Pray the Power

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.

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.

(Translated from Aramaic, the language of first-century Galilee and Judea.)

O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration, soften the ground of our being and carve out a space within us where your Presence can abide. Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of your mission. Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire. Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what each being needs to grow and flourish. Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes. Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment. For you are the ground and the fruitful vision, the birth, power, and fulfillment, as all is gathered and made whole once again. And So It Is!

God of mercy and healing, you call us to look past the divisions we see and break down the walls we have built. We turn to you yet again, confident that your provision is abundantly more than enough to preserve and redeem the world.

Loving Ever-present God, we are here to be a community of reconciliation. May the Spirit guide us in the way of Jesus, to gather the outcast and the lost, to heal the wounds of fear and distrust, and bless the banished.

That we may replicate your reconciliation, model your mercy, and herald your healing for all.

Loving Ever-present God, we are here to be a community of reconciliation. May the Spirit guide us in the way of Jesus, to gather the outcast and the lost, to heal the wounds of fear and distrust, and bless the banished.

For unity and harmony to flow freely among your creatures and throughout your creation.

Loving Ever-present God, we are here to be a community of reconciliation. May the Spirit guide us in the way of Jesus, to gather the outcast and the lost, to heal the wounds of fear and distrust, and bless the banished.

For reconciliation and new beginnings among estranged families, races, nations, and peoples.

Loving Ever-present God, we are here to be a community of reconciliation. May the Spirit guide us in the way of Jesus, to gather the outcast and the lost, to heal the wounds of fear and distrust, and bless the banished.

For healing for those who are tormented, rejected, marginalized, fearful, forgotten, cast off.

Loving Ever-present God, we are here to be a community of reconciliation. May the Spirit guide us in the way of Jesus, to gather the outcast and the lost, to heal the wounds of fear and distrust, and bless the banished.

We stand now together ready to bring your way of love into the world around us. May your Spirit call us and guide us. Amen.

Ever-present God, whose compassion embraces everyone, give us your words of life that our hearts may increase in your way of love as we turn to your word together. Amen.

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 ¹ I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ²⁹ for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so also they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. ³² For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

²¹ Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²² Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” ²³ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶ He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.

When have you succeeded in resisting the forces that seek to conform us to this world? Where do you see yourself now caught in conformity and what might God be calling you to do about it?

Siblings, we come to present our very lives to God. As an act of accepting the mantle of Child of God, let us turn our gifts over to God.

Loving God, receive the fruits of our labor and the dedication of our lives. Amen.

And now, as we go forth, may the ever-present God, who is at the side of every creature in creation, renew your lives so that we may be agents of God’s loving transformation. Amen.