Worship Resources
CALL TO WORSHIP I
Let this house of worship ring with sounds of joy. Let it tremble under the power of holy hands offered to God in service, for from God’s fullness we have received grace upon grace, and in our fullness grace spills forth from our hands into all the world!
CALL TO WORSHIP II
The Word lives among us, full of grace and truth, and from this fullness we have received grace upon grace. Let the people of God stand firm in the call to share that goodness with all the world, on every continent and among all people, so that by our fullness the whole world sees the glory of the truth living among us!
— Beth Burton Williams, Smithfield, NC
CALL TO WORSHIP III
Leader: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
People: The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from God, full of grace and truth.
Leader: From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
People: From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
Together: We open our hearts wider than wide as we worship this day, receptive to both the promise and the surprise of God’s grace.
— Amy Gopp, Washington, D.C.
OPENING PRAYER I
Gracious God, draw us close to you in this holy hour of worship. Empty our hearts and minds of the agitation that comes with calendars that are too full, the worry that comes from long hours of work, and the fear that comes from lives focused on misplaced priorities. Fill us instead with hope that comes from our trust in you and peace that comes from hours spent in your service. Empty us so that we can become full — and from this fullness, spill out your love and compassion into all the world. In Christ we pray. Amen.
— Beth Burton-Williams, Smithfield, NC
OPENING PRAYER II
Gracious Creator, from whom we have indeed received one blessing after another, we humbly approach you this day. We approach you in wonder, in awe, and in thanksgiving for all that you do and are in our lives. In a land so rich in resources, we call on your Holy Name to remind us again of the responsibility you have placed upon us to share those resources equitably, wisely and selflessly. Teach us courage that we may experience you in unexpected and difficult ways. Teach us compassion that we may step outside of our comfort zones long enough to understand the injustice and suffering of others. Teach us generosity that we may respond to your mysteries by sharing what we have abundantly received from you. We thank you for both the promise and the surprise of your grace, and for the awesome gift of life itself. Praise be to you, O God. It is in the Name of Christ Jesus our Lord that we offer this prayer. Amen.
— Amy Gopp, Washington, D.C.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION I
Forgiving God, we are hardly worthy of the bounteous blessings you have bestowed upon us. We sincerely confess that we have often been self-righteous and self-centered and, as a result, have not lived out the Gospel. There have been far too many times when the hungry have remained unfed, when we could have fed them. There have been far too many times when the thirsty have remained parched, when we could have quenched their dryness. There have been far too many times when a stranger has remained outside, when we could have invited them in. There have been far too many times when the sick have remained uncared for, when we could have nursed them back to health. There have been far too many times when the imprisoned have remained isolated, when we could have visited them.
Help us to remember that the hungry are not always longing for literal food. Remind us that we thirst for more than simple water, and that prisons are not only buildings. Forgive us, Compassionate God, for claiming that we were not aware of the needs of others when we could have looked a bit further. Forgive us for knowing about injustice and misery and still not putting our faith into action. Forgive us for the ways we have allowed, perhaps by mere silent consent, the technological and material wealth of our society to discourage community and the sharing of our resources. Turning back around to face you, we vividly recall that from your fullness — and your fullness alone — we have received grace upon grace. Having already tasted your grace, we boldly seek now your forgiveness — assured that it is ours for the asking. In Christ Jesus we confess and pray. Amen.
— Amy Gopp, Washington, D.C.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION II
God of grace and God of glory, we bring to you now the parts of our lives that we have not yet given you, and the parts of ourselves that have trouble receiving your love. We confess our desire for a “fair trade,” a desire that cheapens your love and your grace. You have loved us lavishly, and we accept your offer of unconditional favor. We confess our tendency to view our giving through eyes of want, not eyes of abundance. Teach us the joyful thanksgiving that overflows with your plenty. We confess that we isolate ourselves from our sisters and brothers in the world — from their existence, from their need, and from their kinship.
Help us, all-seeing God, to open our hearts to their suffering, to their wisdom, and to their joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose name we confess our sins and in whose hope we offer all our prayers. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
God’s abundance extends to God’s forgiveness. Receive that plenteous gift of grace. Be blessed by God’s pardon; be changed by God’s favor — through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
OFFERING MEDITATION
When I knocked on my new neighbor’s door with a fruit basket and a box of homemade Christmas cookies, I was not intending to embarrass him. I simply wanted to say thank you for a favor he had done for me.
To my surprise the first words out of his mouth were, “But I don’t have anything for you.”
“You’ve already given me much,” I responded. “I’m here to thank you.”
In other societies gift giving may be more formal and ritualized than it is in North America, but this brief exchange serves as a reminder that giving and receiving are never simple acts. They define relationships. In human society gift giving is inevitably an exercise in power that creates and fulfills obligations.
The temptation is great to understand our response to God’s grace in terms of our human interactions. We give to others to ease our sense of indebtedness for what God has given us. Of course, in so doing we put in our debt the people to whom we give, and thus we create new obligations.
Yet grace, by definition is free. That means that it does not create obligations. It does not put us in debt. Instead, it releases us from debt. It frees us from the power plays of normal human exchanges. We give compassionately, not because God has made us debtors, but because God has set us free from our greed. We give compassionately, not because we must but because we can. And we give compassionately, not to obligate others but to create the possibility of healing grace in their lives.
— Jim Crouch, Wilmington, DE
OFFERTORY PRAYER
To you we pray, God of Love, Spirit of Compassion that moves throughout the earth: in thanksgiving we pray, for we have received the fullness of your grace; in humility we pray, for we know we have not always responded to your grace by giving of our fullness to those who are in need. In hope we also pray that you may continue to use us wherever the hungry cry for bread, wherever the homeless seek shelter, wherever a man stretches his hand to plead for work, or a child lifts up her arms to be held. From your fullness we have received; from your fullness we turn now to share in the name of Christ. Amen.
— Beth Burton-Williams, Smithfield, NC
A LITANY FOR WEEK OF COMPASSION
Leader: Merciful Lord, from your fullness we have abundant life.
People: We experience the bounty of life in many forms, styles, and ways, but we know that all life is sacred and a gift from you.
Leader: We have watched the events of a world that often seem chaotic, frantic and precarious.
Left side: We learned of so-called “natural” disasters: floods in India and North Carolina; earthquakes in Turkey and tornadoes in Kansas and Oklahoma.
Right side: And in Central America people are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Mitch.
Leader: We have heard of wars being fought all around the globe.
Left side: We recall the brutal civil wars in Africa: Congo, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Right side: And in Kosovo and East Timor, aftermath of war still hovers as people struggle to rebuild. Here at home violent shootings at schools, playgrounds and even churches tear apart the fabric of our society.
Leader: Indeed, the world God created and gave us to tend has become something other than the Peaceable Realm. Never-theless, Christ’s Church stands firm, ready to respond to the misery and madness in our world.
People: Because of the blessings we have received, we know compassion and respond to the hurts and hopes of our world.
Leader: Through Week of Compassion we are especially aware of the many ways our resources, faith and caring can help make the world a different place.
People: We dedicate ourselves to lives of service, sharing the blessings we have received and serving others through Jesus Christ.
Unison: For we truly are the recipients of grace upon grace, and for this our hearts are forever grateful — through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
— Amy Gopp, Washington, D.C.
COMMUNION MEDITATION
When we come to this table it is neatly set in a way that focuses our attention on what brings us together.
The candle points to the light of God’s truth that shines into the darkness of our world.
The loaf and the cup remind us of the central events of the gospel — the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The utensils speak of our service to each other as God’s grace moves throughout the church. And that’s it.
Well, there is one other thing. There are these offering plates. But we keep them out of sight so the need to pay our bills and to relieve the suffering of others will not disturb our spiritual reverie.
Still, they are always there, just below the surface, just behind the scenes. Somebody had to provide the tomb, pay for the linen, buy the burial spices.
Thirty pieces of silver was the price of betrayal.
Expensive perfume was wasted in anticipation of his death.
His affirmation of the poor and his challenge to the rich made his death inevitable.
And church budgets and humanitarian assistance for the suffering are part of our experience of God’s salvation.
Religion that costs and grace that is free. . . they are so mixed together that it is hard to know where one leaves off and the other begins.
— Jim Crouch, Wilmington, DE.
BENEDICTION I
May you who know no hunger for food, but are hungry in other ways, go into the world and feed God’s family.
May you who do not know what it means to be a stranger, a refugee, but who are strangers in other ways here at home, go into the world and embrace all of God’s children.
May you who have never been inside a prison cell, but are imprisoned in other areas of your life, go into the world and set loose the chains of injustice that are crippling so many of our brothers and sisters.
And may you go into the world reveling in blessing and peace, confident of the grace upon grace we have received from the fullness of Christ. Amen.
— Amy Gopp, Washington, D.C.
BENEDICTION II
From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
May we go now from God’s house into God’s world — to share compassion with the suffering, to offer hospitality to the stranger, to bring hope to the downtrodden.
May we go to love and serve the Lord this day and all days, now and forever. Amen.