2nd
Quarter 2002
Call to Worship (From Psalm 31:21-24)
Leader: Blessed be the Lord, for God has wondrously shown his steadfast love to us!
People: God has heard our supplications when we cried out for help.
Leader: Love the Lord, all you his saints.
People: The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Leader: Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, on this day when we honor the first Christian martyr, we confess that much of the time we are prone to go no further than to admire him. Our own courage often melts away when confronted by scornful disbelief. We are afraid to be labeled "Goody Two Shoes" when confronted with the dishonesty of others, so we look the other way. We are fearful of being regarded as self-righteous, so we remain silent when we hear racial or ethnic slurs and put downs of others in conversations and jokes. Forgive us and renew us, holding always before our eyes the examples of Stephen and Jesus, so that we might follow their example of courageously witnessing to your all-inclusive love. Amen
Prayer of Dedication
Bless these gifts, O God, as you have blessed us. May we give out of heartfelt gratitude, thankful for all those in the past who have witnessed to your love, beginning with Jesus Christ, whose gift of himself upon the cross is our sole reason for being here. Amen
Pastoral Prayer
Gracious God, our Father and Mother, help us with courage and conviction to sing "For all the saints, who from their labors rest. Alleluia!" We thank you for the example of believers who have gone before us, daring to stand firm in their faith against all the forces which an evil world could array against them. Strengthen our own faith and courage, so that we too may pass on to our children a legacy of love standing against hate.
Help us to accept the Apostle Paul's words that we are living letters, so that our lives can be read as an encouragement for others who also face trials and temptations. We thank you for those times when we have stood faithful, and found therein a new strength to love the unlovely and to stand with those oppressed by the world. Continue to use us in whatever situation of need Christ would send us. We thank you, too, that we are sent out not alone, but in a fellowship, surrounded "by a great cloud of witnesses," strengthened by your preached
word and shared sacraments. May we continually draw nourishment from the support of others and from the bread and cup of loving service. We thank you for fellow travelers who teach and serve in so many ways—in hospitals and clinics, here and abroad; in great cathedrals and thatch-roofed chapels; in the halls of justice and of legislatures; in settlement houses and safe houses—wherever your neglected, abused, or exploited children are found.
Through our prayers and our efforts, may we continue to be joined together by prayers and thoughts, so that the Good News of Christ might spread throughout the world. Amen
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