Psalm 118 – katyandtheword

April 9 Easter, Resurrection

April 9
Easter, Resurrection
Matthew 28:1-10
Psalm 118:19-24

Call to Worship
Christ is Risen!
He has Risen Indeed!
This is the Lord’s doing!
It is marvelous in our eyes!
This is the day that the Lord has made!
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Prayer of Confession (unison) Jesus, that we find too find the Kingdom of Heaven stories to be overwhelming. We can scarcely take the news in, and we are too obsessed with heaven to worry about what it is we should be doing here on earth. Forgive us. Teach us to do fear not and to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. (Silent Prayer)…Amen

Assurance of Pardon: Know this, God has answered us and become our salvation, so let us proclaim the good news of Easter: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of Dedication: (unison) Jesus meets us with the good news, reminding us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Let us remind one another as we go into the world—the Kingdom of heaven is like grace, it is like justice it is love and forgiveness and resurrection. Come let us rejoice in the Kingdom of God this Easter.

Palm Sunday April 2nd Triumphal Entry

April 2nd
Triumphal Entry, Cleansing the Temple
Matthew 21:1-17
Psalm 118:25-29

Hosanna: A Dangerous Prayer

Call to Worship
Hosanna, Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord
Hosanna, Lord, Jesus
The Lord has given us Light, Come Lord Save us
Hosanna Lord, Save us
Bind the festal procession with branches! The Lord is God!
Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest!

Call to Confession: God we are longing for you to save us, so we come to confess to you, full of hosannas, come let us confess ourselves to God.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we forget that right after we cry Hosanna, Jesus save us! We do not Jesus coming in and flipping over the tables of the sanctuary. Yet here we are and it turns out the Palm Sunday and Flipping Tables Sunday are one and the same. Because you save us, by turning our worldviews upside-down. Remind us that Jesus is with us and for us, remind us that Jesus loves us no matter what and that Jesus continues to walk with us.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good news: God is good, God’s steadfast love endures forever, let us proclaim the truth to one another: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

April 17th Resurrection: Hope Seeing Resurrected Jesus

John 20:1-18

Psalm 118:21-29

Call to Worship

Christ is Risen

He is Risen indeed

The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone

Look the Lord’s doing wondrous things before our eyes

This is the day that the Lord has made

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Call to Confession: God sees us exactly as we are and loves us, so come let us confess ourselves to God.

Confession: Jesus, we confess that sometimes we are blinded by tears or turned away, and it is hard to recognize you. We confess that all too often we do not practice or believe in the power of resurrection, so it sneaks by us. Forgive us, teach us to see the seeds you are planting, for you are, after all, the original gardener, and help us to co-create and tend the seeds of resurrection so that they grow, we pray in the name of the resurrection Jesus. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Christ is risen, so you are forgiven. Know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are Forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: We are an Easter people, a Resurrection People, let us name it and claim it we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Please support my writing: Katy’s Doctorate in Ministry in Creative Writing at Pittsburgh Seminary.

For Word versions of the Liturgy email me at Katyandtheword at gmail

From Lament to Hope Full Resources

Easter: Topical Prayer

Topical Prayer: God, we are all the characters int he story. The women who find the stone rolled away, and are terrified of the angel, the disciples who do not believe the resurrection to be true, Peter who runs to see it all only to be left with the wrappings from the tomb. As we experience this story, let us embrace the amazement and perplexity of the events. They are truly beyond human ken. Though that is uncomfortable, let us sit with the wonder that Easter is we pray. Amen.

Easter Sunday Prayers

Journey to Resurrection

April 4

Resurrection

Resurrection of Our Lord

Luke 24:1-12: http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=476536856

Psalm 118: 17, 21-24: http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=476536876

Call to Worship:

God, I thank you that you have become my salvation

Look! The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone

This is the day that the Lord has made!

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Christ is risen!

Christ is risen, indeed, alleluia.

Invitation: Let all who are astonished by the resurrection confess themselves to God.

Confession: God we confess that we too are perplexed by the resurrection. How did it happen? Is it real? Did it truly happen to save us all? Help us in our confusion and questions. Give us the courage to ask about the things we don’t know and the wisdom to let some things be mysterious. Help us to be a resurrection people, ready to go out and proclaim the mystery and the truth of God’s love to all we meet. In the name of your risen son Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Christ is alive! Risen to forgive all sins. Let us tell the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God we are in great need of alleluias! Let us go into Easter with full hearts and dripping with grace we pray.

Communion Prayer: Lord Jesus, it is a great honor to celebrate your death once again. This time in the midst of the very resurrection you promised. You remind us that we cannot have resurrection without death. Comfort us as we mourn your death, and enable us to celebrate your life all within this meal. Send you Holy Spirit to dance upon our tongues and give us a foretaste of the feast in heaven, with all the saints that were and are and will be we pray. Amen.

Hymns: Christ is Alive!, Come Ye Faithful Raise the Strain, The Day of Resurrection!, Thine is the Glory, Jesus Christ is Risen Today!,

Taize: Laudate Dominum: Sing, Praise and Bless the Lord, Peoples, Nations, Alleluia!

For the Complete List of Narrative Lectionary Lent Resources can be found here including a way to receive a doc copy

Lent 6: Palm/Passion Sunday Topical Prayer

Topical Prayer: Jesus, you have done it. You have reached the end of your journey to Jerusalem. Thank you for letting us to journey with you. Thank you for letting us enjoy the full moment of your arrival with a festive parade and hope. Thank you for standing up to the officials and not letting them stop the celebration. Even though you know that things will spin to ugly very soon, you let us be our full human selves and do this Palm Sunday too. Grant us the courage and endurance for Holy Week. Help us to see ourselves there, so we can witness your life and death and sacrifice. Help us not skip straight to the resurrection we pray. Amen.

For the Complete List of Narrative Lectionary Lent Resources can be found here including a way to receive a doc copy

Lent 6: Palm/Passion Sunday Prayers

Journey to Jerusalem

March 28

Lent 6: Palm/Passion Sunday

Triumphal Entry

Luke 19:29-44

Psalm 118:19-23

Call to Worship

Hosanna, in the Highest!

Blessed is the One who come in the name of the Lord

Save us Lord! We need help!

Come Savior, teach us the ways of Peace.

Blessed is the Kind who comes in the name of Lord

Peace in heaven and glory in highest Heaven

Invitation: Let have all who are burdened confess those burdens to God who is loving and merciful.

Confession: God, I confess that I do not always let it be known that I need Saving. It is a strange idea to me to go into the streets and shout “Hosanna, Save us.” But you know that we need saving. We still do not know all of the ways of peace. We are distraught and lonely. We often don’t know how to connect to each other and to you. We squabble, we worry, we judge. Help us, we pray. Teach us the ways of peace, so that the rocks don’t need to shout out, because we are doing it instead. Lord, forgive us and teach us we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: God’s steadfast love endures forever! Let us all know and proclaim that God’s steadfast love endures forever. And because of this, we know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: Lord, this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Let us give thanks to the Lord for God is Good all the Time! Let us proclaim that God’s steadfast love endures forever!

Hymns: Lift High the Cross, Take My Life, There is a Balm in Gilead, In the Cross of God I Glory,

Taize: Nada te Turbe: nothing disturb you

For the Complete List of Narrative Lectionary Lent Resources can be found here including a way to receive a doc copy

Seeds of #prayer: Liturgy for #Easter Abundant Discipleship

Matthew 28:1-10 and Psalm 118: 19-24

Image

Call to Worship

Jesus, Lord, you have become our salvation.

I shall not die, but I shall live.

I was pushed so hard, that I was falling, the Lord helps me.

The Lord is my strength and my might, he has become my salvation.

Call to Worship

Let us proclaim the good news

He is risen

He is risen Indeed.

Come let us celebrate the resurrection.

Call to Worship

It is a new day, the first day

Come let us see the new creation God has wrought.

See the stone has been rolled away.

Surely, Jesus is here! Come let us worship him.

Prayer of Confession: Lord we confess that we are not always an Easter people. Too often we dwell with our sins, too afraid to confess them, and too stubborn to change our ways. Remind us that you make all things new. Roll the stone in our hearts away, create an earthquake in our souls, so that we too may experience the grace of Jesus Christ we pray.

Prayer of Confession: Lord, we confess that even when the stone has been rolled away and the good news has been proclaimed, we are sometimes afraid to see your glory. We feel inadequate or unprepared. Remind us of God’s favor and grace, and open our eyes so we may see the visions of God’s love.

Assurance of Pardon: Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. In these words we know the truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Communion Prayer: Risen Lord, we know that you are an embodied God, promising to be particularly present in the holy bread and cup. Send your promised encourager and advocate here. Bless this bread and bless this cup so we can be filled with your life and light. Renew us with the power of your resurrection we pray. Amen.

Prayer of Dedication: Christ alive, be present with us here today, from this moment on. Walk with us into the world, guide our hearts and minds and steps so that we can bring Easter to all the world we pray. Amen.

Hymns

Amazing Grace

What Wondrous Love is This

Christ is Alive!

Jesus Christ is Risen Today!

The Day of Resurrection!

Thine is the glory!

Full List of Lenten Resources (Of course some prayers may be appropriate for other weeks)

#Seeds: #Prayer Resource for Narrative Lectionary Triumphal Entry or Palm Sunday

Triumphal Entry or Palm Sunday

Matthew 21:1-17 or Psalm 118:25-29

Call to Worship

Blessed be the One who Comes in the Name of the Lord

Lord save us!

Bind up the festal procession with branches, cry Hosanna!

Praise the Lord, Lord Save us, Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord

Call to Worship

This is the day that the Lord has made

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

This is the day that the Lord has made

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Call to Worship

How will the Lord Come? Upon a great chariot or a fine stallion?

Jesus rides in the back door, on the back of a mere donkey

Victory we cry!

Are you the one prophets foretold? (Is the question ringing in our ears)

Call to Confession: Who is this that we are confessing to? Who is this Son of David? The one who cleanses the temple?

Confession: Jesus we confess that we are still left with questions. After 2,000 years we still don’t know exactly who you are, or how it is you will save us. And yet, we will cry Hosanna, help us to know you and save us from our sin we pray.

Confession: Our temple is still unclean, we confess, for we are broken and do not know how to make things clean. So we confess our sins to you. Heal us as you healed the blind and the lame we pray.

Confession: Lord, we confess that we have trouble keeping our eyes on you. We cry Hosanna, save us, one minute and then turn you over to be killed the minute your justice offends us. Forgive us, and teach us the path to you, we pray.

Confession: Lord, we confess that when things are going our way, it is easy for us to celebrate one another, but when we are worried or in pain we lash out. We confess that sometimes we are the people of Palm Sunday and sometimes we are the mob by the cross. Forgive us when we lash out, we pray.

Assurance of Forgiveness: Whenever we ask, whenever we confess, wherever where we are, no matter what we’ve done, no matter when it is, we are always, always, through the grace of Jesus Christ, forgiven.

Prayer of Dedication/Prayer of the Day: Lord we often don’t know if we will exist as the Palm Sunday Parade or the Mob at the Cross, give us the help we need to be the body of Christ we pray.

Full List of Lenten Resources (Of course some prayers may be appropriate for other weeks)

Hymns

Hosana, Loud Hosana,

Ride On! Ride On Majesty!

What Wondrous Love is This?

God of Our Life

Amazing Grace

If Thou but Trust in God to Guide Thee

When in Doubt: Easter Sunday Resource

John 20: 1-18 and Psalm 118:21-29

Call to Worship (from Psalm 118)
One: Jesus Christ is risen;
ALL: he is risen indeed!
One: And so I thank you, O God, that you have answered me.
ALL: You have become my salvation.
One: The stone that the builders rejected
ALL: has become the chief cornerstone.
One: This is the Lord’s doing;
ALL: it is marvelous in our eyes.
One: This is the day that the Lord has made;
ALL: let us rejoice and be glad in it.
One: For Jesus Christ is risen;
ALL: he is risen indeed!

Prayers of the people* (Silence may follow each refrain of “we seek the Lord.”)
One: People, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for? Many: They have taken away the Lord, and we do not know where they have laid him.
One: In the darkness of our mornings and our nights Many: we seek the Lord. One: When hopes have been tampered with and things are not going as planned Many: we seek the Lord. One: When our nation is deeply divided and violence abounds Many: we seek the Lord. One: When jobs are lost or never found Many: we seek the Lord. One: When darkness overcomes the health we try to hold onto Many: we seek the Lord. One: In the darkness of divorce and bankruptcy, eviction and addiction Many: we seek the Lord. One: When the usual situations and explanations reduce us to tears Many: we seek the Lord.
ALL: O God, in our grief and anguish, we seek you. Call us by name so that we know you and proclaim your living, risen presence. Amen.
*These images are adapted from Taylor, Catherine E., “ ‘Who are you looking for?’ I Corinthians 15:19; John 20:1-18,” Journal for Preachers, 28:3 (Easter 2005), 31-33.

Call to Confession:
We do not always live as people of the resurrection. While it is still dark, we come to the tomb, expecting only death, and the risen one meets us and calls us by name.
Prayer of Confession:
One: Confessing the darkness of our lives and our world, we come to you
Many: God of grace and mercy, hear our prayer.
One: Confessing our part in dealing death and denying hope, we come to you
Many: God of grace and mercy, hear our prayer.
One: Confessing that it is hard to love others as ourselves, we come to you
Many: God of grace and mercy, hear our prayer.
One: Confessing harsh words expressed and kind words unsaid, we come to you
Many: God of grace and mercy, hear our prayer.
One: Confessing the decisions we make about our time, our energy and our loyalties, we come to you
Many: God of grace and mercy, hear our prayer.
ALL: God of hope and resurrection, free us from the stones that block us from living as resurrection people. [Silent confession.] Amen.

Assurance of Pardon:
God has removed the stone from the tomb. The resurrected Jesus meets us, calling us by name, that we may proclaim him as the risen Lord.
Thanks be to God for the Good News:
ALL: In Jesus Christ, we are resurrection people. Thanks be to God.

More Lent Prayer Resources

Rev. Dr. Barbara Hedges-Goettl has her doctorate in liturgy and has worked on the new Book of Common Worship for the PCUSA, she is particularly interested in Communion, and uses her writing skills for bulletins, sermons and IEPs for children with special needs.

An entire Communion Liturgy is available at https://katyandtheword.wordpress.com/2018/03/12/when-in-doubt-prayer-resource-maundythursday-communion-liturgy-lastsupper/