"With All My Might!

Call to Worship (Psalm 14, 1 Timothy 1)

Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” We proclaim that God’s presence is real and alive and thriving! Evildoers declare through their actions, “We go through life alone.” But we see God’s grace, faithfulness, and steadfast love in our lives and in the world around us. Praise be to God!

Opening Prayer (Jeremiah 4, Luke 15)

God of abundant grace, may your Holy Spirit be with us now as we worship you this day. Open our eyes to truly see one another, that we might discover your presence in the smile of a neighbor. Open our ears to the needs of the world, that we might hear your wisdom in the words spoken around us. And open our hearts to your grace and love, that we might find guidance and strength for the journey, for ourselves and for one another.

Invitation to the Offering (1 Timothy 1)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have received much from God—grace, mercy, abundance, the love of Christ, and the gift of life itself. In our worship, we praise God and give God thanks for these gifts. Let us now offer what we can as a way of saying, “Thank you.” In gratitude for God’s generosity, let us share God’s abundance with one another.

Prayer

Loving God, remind us that we are here because you invite us, seek us, come to us, and embrace us. We are here because as a shepherd seeks a lost sheep, you seek us when we are lost. As a woman searches for a lost coin, you rejoice when we are found. Teach us to give thanks. Amen.

2 Samuel 6:1-5 New International Version The Ark Brought to Jerusalem 6 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. 2 He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. 17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

Benediction (Luke 15)

My friends, go into the world: knowing that it is God who loves us, Christ who strengthens us, and the Holy Spirit who empowers us for service. Go in peace and joy! 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.