Call to Worship – October 30, 2011

The days shorten, autumn is certainly in the air, and we observe yet again how creation and our Creator progress from season to season and year to year.  God is beyond our greatest comprehension, but nevertheless we see glimpses of who He is by what He does.  In praise of Him and in awe of His goodness we gather each Sunday in worship.  Therefore let us, with renewed confidence, worship God.

 

Pastoral Prayer

 

            On this Reformation Sunday, O God, we thank Thee for the courage, the insight, and the Teutonic persistence of Martin Luther and all that he did to attempt to reform the Church of Rome.  Despite his failure in that, he initiated the course by which a whole new way of perceiving the Church began, and for that we are grateful.  We thank Thee also for other reformers, most especially for Jesus of Nazareth. In his and in their own way and in their own localities, they brought new life and hope to the Christian community, first in the land of Israel, then in Europe, and then all around the world.  We praise Thee for making us part of a great tradition, Lord God, and for all the progress which has been made because of that tradition.

 

            But as we express our thanks for that branch of Christianity in which most of us were raised, we also confess the sins we have committed for imagining that there have been times when we assumed we alone possessed the truth, or that only people such as ourselves could reflect Thy true will for the world.  Forgive us for our presumptuousness, and for feeling superior to others.  Unite all Thy children into one great fellowship, as varied and disparate as we might be.  Help us to include all people of faith into our lives and our thinking rather than to exclude any of them.

 

            We pray for people who feel they are the end of their tether, who long have battled depression, and are losing the battle.  We remember those who face constant pain, and those for whom disabilities have become the largest factors in their lives.  We pray for anyone addicted to any noxious substances or behaviors, for those who have experienced severe financial loss, for those who cannot escape dysfunctional family situations.  And as we ask Thy blessings upon all these and all others, we give Thee thanks for the multitude of blessings we have, none of which we may deserve, but in which we revel all the same.  Give all of us sufficient grace for the journey, O God, however long it takes and whatever detours it may put in our path.  These things we pray in Jesus’ name.  As he taught his disciples, we now join in prayer with countless others through all the ages, saying, Our Father….