Worship Leading 4/25

Pastoral Welcome

Pastoral Prayer

Lord we enter into worship today desiring to be closer to you. Oh God we hope that we would hear your still small voice piercing through all of the other noise around us. As we sense the love that you have for us, and as we come to terms with the forgiveness you offer for us we can’t help but just be in awe. Before we even realize it you are working in our lives, and in the lives of others. This morning I celebrate the gift that it is to sing your praises. How good and how pleasant it is for people to dwell together in unity.

Even as we gather I am reminded of all of the things that I place above or before you God. All of the faulty foundations that I have wasted trust on, I just thank you and praise you for the ways that you are trustworthy when we are not, and for the ways that your love for us remains steadfast even when ours fall short.

Lord in your mercy; Hear Our Prayer

O God in the words of a hynist “let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” O God we start out today by praying for peace. We pray for peace in our hearts. We pray for peace in our community, and of course we pray for peace in our world. Let there be peace in the midst of what seems like endless violence. Lord God let there be peace systems of evil, injustice, and oppression like racism, sexism in our world. Lord God let it begin with me. Let it begin with us. Make us instruments of your peace here on earth.

Lord in your mercy; Hear Our Prayer

Lord you bring comfort to those that are sorrow and lament filled. We lift up to you those that are lamenting the loss of loved ones today. We pray that in pain we will find comfort, in sorrow we will find hope, and in death, we will find resurrection.

Lord in your mercy; Hear Our Prayer

We confess God there is so much that pulls us away from you. We confess of the ways that we have created idols for ourselves. Idols of the things that we think are so important, but pail in comparison to your glory. Help us Lord God to worship you, and to find our rightful place proclaiming of your glory and your grace.

Lord in your mercy; Hear Our Prayer

We lift up the confirmands of our church. We celebrate your presence and your grace that was a part of their story from before they knew it. We celebrate them faithfully stepping forward to commit to the mission and ministry of the church, and of course we celebrate the work that you continue to do amongst the youngest leaders and member of our church.

Lord in your mercy; Hear Our Prayer

You accept us as we are, and mould us into the people we were meant to be. You enable broken lives and relationships to be made whole again. As we remember your redemption that we studied and saw throughout lent we pray for our own redemptive journeys.

Lord in your mercy; Hear Our Prayer

Oh God we lift up our church once again, and we just ask what do you want to do through us? Help us to be bearers of your good news, help us to shine your light in our life and in our community.

Lord in your mercy; Hear Our Prayer

Accept us by grace through faith and fill us with your Holy Spirit to live as your daughters and sons and enter into your joy in the world to come.Above all else we thank you for Jesus, who knew our griefs, who died our death and rose for our sake, and who lives and prays for us.And as he taught us, so now we pray together, saying:

Transition

We mentioned a couple of times already that this Sunday a number of students are joining our church this morning through confirmation. As a part of the they commit with the members of this church to support the church through their prayers, pressence, gifts, service, and witness. And likewise we commit to them that we will continue to support and nurture them into the Christian faith and life.

I am in seminary with a number of folks that are serving in ministry throughout the country, and a couple of week ago when we all shared our faith stories, and the moments that became aware of what God was already doing in our life, for I think every single one of the testimonies I read for my class, confirmation was a pivotal moment. So even though the outward ceremonies of confirmation are happening at our other two sites, I was wondering if we could give God a hand of praise for the ways in present in their lives right now.

Celebration

On this beautiful spring day it turns out we actually have plenty to celebrate, and our celebration at all three sites this morning is our Monday night meal. Its an opportunity for us to respond to God by providing a warm home cooked meal for members of our community. What better people to hear from about it than those that are there every Monday preparing meals. Let’s have a look.....

Offering

It is about the kingdom of God. It is about creating the kingdom of God here on Earth. And as we will continue to hear in just a moment that kingdom of God often looks a whole lot different than our world does.

One of the ways that looks different is that in the kingdom of God our gifts, our talents, our passions, and our witness go to making God known to more people. That is what our respond step is about and that is what our offering is about. It is about the kingdom of God being made real. I choose to give of my financial gifts to God through Ankeny First in an on-going online transaction. Some other ways to give include the offering plates here in the room and by mail to the Uptown Office.

Out of the abundance that we have received, may we be fruitful in building up the Kingdom of God with our time, our talent, our gifts, our service, and our witness.