Prayer As We Gather: Lord, through Isaiah you’ve declared our worship efforts bogus. Feigning a desire for closeness to you, we do whatever we want on the Sabbath. Our wealth is gained on the backs of migrant workers we disregard, yet we wonder why your Spirit seems absent from our lives. You implore us to share our bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into our house, in return for which you offer healing for our sin-sick souls and darkness-dispelling light. In this holy hour, help us earn the title you grant those who obey: Mender of Broken Walls. Amen.*(Inspired by Isaiah 58)
Call to Worship:
Those who honor the Lord are truly happy.
Their offspring will be blessed.
They shine in the dark for others who do right.
They are merciful, compassionate and righteous.
Those who lend generously are good people,
As are those who conduct their affairs with justice.
These sorts of people will never be shaken;
They won’t be frightened at bad news.
Their hearts are steady, trusting in the Lord.
Their hearts are firm, they are not afraid. (from Psalm 112, The Common English Bible)
Morning Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for apostle Paul’s assertion that proclaiming your good news requires not wise words but a demonstration of Holy Spirit. Your wisdom, so absent in “today’s leaders who are being reduced to nothing,” remains hidden to those unaware of your cruciform love on full display at Calvary. As we consecrate Megan, Thomas and Siangluai for deacon servant ministry, who knows what spiritual depths await them and all who are willing to heed the call of the Galilean who bids us follow, and who taught us to pray saying …*(Inspired by 1 Corinthians 2
Prayer of Confession: Forgive us, Lord, our utter failure to behave as the salt of the earth. Flatter than day-old beer, our passionless parroting of stale orthodoxy rarely rises to the level of inspiring witness. Should we be impeached on charges of following Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict us? We are more upset over no longer being number one in basketball than over Jesus’ warning that ignoring God’s commandments will earn us the title “Lowest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” What a mess we are! Have mercy, we pray. Amen.*(Inspired by Matthew 5
Assurance of Pardon: I have good news! Our capacity to be lowest in the Kingdom is mercifully counter-balanced by the hopeful tone Jesus posits, embedded in his stark insistence that we are in fact already salt and light, not merely potentially so. The issue is whether we embrace full saltiness and light-emanating status by obeying Jesus’ commands. Those who do, he promises, “will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Thanks be to God for such a matchless incentive!* (Inspired by Matthew 5)
Thought for an Epiphany Season: “There are many people who think being oneself means being spontaneous, giving way to one’s every whim. To act spontaneously is to act without thought, without judgment. It cannot therefore be said to involve choice. To live is to choose.” - Paul Tournier, Swiss Physician and Author