Continually Called

Good Morning and Welcome to Worship! Worship is often the first place that new people come into contact with this growing community of faith. And so, if you are joining us for the first time, I say to you what is said every Sunday: You are welcome here. Here is a place where all are welcome. For such is the love of God for God’s Very Good Creation.

Continually Called

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below; praise God above, ye Heav'nly host: praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed in splendor and majesty. You wrap yourself in light as a garment and stretch out the heavens like a tent. Praise the Lord.

In gratitude for all that you have done for us, Holy God, we pray:

For nations, communities, and families torn by violence; for leaders and protesters, for managers and visionaries; for dictators and peacemakers; for the allies of our nation and for our enemies; especially today for the people of Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Israel, Palestine, and the United States;

Pour out upon us the Spirit of your love so that in hearing and seeing the gifts of this life, we may know the way to live in thanksgiving; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

For Earth and its riches; for soil and wetlands, trees, bushes, rivers and lakes, oceans and air; and for all the peoples who inhabit this great creation; for the ability to choose life for all creatures and to honor the welfare of generations to come;

Pour out upon us the Spirit of your love so that in hearing and seeing the gifts of this life, we may know the way to live in thanksgiving; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

For all people who are victims of injustice; for those who are unemployed or underemployed; for those living on the streets of our cities; for everyone affected by divorce; for people struggling with addiction, anger, fear, or illness; for all who have asked this congregation for prayer; for those we name now aloud or in our hearts [silence].

Pour out upon us the Spirit of your love so that in hearing and seeing the gifts of this life, we may know the way to live in thanksgiving; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

For this community of faith; for those who come to worship every week and those who cannot come; for the young and the old; for newcomers and long- familiar faces; for the newly baptized in every land; for those who are seeking to know you; hear us, O God, your mercy is great. For all else that this assembly is concerned with today, named aloud or in our hearts [silence];

Pour out upon us the Spirit of your love so that in hearing and seeing the gifts of this life, we may know the way to live in thanksgiving; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Into your promises, we entrust all those whose needs are known to us today and those whose needs are only known to you. Grant peace to all, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Gracious God, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word proclaimed, we may hear with joy and be inspired for action. Amen.

Mark 2:23–3:6 ²³One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”²⁵And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? ²⁶He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” ²⁷Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; ²⁸so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” ¹Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ²They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” ⁴Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

In the coming week consider how God is continually calling you. Look for subtle opportunities to be Christ for others. Wonder how you might experience the move of the Holy Spirit in others’ actions. Might God be calling you to join in, in some creative and/or unexpected way?

Here at Community Church, we celebrate “Open Communion.” Anyone who wishes to commune may come to God’s Table. You do not have to be sinless; God forgives you. You do not have to be perfect; God encourages you to grow. You need not belong to any church; God invites all people to this meal. It is enough to love and follow God with all your heart. This is what God asks us to do. Come to God’s Table in faith this day. Go from this place to live, and never be the same again. Let us commune as siblings in Christ.

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth. Before the mountains were brought forth, or you had formed the earth, from everlasting to everlasting, you alone are God. You created light out of darkness and brought forth life on the earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ, in whom you have revealed yourself, our light and our salvation. In his baptism and in table fellowship he took his place with us. Your Spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to announce that the time had come when you would save your people. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to this, your Church, you delivered us from our slavery to empire, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and fruit of the vine. Make them be for us a profound sign of hope in the midst of human darkness, that we may be transformed into the resurrected body of Christ at work in the world.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever. Amen.

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

The bread which we have eaten is a sharing in the bread of Christ. The cup over which we give thanks is the sharing in the cup of Christ.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us take a moment to consider the strong compassion and care given through the work of our church. And the many needs met through our giving. What joy, that we are blessed to be a blessing.

Gracious and Loving God, we thank you for calling us to work in union with you. That we share a partnership with your Holy Spirit, serving others, our community and the world in the way of Christ. We praise you for your love in and through us. In the Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

May our gracious God, who continually calls us to love and light, unity and peace, inspire you this week. Go in joy to love and serve the Lord. Amen.