasm and diligence seek to work with other Christians, this in a spirit of unity and peace, that all of those around may see the genuineness of love and compassion that we share, and will so be led also to place their faith in you. It is to your work of reconciling and uniting that we give our complete devotion. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Benediction
Open your eyes and your heart that you may see the miracles that God is performing all around you. And may one of those miracles be Christians laboring side by side with one another in complete harmony, devotion, and unity. For so do we proclaim God's power and goodness. So be it! Amen!
We come here as people of many talents;
Yet we confess a common faith in one Creator and in one Savior Jesus Christ.
We gather as a particular expression of the church of Jesus Christ;
Yet we affirm the church universal and all in Christ as our sisters and brothers.
In each case, we would discover how individual members fit into the whole -
That our witness be whole - that the world may see and believe.
Invocation
We praise your love, O God, which can indeed make all things whole. For this love of yours is at all times found to be working miracles in our midst. You work them through a whole host of instruments, all attuned to your will and purpose. Help us to appreciate these many and varied manifestations of your power and tender care. May we joyfully affirm them all and be ready to work in concert with each, thereby acknowledging that wonderful tapestry wherein all are woven into one great offering of life and peace and beauty - this for the healing of the nations, this to display your glory in all the world. Praise to you, O God, that wherever there be estrangement and division, you are present to reconcile and unite. Amen.
Call to Confession
How appreciative are we of the spiritual gifts of other brothers and sisters in Christ? How many Christians of other congregations do we even know? With how many do we labor side by side in ministries of hope and healing? Could it be that even within our own ranks there is estrangement and division, not so apparent perhaps, but nonetheless there and deadly? Let us look at our own witness to the oneness of the body of Christ, and let us confess wherein we have failed to live as one.
Prayer of Confession
Though we would like to think that we are all one in Christ - in our own congregation, in Christian witness within our community, in holding high the banner of Christ the world around - yet we fail in so many ways to be in communion with sisters and brothers in Christ - at all these levels and locales. We confess our ignorance of our brother's need. We confess our ignorance of our sister's hurt. We confess our apathy in that we allow this ignorance to persist, that we see not the urgency of repairing the many breeches that cause the body of Christ to be broken and for that very reason ineffective. Awaken us again to our calling as your church, O God. Forgive us these shortcomings that have ended in division, and enable us to value that unity of spirit which can again make us healthy. Restore us, we pray, in the name of our Savior Christ. Amen.
Words of Assurance
In spite of our waywardness, Christ bestows love, forgives, and offers to make us whole. In spite of our stubborn individualism, Christ grants communion about one table and an appreciation of each sister and brother. In spite of our many loose ends, Christ can nonetheless make of them a single weaving of great beauty and usefulness.
Praise God for this, which is miracle indeed.
Psalter Reading (from Psalm 36)
Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart!
Offering Sentences
Do you believe in your inmost being that God has the power to turn your offering into a miracle, a miracle that will benefit a whole host of God's people in need? Let your faith grow, even as you allow your offering of self to grow - and you will be amazed at what God can do and will do through you. Let us as an act of thanksgiving, and with great joy, present our tithes and offerings for God's work here on this earth.
Prayer of Dedication
Even as we entrust these tithes and offerings to your holy work, O God, so do we entrust the living of our lives to your service. May we with enthusiasm and diligence seek to work with other Christians, this in a spirit of unity and peace, that all of those around may see the genuineness of love and compassion that we share, and will so be led also to place their faith in you. It is to your work of reconciling and uniting that we give our complete devotion. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Benediction
Open your eyes and your heart that you may see the miracles that God is performing all around you. And may one of those miracles be Christians laboring side by side with one another in complete harmony, devotion, and unity. For so do we proclaim God's power and goodness. So be it! Amen!
