"A Grateful Praise"

Call to Worship (Lamentations 1, 2 Timothy 1)

The promises of the world turn to ashes and dust,  but the promises of God last forever. The Holy One calls to us: “Come!” We come to rekindle the gift of God ablaze within us.

Opening Prayer (Lamentations 1, 2 Timothy 1)

Source of grace and peace, you call us into being; you keep us in safety; you hold us in life. Far too often, we turn from you, placing our trust in the frail promises of other human beings and the insecure security of wealth. Be with us now. Bring us into your presence. Comfort our pain. Challenge our pride. Enter into our prayer and our praise, that our worship may be pleasing to you. We pray these things in the name of the one who loved us first, Jesus Christ.

Invitation to the Offering (Lamentation 1)

What will buy us peace? What is the price of security? What do we have, what can we hold onto, that will ensure that we will live all our days in comfort? What do we own that is not a gift from the One of abundant grace? Nothing we can own will buy true peace. Real security is priceless. Only the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, can assure us that we will be comfortable or comforted. All things come from the One of abundant grace. Let us give generously, in token of the abundance of our thanks.

Prayer Lord, throughout the world today, Christians are sharing in the sacrament of Holy Communion. We come together with a bountiful table set in the midst of struggle and strife. Help us to receive the elements of bread and wine for the nourishment of our souls and for the strengthening of our witness to your love for us. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN.

Psalm 100 New International Version Psalm 100 A psalm. For giving grateful praise. 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Benediction As God has poured God’s love on you, go now in peace to bring God’s love to all people. Rest in the confidence of God’s abiding presence with you and be joyful in your service to God. Go in peace and love. 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.