call to worship and prayer of approach – why have you come?

submitted by Gord Waldie, St. Paul’s United Church, Grande Prairie, Alberta

Call to Worship

People of God! Why have you come?
We have come to celebrate God’s healing presence among us.
Servants of God! Why have you come?
We have come to be refreshed, to be renewed, to be sent out.
Children of God! Why have you come?
We have come to worship together.
Then let us do so with joy and gladness.

Prayer of Approach

Gracious God, once again you have called us together in this place.
Here we open our hearts and lives before you, here we seek to hear Your life-giving Word.
God in this time of song and prayer and speech,
open our very souls to receive your challenge, open our wills to accept your instruction. Turn our mourning into dancing, replace our sackcloths with garments of joy.
And when our time of worship is ended,
lead us back out into the world to share the Good News with the world around us.
We pray in the name of the One who brought Your healing love, Jesus of Nazareth.
Amen.

call to worship: breathe in

Submitted by Rev. Scott Cervas, Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church, Lexington KY

Wipe the sleep from your tired eyes…
Stretch the gnawing apathy from your aching muscles…
Breathe in…deeply…the goodness of God…
And let your lives be renewed…now…as we worship together!

call to worship: don’t you know? haven’t you heard?

based on Isaiah 40:21-31, Common English Bible
submitted by Rev. Andy James, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Whitestone, New York

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
God created all things and summons everyone by name.

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
No one – nothing – can compare to God’s glory.

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth,
and never grows tired or weary.

Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength forever and ever.

call to worship – based on Psalm 111

submitted by Michael Morgan, organist, Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia; seminary musician, Columbia Theological Seminary; and author of the Psalter for Christian Worship

One: Praise the Lord! In the company of the saints above and beside us, let us give thanks to the Lord our God!

All: Great are the works of the Lord, full of honor and majesty,  whose righteousness endures forever.

One: The Lord is gracious and merciful; the work of God’s hands are faithful and just.

All: God’s covenant is established forever in truth and justice.

One: Our redemption is in the name of our Lord.

All: Holy and awesome is God’s name in all the earth!

CTW: it’s time

Submitted by Scott Cervas, Pastor, Meadowthorpe Presbyterian Church (Lexington, KY)

It’s time! God’s intended reality for creation is approaching at full speed!
Change the way you think and live, and trust that the world is going to change.
God is calling us out of our hardened shells of personal religion,
and into this community that draws us together today!
So let’s be gathered together…and let’s worship God!

CTW: here i am

Submitted by Rev. Stephanie Wing, member-at-large in Transylvania Presbytery.

The Creator calls into being all of Creation.
Here I am!
The One who never slumbers nor sleeps
has awoken us from our rest,
called us out from the comfort of our beds,
and led us to this place this morning.
Here I am!
Perhaps you are here joyfully,
but maybe for your neighbor it was a struggle to get here.
Maybe your mind is elsewhere –
on the stack of bills that must be paid,
the to-do list that runs off the page,
or perhaps there is something bigger on your minds.
You might be content, happy, peaceful, tired, troubled, or just plain bored.
Even so…
Here I am!
Still, it is not about us.
We are here because we have been created and called together
to worship and glorify God’s name.
Let us respond to that call with out worship this morning.
Here I am!

call to worship – based on Psalm 62

submitted by Michael Morgan, organist, Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia; seminary musician, Columbia Theological Seminary; and author of the Psalter for Christian Worship

One: For God alone our souls wait in silence, for our hope is from God.

All: God alone is our rock and our salvation; we will not be shaken.

One: Our God sends deliverance and honor.

All: Like a mighty rock, God is our refuge.

One: Trust in God always, for God is power and grace.

All: Steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.

One: Brothers and sisters, praise the Lord!

All: The Lord’s name be praised!

CTW: You know us well

Submitted by Rev. Martha Spong, pastor at North Yarmouth Congregational Church, North Yarmouth, Maine.

 

One: We come to worship God, who knows us better than we know ourselves.
Many: We come to worship God, who can understand our thoughts, who knows when we sit down and when we get up and go.
One: O God, you know us well, in all the ways. Before we say a word, you know what is coming.
Many: Wherever we go, you are there. It’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth.
One: Let us worship God, who knows our hearts and our lives.

call to worship – based on Psalm 139

submitted by Michael Morgan, organist, Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia; seminary musician, Columbia Theological Seminary; and author of the Psalter for Christian Worship

One: O Lord, you have searched us and known us.

All: Before we move or think or speak, you know our actions and our words.

One: You breathed life into us, and shaped us in human form to serve your purpose and sing your praise.

All: We praise you for the gifts of substance and spirit, of acceptance and expectancy, of lineage and legacy.

One: How wonderful are your thoughts, O God!

All: How vast is the expanse of your grace and love!

One: Praise the Lord!

All: The Lord’s name be praised!

call to worship – Baptism of the Lord, based on Psalm 29

submitted by Michael Morgan, organist, Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia; seminary musician, Columbia Theological Seminary; and author of the Psalter for Christian Worship

One: Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength:

All: Worship the Lord in holy splendor.

One: The voice of the Lord is powerful.

All: The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

One: May the Lord give us strength.

All: May the Lord bless us with peace.

One: Praise the Lord!

All: The Lord’s name be praised!