Living God,
speak to us anew of your love in Jesus Christ,
that we too might live in love every day
and show that love to all the world.
Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Andy James, First Presbyterian Church, Whitestone, NY
Easter
Sunday’s coming: working towards May 13
Yes…Sunday is relentless, isn’t it!? The season of Easter continues to wind it’s way towards Pentecost as we are also faced with milestones in the calendar that have become a part of our life together.
This is graduation time! Is your congregation doing anything special to recognize and celebrate graduates? Share your creative ideas here! How does your congregation handle the inevitable oozing of the sacred Hallmark holiday of Mother’s Day into your worship? What do you do (or don’t do) to celebrate and not alienate?
The Scriptures this week give us a chance to explore the call for the entire world to celebrate the goodness of God, who restores life as it is intended and brings justice to all the earth (Psalm 98), our responsibility to love one another in the same way that the Christ has loved (aka, loves) us (John 15:9-17), the truth that God speaks in and through whomever God chooses, despite our own preconceived notions to the contrary (Acts:10:44-48), and the undeniable life-ness and light-ness of God (1 John 5:1-6).
What are you doing with these Scriptures? How are you using them in worship? What creative avenues are you taking? Remember to share your thoughts and liturgy here!
confession and assurance: love one another
Prayer of Confession
God of compassion and mercy, you sent us your Son as the savior of the world, and told us to love one another as much as you loved us. Yet, we struggle to love each other. We have a hard time loving those who are not like us, who disagree with us, or who ask us to face the truths about ourselves. You told us to love one another, because love is from God. And we often do not love those we think are dirty, hungry, lost, or undesirable. It is written that perfect love casts out fear, and yet we are afraid. Afraid for our safety, our wallets, and how others perceive us. Forgive us, God, and show us how to love thy way you command us to love. Release us from our judgment and our fear. Open our hearts so that they might receive your perfect love for us, and offer it to the world.
(Silent Confession)
Assurance of Forgiveness
Friends, the good news is this: love is from God, and we are loved by God. God sent Christ into the world to atone for our sins, and in him we are forgiven.
Submitted by Rev. Julie Jensen, First Presbyterian Church, Cartersville, GA
confession and pardon: pruning
Call to Confession
There are many things that can cut us off from the One True Vine. Our sins are like so much dead wood. When we confess the dead places in our lives, God offers us the forgiveness we need to prune them away and allow us to thrive once more. We come now to confess the parts of our lives that do not bear fruit…
Prayer of Confession
Gracious God, we confess that we each have places in our lives that could use some pruning. Our words do not always give grace to those who hear, our actions do not always witness to our baptism in your name. We have ignored those who need our help the most and focused on hoarding more for ourselves. Our selfish desires only serve to wither us and turn us into dying branches. Forgive us, and prune away our dead places so that we may bear fruit generously in your name…
…moment of silent confession…
Assurance of Forgiveness
We are grafted into the Living Vine. The Vinegrower has tended to us and removed our sinful and withered ways. We are given another chance to live and bear fruit. For these gifts of love and life, let us stand and sing praise!
This confession would be appropriately followed by a Gloria of some sort.
Submitted by Rev. Rebecca Page Lesley, Suffolk Presbyterian Church, Suffolk, VA
confession and pardon: fears like pocket lint
Call to Reconciliation
There come those moments when we stand exposed, our failings, our hurtful words, our harmful ways open for all to see. But God takes these moments, and these sins, redeeming them through compassionate love, making us new people, children of the Living God. Let us come, in these moments, with our prayers to the One who waits to forgive us and make us whole. Please join me as we pray together, saying,
Unison Prayer of Confession
We carry our fears around with us like so much pocket lint, Compassionate Heart, when you would take them and toss them aside, spent and useless. You invite us to sit and chat with someone who wants to know more about you, but we are busy running errands. You give us a simple command – to love, and we complicate it with rules, worries, and doubts.
Forgive us, Vine Grower. You have planted those seeds of mercy, of hope, of grace deep within us, so we might bear rich and nourishing fruit for others. May we not get in the way of your Gardener, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, who will use the Holy Spirit to bring forth an abundant crop.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
God abides in you! God is breathing, living, forgiving, restoring you in this moment, and in the days to come. This is the good news for us!
As God is in us, so we can live, work, care for others, so that love, hope and joy might touch all people. Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.
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