Call to Worship Opening Sentences

Leader: We are those of little faith,

People: Yet we want to know You, O God.

Leader: We are those who try hard,

People: Yet days go by without a sense of peace.

Leader: We are those who would walk on water,

People: Help us, O God, to be light and to lay our burdens down.

Offertory Prayer

We give from our confidence in you, Holy Jesus, You who are light enough to walk on water, You who make us light and capable of taking risks and giving to each other. Let these gifts be blessed and let them go free to their destination to be confidence for another in this sometimes frightening world. Amen

Prayer of Confession

We trust so little and want so much. We fear so much and care so much and find ourselves a confounded and twisted ball of desire, anxiously shaped. Reshape us to a pattern of trust. Reform us today and let our lives let go of fear. Let us sin no more. And grant us Your peace. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

For those who need more than a miracle to find their way, we pray.

For those who need more than a short vacation to rest, we pray.

For those whose life is heavy in their hands, so much so that they say they are dead in the water, we pray.

For those whose way is not clear, whose heart is heavy, whose home is filled with discord, we pray.

Let the miracle of your water walking enlighten us. May we see in it not what Peter saw but what you showed, a sense of power and grace, a capacity to dig deep in the storm and to stay light and free.

Let Peter’s fears chasten us so that we not so much put him down as see ourselves in him. Let us remember just how human we are today—and let us bring that humanity into your boat and there let us sail with you. Whether You want us to sail towards home or out to the deep, we care not. As long as we can be with You, we are fine. Let that confidence surround us and let us welcome whatever challenge You or water make to us. We pray in Your Holy Name. Amen.