Call to Worship (Based on Psalm 33:1-12)

Leader: Rejoice in the Lord, O you who are called to righteousness.

People: Praise the Lord with the lyre, make melody with the organ and the piano with voices and hands upraised in praise.

Leader: Sing to God a new song, and not just the old.

People: The eye of the Lord is upon those who stand in awe of God, and the Lord delivers them from death and despair.

All: Our souls wait for God to speak to us in word and song, filling us with steadfast love and hope.

Prayer of Confession

O God of the future, as well as the past and the present, we confess that too often we cannot let go and look ahead when you call us to rise up and follow you. We are too comfortable with the way things are and fearful of the unknown that awaits us. Thus we fail not only to grow in the spirit ourselves, but we allow injustices and oppression to continue to hold sway. Like the enemies of Jesus, we cannot see the good within those whom we despise. Forgive us for these and our other sins, as in the silence of this moment we pray: (Silent Confession). Amen.

Prayer of Dedication

Accept, O Lord, the gifts which we bring as signs of our trust in you. Here, at your Table, we commit them and ourselves to the future, confident that whatever comes, we will be in your hands. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

O God of Abraham and Sara, of Moses and Miriam, of Mary and Joseph, we thank you that you have also called us to be a part of your people dedicated to witnessing to your saving acts. Our own part might be small in the unfolding drama of salvation, but we know that even our little talents and lives can make a difference, when dedicated to you. Fill us with the determination and the perseverance to do whatever good we can in our homes, community and at work or school. Help us to see that our church on Sunday is not just a place for refuge but also a place for the replenishing of our strength and the wisdom of your word, to the end that we might be useful wherever you send us during the week. We thank you for fellow believers who pray for and support us in so many ways, even as we do so for them. We are grateful for the many opportunities you give us, indeed, for the wisdom that sees, what some regard as problems, actually as the time and place where we can reach out to someone who needs your love and strength.

Thank you for this nation of ours, for which we pray: bless our leaders and fill them with your wisdom and sense of justice so that our laws will come closer to your law, rather than favoring one group over another. Help us all to study the ways of peace so that we will be able to reject provocations to violence. Guide the efforts of the United Nations and of our own envoys that seek diplomatic solutions to complex and difficult conflicts. Help us all to let go of past grievances and to look ahead to the way of the One who is “the way, the truth and the life.” Watch over the ill, the oppressed and neglected, and use us as you see fit to be your angels of mercy bringing relief. Turn the tears of those who mourn into shouts of joy, because they trust that you are the one who holds life and death in your hands, and your hands are loving hands, like your Son’s, once pierced by nails on our behalf. Thus at all times may ours be a faith that trusts in your goodness and mercy, come what may, for we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.