prayer – Page 6 – katyandtheword

Lent 5, Lord Teach Me to Pray, Give Yourself Up to God

Lent 5 Prayers of the People & Joy

God plants and tends joy as a space of sanctuary in our lives—it is not a feeling of happiness, but rather a place of safety and Sabbath to visit when you are happy or sad. It is the space that allow us to celebrate with others, even when we are in a different place in our own lives.

Psalm 97 or Psalm 122
Mark 4:30-34

Breath Prayer

Inhale: God be with me
Exhale: God enjoys me

Inhale: I am God’s image
Exhale: God created me

Inhale: God loves the world
Exhale: We are God’s beloved

Inhale: Justice is God’s joy
Exhale: Justice is Love Out Loud

Call to Worship: God is our righteous rule, let the earth rejoice
Clouds and thick darkness surround the Divine, Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of God’s throne
God’s lightenings light up the world, the earth sees and trembles
The mountains melt like wax before God, et all who hear rejoice
Light is sown for those who love justice, Joy lives in those who have equity in their heart
Come let us give thanks in the name of our God!

Call to Confession: God plants the seeds of joy in us, let us confess where we feel we fall short, so that we rest in God.

Prayer of Confession: God, I confess that I often confuse joy with being happy. I confess that I want everything to be easy and that the formula to be “Smile Jesus loves you.” I do not want joy to be a seed that is planted and grown for the birds to nest in. I do not want to be glad to come to church, because it is the place of sanctuary where I can safely be unhappy. I confess, that sometimes I miss the point of tending and growing joy. Teach me how to tend to the needs of joy and the gardens of your kingdom work I pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: Jesus Christ, I confess that sometimes we as a culture are too obsessed with happiness. We feel like we need something to be happy—money, the perfect profession, a partner. Teach us that we do not have to be happy or joyful all of the time, that lightening moments of joy followed by moments of Sabbath, rest and simple companionship are enough. Teach us to be the birds that nest home in your mustard seed Kingdom we pray. (Silent Confession). Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Jesus Christ promises us peach and love within the Kingdom, and so we know that our confession is seen, heard and accepted. Let us proclaim the Good News, In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God help us to appreciate and celebrate the joy as we see it in our lives. May we tend it, and let it grow. Help us to laugh with those who are laughing, even as we might weep with those who are weeping—providing sanctuary for all those in need we pray. Amen.

Taize: Laudate Omnes Gentes

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Hands lifting golden hearts and fireworks to God

Lent 4, Lord Teach Me to Pray, Give Yourself to God

Lent 4 Assurance of Pardon/Words of Grace

The grace of God is assured, and the healing of God is not just of the body, but instead a healing of forgiveness of sins and a restoration to one’s community. God’s grace is such that we are fully restored in all things. God takes care of our full being and self.

Psalm 103 or Psalm 23 (this is an option for lament week, to be read uniquely a a lament)
Mark 2:7-12

Breath Prayer

Inhale: God full of grace
Exhale: Fill me with your Spirit

Inhale: God redeems us
Exhale: God fills us with Good things

Inhale: God sent us Jesus
Exhale: Jesus Loves me

Call to Worship:
Bless the Lord, O my Soul
Let all the is within me, Bless God’s Name
Bless the Lord, O my soul, do not forget God’s benefits
God forgives all of my iniquities and redeems me
Come let us praise God who redeems us from the Pit
Come let bless the Lord, our Redeemer whose grace lives in all forgiveness

Call to Confession: Jesus welcomes any in need to come and be comforted, come let us present ourselves to Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that it is hard to believe in any kind of healing or wholeness, whether it is physical or emotional. We find it hard to believe that you will forgive us and heal us. Remind us that we, like the paralytic man, do not have to do it alone we pray. (Silent Confession)

Prayer of Confession; Jesus Christ, you assure us that to confess our sins is enough, so here we are, confessing that we are imperfect, confessing that we need healing, confessing that we are too like the paralytic man than we like—in need of healing in more than one way. Forgive us our sins and teach us to accept our imperfections we pray. Remind us that forgiveness is more important than perfections we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, Jesus Christ knows us, loves us and redeems us, He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Come let us proclaim the Good News to one another In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God loves us and redeems us, crowning us with steadfast love and mercy—as huge are the heavens are—that is how much God’s love is for us. As far as the East is from the West, so far God removes our sins from us. God has love and compassion for us, loving us from everlasting to everlasting, may we carry that love and compassion into the world. Amen.

Taize: Nada Te Turbe

Prayer Activity: Option 1: Create Cards of Love and Compassion for people—in congregation or not, present or not, friends, family, etc. Spreading the love and grace and compassion of God in the Spirit of the communal grace and support of who God is. Use Markers, Crayons, Stickers, Stamps to create these cards. Have pre-folded cards and envelopes ready to address—have your care ministry deacons, etc. ready to stamp the cards and send them early the next week. Bless the cards at the end of worship

Option 2: Sing a Hymn, Taize at the end of worship and remind everyone that they are sealed in the love and forgiveness of God: Give everyone a Sticker or Stamp in honor of that Seal.

Taize Option: Bless the Lord My Soul

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Hearts zooming around on wind, and Holy Spirit over baptismal waters of grace

Lent 3, Teach me to Pray/Give Yourself to God

Lent 3 Confession, Placing oneself in community

Being your full self in front of God, confessing your self in the midst of community so you are not alone in your humanity. Confession is about confessing the good and bad of what it mean to be part of the human condition, and hopefully remembering that Jesus was human once too. In terms of the paralytic, his sins were forgiven because of the faith and community of his friends, it was a confessional moment.

Mark 2:1-5
Psalm 30

Breath Prayer

Inhale: I don’t know everything
Exhale: It’s ok to not know

Inhale: I am me
Exhale: I am enough

Inhale: Today I will not achieve
Exhale: Today I will just be

Call to Worship
Come confess yourselves to Jesus Christ
I come, a full and imperfect human being
And yet, somehow, Jesus promises to be particularly present whenever we gather
Here we are, to confess, to worship to pray
Come let us worship our Lord
Come, let us celebrate and worship today

Call to Confession: God does not leave us where we are, but takes us where we need to be—therefore let us confess our full selves to God, so that we might no longer feel alone.

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that this whole idea of naming our sins out loud is hard. What if the thing that is named does not exactly apply to me? What if it hits too close to home? Why do we even do this confession thing? Why do I need to say who I am to you? Are you not God? Do you not know me already? And then I remember, that to state who I am, is to reclaim myself. Then I remember that to name my burdens is to lay them at your feet. Then I remember that to name them together, is to remember that no one is suffering alone, that we are in community with one another. Thank you God for giving us a way to practice hope, love, humanity and forgiveness together, remind us that confession is about being our full selves, because you can handle us, we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: Jesus, I confess it is hard for me, some days, to believe that you were fully human, and understood all of the emotions, pain and hardship that entailed. However, here I am, putting my whole human self in your hands. Please hold my pain in your hands. I confess that I am trying to trust that you understand hat I am going through—even as I am trusting that you can help me to walk through it, by holding my hand along the way. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, the yoke of Jesus Christ is light, for Jesus Christ is here not to condemn us but to save us, thus we rejoice In the good news: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God, let us go into the world remembering that being ourselves is enough. All you want is for us to be our full and true selves. For we are your beloved, and our faith is not about being perfect, but about working to love and serve one another, let us go into the world, and try to be ourselves wherever we go. In Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Taize: My Soul Finds Rest in God Alone

Prayer Activity:

Confessing the Self Option 1:Write down yourself as characteristics only Physical, Emotional, Intellectual, Vocational, Spiritual, give them to God as a confessional prayer to “give yourself to God in prayer” as pieces and a whole, a confession that you are pieces and a whole, and God accepts you exactly as you are.

Option 2: Everyone Writes Names/draw a self portrait on a piece of paper, papers are woven together to show how we are are all woven together in community through confession—example here https://theresaecho.com/2012/09/20/interactive-way-to-pray-in-worship-part-ii/

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Big hands dropping a big heart, many small hands lifting hearts

Lent 2, Lord Teach Me to Pray/Give Yourself to God

Lent 2 Themes: Breath Prayer, Orientating Yourself (to God)

Breath Prayer you find yourself and then orient/reorient yourself.

So you ground down and then ground up; Or Root down and then root down more firmly; Or Orient yourself up/then Outward, or orient yourself in yourself and then yourself in God; or figure out where you are and then where you are in community; or find where you are in community then differentiate yourself within the community.

Mark 4:25-41 or Matthew 11:28-29
Psalm 150 or Psalm 46

Breath Prayer
Inhale: I am
Exhale: We are

Inhale: God loves us
Exhale: We are beloved

Inhale: God can work with emptiness
Exhale: it is enough to exist today

Inhale: There is time
Exhale: God sits with us

Inhale: I am a Divine Image Bearer
Exhale: God creates through me

Inhale: Peace
Exhale: Love

Call to Worship
Praise God, we are in God’s sanctuary
Let everything that breathes praise the Divine
Praise God, the mighty firmament, grounding us down
Praise God to the heavens, the deeds that lift us up
Praise God with trumpets, with the gentle lute and heart
Praise God with every breath, for God is worthy of Praise

Call to Worship
God breathed life in the first humans
It is enough to be present with God
Whether we need to feel grounded or more supported
God will orient us in the ways we need to go
Teach us to pray in the ways we need to pray
Breathe into us today God, Holy Spirit Come!

Call to Confession: God breathed life into us, and taught us to pray. Thus we are able to lay anything that troubles us at the feet of God, come let us confess ourselves to God.

Prayer of Confession: God, I confess I do not yet know how to pray without ceasing. I confess that sometimes my breath catches in my throat, and I feel stuck. Remind me that your pneuma, breath flows through my body, and that when I do not know what to pray, the Holy Spirit prays on my behalf. Teach me the rhythms of breath and prayer I pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that we struggle to feel present. Shopping lists, worries and distractions overcome and overwhelm us. We forget that you know all of these trouble, and that you want us to slow down, to take stock, and to breathe. Teach us to take the time to Sabbath and breathe we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen

Assurance of Pardon: God breathes forgiveness into all things, know the truth In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God breathes life into all things, reminding us that God is present in the empty spaces, and that some days existing is enough. Let us be present with God today. Amen.

Taize: Holy Spirit Come to us

Prayer Activity: Body Prayer https://www.cascadialivingwisdom.com/body-prayer-julian-of-norwich or https://katyandtheword.com/2024/01/03/body-prayer/ (seated or standing)

Write a Breath Prayer

Breath Prayer: https://colearthurriley.com/writing/project-three-xdb2n

breath up with a gold heart on either side, breath out with a gold heart on either side

Lent: Ash Weds Lord Teach me to Pray, Give Your Heart to God

Give Your Heart to God: Lord Teach Me to Pray

*For small gatherings (up 20 people tops) I burn the offered prayers as an offering to God and create the ashes out of the burnings at the beginning of service, let it cool, use only olive oil NO WATER, only construction paper—not shiny paper—and use the remains for the Ashes. I put it out using a lid. This is tricky tho and only advised for people who feel up to it and have appropriate burning containers, fire systems (i.e. don’t set off your smoke alarms), etc. Also you have to clear it with your appropriate councils, board, etc. PLEASE proceed with caution.*

(This can be done as a station as well, just ask someone to read the passage and then to read/recite the Lord’s prayer slowly with the indicated breath pauses—using a printed Lord’s Prayer as their guide, before imposing ashes)

Write a Prayer for God on Heart Valentines, Offer it to God as you enter

Read Matthew 6:7-13 or Luke 11:1-11

Celebrate Communion

When you pray the Lord’s Prayer—do it with lots of Breath pauses a follows

Jesus having taught us to pray, let us mediate on the Holy Spirit and our Breath by reading the Lord’s Prayer slowly and meditatively with the breath pauses as indicated on your paper (in your own mode/style)

Read each line of the Lord’s prayer and then breathe in and out slowly after each line to change the rhythm of the prayer, do this together

Our Father who are in Heaven Hallowed Be Thy Name (Breath in, Breathe Out)

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth as it is in Heaven (Breathe in, Breathe Out)

Give this day our Daily Bread (Breathe in, Breathe Out)

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our Debtors (Breathe In, Breathe Out)

Lead us not into Temptation (Breathe In, Breathe Out)

Deliver us from Evil (Breathe in, Breathe Out)

For Thine is the Kingdom (Breathe in, Breathe Out)

And the Power (Breathe in, Breathe Out)

And the Glory Forever (Breathe in, Breathe Out)

Amen.

Impose Ashes

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Ash Weds/Maundy Thurs Prayer

Lent 1, Teach Me to Pray/Give Your Heart to God

Lent 1 Themes: Call to Worship, Being Present with God
Prayer is being particularly present with God, Taking Sabbath is taking stock, and resting in the grace of God

Matthew 12:1-8 or Mark 2:23-28
Psalm 122

Breath Prayer

Inhale:God is here
Exhale: I am here

Inhale: I am
Exhale: We are

Call to Worship
Praise God for we are bound together
We are present with God when we pray
We are called to be together in this space
We are called to be a Sabbath people
Come let us rest in prayer
Come let us enter the House of Prayer, and take rest

Call to Worship
Our Feet are standing in your gates
We long to be present with you God
We pray for peace
Peace within and peace without, so that we can be present
Help us to be fully present here today
Let us give thanks to God
I was glad when they said, let us go to the house of the Lord
Come let us go, and be present in the house of the Lord

Call to Confession: God invites us in to the house of God with open and welcoming arms, and invites us to lay down our guilt along the way. Let us do that now together.

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that when we hear the Call to worship, we are hesitant. We do not always feel your house as a place of peace, or a sanctuary. Too often it is a duty, a chore, or an item on the checklist. We do not always see it as a place to simply be. Help us to experience the call to worship as an invitation to simply be human in your presence, and to know your belovedness we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: God, we confess that we do not always hear the call to prayer. What is this prayer thing anyway? Is it praise? Lament? A conversation with God? We confess that we find the concept confusing. Teach us to pray God, to rest in the knowledge that you accept all offerings, and that any sacrifice of prayer is acceptable to you, and allow us to find prayer as a form of sanctuary we pray. (Silent) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: God loves us and forgives us, embracing us and calling us beloved no matter what state we are in, therefore we can be assured of the truth In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: Let us remember that God is calling us to worship, because God loves to spend time with us. God gives us an open invitation. Let us go into the world, bolstered by God’s invitation to spend time with the Divine, knowing we can rest in God’s bosom, no matter what, and let us tell other’s of God’s extravagant hospitality as we go. Amen.

Prayer Activity: Meditation is being present and letting thing go: Ways to practice meditation: Coloring as Prayer: https://prayingincolor.com/ways-to-pray-in-color Particularly, Spending Time with God in Prayer

Click to access holy-thursday-2021.pdf

Click to access lent-calendar-2018-cross.pdf

Click to access lent-calendar-2018-lily.pdf

Teach Taize singing as Prayer “Bless the Lord My Soul” information about prayer https://mcgrathblog.nd.edu/how-to-pray-with-taizé-music

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Brown, Black and White hands encircling each other, surrounded by hearts

Lent: Lord Teach Me to Pray/Give Your Heart to God

Included:
Two Communion Prayers to use as Needed
Sermon Seeds for Each Week
Breath Prayer of the Day
Traditional Prayers
Prayer Activities for each week
Taize for worship or to sing/play during the Prayer Activities (obviously if you are just playing background music live is fine, but watch your streaming licenses)
Creative Holy Week Worship Ideas

Additional Ideas:
Prayer Journal
Leave a Space on the Bulletin for Prayers to be written
Pass out Hearts for Joys & Concerns to be written on All of Lent

Workshops following this Lectionary $50 to Brainstorm available Feb 6th at 10am-Noon Eastern time, and February 9th at 12pm-2pm Eastern time–please email me to register KatyandtheWord at gmail

Please note a lot of these texts are in Mark but most do not overlap the lectionary, if they do they are only 1 of the stories so you can choose the other one to preach on later

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Narrative Lectionary Sermon Series is Available Here

Communion Prayers

Ash Weds Lord Teach Me to Pray
The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:7-13

Lent 1 Themes: Call to Worship, Being Present with God
Matthew 12:1-8 or Mark 2:23-28
Psalm 122

Communion Prayers

Lent 2 Themes: Breath Prayer, Orientating Yourself (to God)
Mark 4:25-41 or Matthew 11:28-29
Psalm 150 or Psalm 46

Lent 3 Confession, Placing oneself in community
Mark 2:1-5
Psalm 30

Lent 4 Assurance of Pardon/Words of Grace
Psalm 103 or Psalm 23 (this is an option for lament week)
Mark 2:7-12

Lent 5 Prayers of the People & Joy
Psalm 97 or Psalm 122
Mark 4:30-34

Lent 6 Prayers of the People & Lament, Hosanna, Save me
Psalm 23 as a Lament or James 5:1-6
Revelation 21:1-6 or Mark 11:12-14
Imprecation: Psalm 55 or 58

Communion Prayers

Maundy Thursday: Servant Prayer
John 13:1-17
Mark 10:13-15

Good Friday: Dark Night of the Soul.
Mark 15:1-39
Psalm 22

Holy Saturday: Silent Prayer, Un-Prayer

Easter Sunday: Prayer of the Resurrection
Mark 16:1-8
Psalm 118

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Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 6

March 24th, Lent 6
Mark 11:1-11 Triumphal Entry
Mark 14:3-9 woman anoints Jesus
Psalm 118:25-29

Kneeling with Christ
The Promise of a New Kin-dom
Breaking [A World Beyond] Capitalism

Lent 6 : Anointed King by a Serving, Simple Woman or Throw him a parade instead of serving the poor, humans never change–Love and Serve the Lord, Jesus wants sacrifice of praise through loving and serving one another not a show of glory.

Breath Prayer Option
Inhale: Christ is King
Exhale: Hosanna

Inhale: Blessed is the One
Exhale: Bless all who come in God’s Name

Inhale: the Lord is God
Exhale: Let us Greet Jesus Christ

Call to Worship
You are my God, I give thanks to you
You are my God, I will extol you
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord
Save us, we beseech you, Hosanna, Hosanna in the High
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
Come, let us praise God whose steadfast love endures forever

Call to Confession: Come let us cry out our confession to the Lord together.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we cry out Hosanna, even when we are uncertain whether or not we want to serve you today. We are uncertain how to anoint you as King. Yet here we are, crying out to be saved, from something. because deep in our hearts we know that you are our savior. Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, come and teach us how to be a people of Christ we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: Jesus we confess that we do not always know how to serve you. We would rather throw you a parade, then give away all of our possessions and go out and work with the immigrants, the poor, the hungry and the naked. Hossana, help us to learn how to serve you better, so that we may kneel beside you when you return to serve we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the good new, Jesus Christ came to save us, so we know the truth, In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God may we go into the world remembering that you will always be our God, and we will alway be your people. May we hold this in our hearts always. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: Hosanna Loud Hosanna, All Glory Laud and Honor

Taize Option:Adoramus te Domine, Magnificat

Children’s Activity: Smell perfumes/Scents talk about anointing Kings and how revolutionary it was for a woman to anoint Jesus as King
Color a Palm https://www.illustratedministry.com/2020/palm-frond-coloring-page/

Children’s Book: Mother God talk about all the ways God is in the World

Entire Liturgy

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Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 5

March 17th, Lent 5
Mark 13: 1-8, 24-37 End of age, Watch
Psalm 102:12-17

Kneeling with Christ
The Promise of a New Kin-dom
Breaking [A World Beyond] Capitalism

Lent 5: Serving God: Watching for God for the Kin(g)dom that is promised. Christ promises us that a new world is being built, how can we participate in the building and serve God? Your Kingdom Come/Your Will Be Done

Breath Prayer Option
Inhale: Keep Awake
Exhale: Watch for God

Inhale: God endures forever
Exhale: I will serve God

Inhale: God’s Kingdom Come
Exhale: God’s will be done

Call to Worship:
God is enthroned forever, and promises to return
We are waiting for Jesus
God will rebuild all things, so that everything will shine with justice and mercy
God will hear the prayers of those who are stripped of all things
God will appoint the time and the place, stay awake
Come let us listen closely to the Word of our God

Call to Confession: Come let us speak to the God who always listens with a confession.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we do not know the hour or the day of your coming and that troubles us. We worry that we will not be awake or aware enough for when you come. We are afraid that we will be asleep. Comfort us. Remind us that you are the God of grace, and that it is not a grace that is earned but one that is given out of love. Help us to know that you will help us to tend to the Kin(g)Dom work, so that we may pray and participate in Your Kin(g)dom Come, Your will be Done with confidence we pray. (Silent Confession) Amen.

Prayer of Confession: Jesus Christ, we know that too often staying awake and being woke is used as a bludgeon of judgement instead of a measurement that you are the help and sure redemption in our lives. Help us to reassure one another that you are the Lord of Sabbath and Rest and that the awareness you promise is that of hope, truth and Love (Silent Confession) Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the good news, if Christ is for us, who is against us? We know that Jesus Christ is even now working towards our grace, and so we can proclaim the good news, In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God help us to be aware of your presence as a space of comfort and hope as we venture into the uncertainties of the world we pray. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: Great is Thy Faithfulness

Taize Option: Wait for The Lord

Children’s Activity: Build a Tower/Town together or a collage– Talk about cooperative learning/building together and how God wants us to be cooperatively learning and building and watching and waiting together and that this is Kin(g)Dom building work. Children’s Book: A Day without Words by Tiffany Hammond talk about how we can watch how other people interact and work in the world, and how we can build relationship with them, and how that is building the kingdom of God.

Definition of Kin-dom https://sojo.net/articles/kin-dom-christ

Children’s Book: A Day without Words by Tiffany Hammond talk about how we can watch how other people interact and work in the world, and how we can build relationship with them, and how that is building the kingdom of God.

Entire Liturgy

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Narrative Lectionary, Year 2, Lent 4

March 10th, Lent 4
Mark 12:28-44 Great Commandment, Poor Widow
Psalm 89:1-4

Lent 4: Serving God: Love God exactly as you Are Don’t need to change Nothing (anything) first. How would the world be if we stopped worrying about appearances?

Breath Prayer Option
Inhale: I am imperfect
Exhale: I am ready to serve

Inhale: God loves me
Exhale: I am the Widow’s Mite

Inhale: God is faithful
Exhale: It’s Ok if I change

Call to Worship:
I will sing of your steadfast love, forever!
With my mouth, I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations!
God made a covenant with David and his descendants
God is faithful, Come let us praise our faithful God!

Call to Confession: God knows us and loves us, come let us confess ourselves to our loving God.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that it is hard to hear the story of the widow without judgement. Should we be the widow? Should the poor widow not have given her last mite? And yet, perhaps Jesus was just stating the facts that those who serve are going to be the poorest among us, because they get it. Help us when we judge how others use their money or how others serve, to instead just love and serve in our own ways, we pray. Amen.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that the command to simply love God with all of our heart, minds and souls does not seem to be concrete enough for us. In what ways? Are there not specific hymns to sing or prayers to pray? We confess that it bothers us that Jesus does not say how we are supposed to love God, just that we should, and this means that we cannot judge each other. Help us not to judge, and to just love you the best we can we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, God loves us exactly as we are, so we know the truth In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God help us to remember that you have called us exactly as we are to serve you, encourage us to go and into the world ready to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

Hymn Suggestions: Just As I am Without One Plea

Taize Option: Wait for the Lord

Children’s Activity: Play Freeze (try not to move) or Red Light/Green Light. Talk about how God is always faithful even if you change/move.

Children’s Book: I’ll Wait Mr Panda by Steve Antony about how waiting for the results of hard work is worth it.

Entire Liturgy

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