"Speak Up"

Call to Worship (Psalm 79, Jeremiah 8, Luke 16)

O God, we come into your courts with praise and thanksgiving! We come in celebration and song. We come in gratitude of your inheritance. We come as those who have received blessing upon blessing. We hear the cry of the poor in the land, and ache to offer them relief. We come to bring them blessing upon blessing, in Jesus’ name. O God, we come into your courts with praise and thanksgiving! We come in celebration and song.

Opening Prayer (Jeremiah 8–9)

Gracious God, your people are suffering. Where there is woundedness, help us bring healing. Where there is discouragement, help us bring support and comfort. Where there is dismay and mourning, help us bring the power of new life and new opportunities. Heal us, O God, for you are our help and our hope, the One we turn to in times of trouble. In the name of our Great Physician, Jesus Christ, we pray.

Invitation to the Offering (Luke 16)

God, in Jesus Christ, has given us much to be faithful for. Our tithes, gifts, and offerings may seem little in comparison to God’s gifts to us, but we are called to be faithful over all that we have: our time, our talents, our gifts, and our service. When we give of ourselves, we practice the spiritual discipline of stewardship. When we are faithful over a few things in this life, in the life to come we may be faithful over much, much more. May God bless us in our giving, that God’s kingdom may be here with us on earth.

Prayer (Psalm 79, Jeremiah 8)

God of our salvation, you see your world laid waste with false worship, injustice, and indifference, and we tremble at your anger. Only in your tears, born out of vast love, do we find hope. Open to us the way of your tears— the way that leads us back to your love. Teach us to serve you and you alone, that you may deliver, forgive, and renew our world at last. Amen.

Mark 10:46-52 New International Version Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight 46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Benediction (Jeremiah 8, 1 Timothy 2, Luke 16)

Is there a physician who can heal us and our world? The one true God can heal us. Is there a balm in Gilead? The one true God can heal us. Look to God for your healing and renewal, and for the healing and renewal of our world. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.