Call to Worship – Sept. 30, 2018

 In a world filled with anger, allegations, and anxieties, we turn to God, asking to be led to peace in the midst of polarization, hope in the influx of despair, and trust when the way ahead may seem tenuous or tumultuous to us. Worship is God’s gift to us, bringing us renewal, revitalization, recommitment, and the recharging of depleted spirits. In worship we bless God, and God in turn blesses us. Therefore let us, with the confidence which Christian faith creates in us, worship God.

Pastoral Prayer

We praise Thee, O loving God, for bringing the universe and the world into being. By Thy brooding spirit in the beginning, creation occurred over innumerable eons, and time eventually came to be measured in minutes and hours, days and years. We praise Thee for the various mechanisms by which creation sustains itself, and for Thy providential care of everything that exists. Grant us as best we can to perceive the vastness of Thy creative purposes, as well as the power of Thy presence in our individual lives.

 

We ask Thy forgiveness of us when we cast aspersions on those with whom we strongly disagree, little realizing that our thoughts and attitudes make the situation worse, even though their twisted strength may make us feel better. Move us to make peace with our adversaries, and to seek their good rather than their damage or injury. Enable people of good will to find a way forward which represents altruism rather than antipathy, and compromise instead of conflict. Especially we ask Thee to help us when we wear the world on our sleeves to learn to bear Thy spirit in our hearts..

 

Uphold those who are mentally or spiritually adrift, those who are desperately seeking Thy presence but are finding it painfully absent, those who are so concerned with themselves and their own lives that they cannot sense the immensity of the goodness of creation all around them, those who search for Thee in life-transforming events and who miss Thee in lines of determined ants marching single-file across sidewalk and earth, in trees reaching their branches to the light above, in burgeoning white clouds against a limitless azure sky. Lord God, our needs are numerous, but Thy grace is endless. Go with us on the journey, until at the last we shall see Thee face to face. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Now we join in prayer as Jesus taught his disciples, saying, Our Father….