Texts:1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13; Psalm 20; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (11-13), 14-17; Mark 4:26-34
Call to Worship
All around us, God is looking for folks
who will join is serving others.
It is as if God is planting seeds of compassion in us,
watching for them to bloom in our lives.
In our midst, Jesus is walking among us,
tending our hearts, watering us with grace.
It is as if Jesus is trusting that our souls
will grow big enough to welcome everyone.
From morning to evening, the Spirit is at work,
gently tending this garden called life.
It is as if the Spirit has found the perfect spots
to bring forth crops of justice and peace.
Prayer of the Day
You listen to our cries
of grief, when others
kill our dreams;
you open your ears
to the whispered fears
on sleepless nights;
you hear our hearts
cracking, just like
ice on a frozen lake;
and we know,
‘this is the One,’,
our God who knows us
better than we think.
You call to us,
so we can watch
as you place
seeds of welcome
in the hearts of the rejected;
seeds of wonder
in the overgrown city lots;
seeds of laughter
in the dull voices of grief;
and as we watch, we learn,
and as we learn, we say,
‘this is the One,’
the Grace who is our brother.
You are with us
as we sleep and
when we rise, nurturing
the tiny seeds of grace
into bouquets of love;
the insignificant hopes of peace
into communities of reconciliation;
the littlest thoughts about others
into an embrace as big
and wide as the sea;
and we rejoice,
‘this is the One,’
the Spirit who transforms us.
You are indeed the One,
God in Community, drawing us
into your circle of dance,
as we pray together, saying,
(The Lord’s Prayer)
Call to Reconciliation
We long to live as God’s people, yet in the very depths of our lives, we know how we have hurt those around us, through words and actions, as well as from indifference.But God hears us when we call, and answers with the grace we need.Let us pray together, as we confess our lives to our God.
Unison Prayer for Forgiveness
How you must grieve over us, God of all.You give us blessings to share with others, but we hoard everything for ourselves.You look for us to join you in serving the most vulnerable, but find us worshiping the wealthy and powerful.You offer us joy and wonder to embrace, but we continue to cling to weapons and things.
Have mercy on us, Anointing God, as you pour your forgiveness into our foolish lives.Plant the seeds of grace, hope, love, and peace in us, so we may blossom and share all these gifts with everyone we meet.We pray this in the name of Jesus.Amen.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
God’s love is not logical and understandable.For God forgives those we never would, and welcomes those we would continue to ignore.
This is the One who has mercy on everyone, pouring grace and joy into everyone, including us!Thanks be to God, we are forgiven!Amen.
Prayer of Dedication
Let us remember those seeds of love, hope, grace, and peace which we carry in our hearts and souls, as well as our wallets and purses, so that in remembering, we would offer them to our God for use in the work of reconciliation and hope.In Jesus’ name, we pray.Amen.
The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
May the Listening God be with you.
May God also be with you.
Let us open our hearts to the One who hears us.
We offer them to our God, who knows we are all the same.
Shout for joy, people of God, and sing glad praises.
We join praising the One who is always with us.
Into the emptiness of chaos,
you flung the seeds of creation,
Gardening God.
Volcanoes erupted,
to become gentle lakes;
eye-delighting eagles
soared high in the skies;
gentle does and fawns
strolled through the mists of morning.
All this beauty and goodness
was shaped for those created in your image,
but we reached out for the weapons of sin,
and built homes on death’s condemned properties.
Prophets came to call us back home,
yet we persisted in believing
that our old ways were the best ways.
Determined to no longer grieve
over us, you sent Jesus
to plant resurrection in our lives.
With those who are well known to you,
and with those we have just met,
we sing our joy to you at this mean:
Holy, holy, holy are you, God who hears us.
All creation remembers your gifts.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the One who scatters your seeds.
Hosanna in the highest!
Night or day, you are holy, God of love,
and blessed is your Child, Jesus Christ.
Walking ancient roads,
he would lead us into your kingdom;
when we are sleeping,
he would give us fresh visions of you;
when we arise,
he takes us by the hand
to show us your wonders;
accepting everyone as sisters and brothers,
he gave his life so death
would lose its power over us,
your resurrection love poured out for all.
As we remember his life, ministry, and death,
as we celebrate the gifts of his table,
we speak of the mystery we call faith:
Christ died, so the old creation could begin to pass;
Christ was raised, the new creation growing in our midst;
Christ will come, so everyone will be made new.
You would pour out your Spirit
upon the gifts of the bread and the cup,
as well as those gathered for this feast.
The bread which is broken
becomes the seeds
of hope planted in despair,
of joy planted in grief,
of kindness planted in cruelty.
The cup which is poured out
becomes the grace which nurtures
those who would welcome the forgotten,
those who would listen to the voiceless,
those who would become justice
so all might find a welcome and home.
And when you gather us home
from all the far fields we have been planted,
we will join with our sisters and brothers
around your Table of grace and hope,
forever shouting our joy to you,
God in Community, Holy in One.Amen.
Sending
The God who has reconciled us to one another,
as well as the Holy Community, sends us forth.
We will go to gather the broken
as we bring healing in our hands.
Jesus, who has shaped us into new people
with his grace-filled hands, sends us forth.
We will go to welcome those we have ignored,
drawing the stranger into a warm embrace.
The Spirit, who teaches us how to look at others
with the eyes of love and hope, sends us forth.
We will go to become one with those tossed aside,
to be the community of hope for which they have searched.
© Thom M. Shuman
