Liturgy
Love has its source in you,
Creator God.
It flows from you like an ocean
into a world as unyielding
as any shoreline cliff.
And like the ocean which batters, erodes
and wears away even the hardest stone,
your love persists,
finds cracks and inlets
in hardened hearts
and flows inside and works a miracle.
Who would think that water
was more powerful than granite,
love mightier
than the hardest heart.
Thank you, Creator God
for the power of your love.
We celebrate and worship
in the name of the Father,
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Congregational Prayer
Let us pray together as a community.
We gather today to confess what we believe.
We believe in Jesus the Christ.
Yet Easter has come and gone;
the lilies have faded and fallen,
the crowds have slipped away.
We believe in the life and teachings of Jesus.
Real life has crept into our worship;
sharing funerals for our families and friends,
saying goodbye to choirs for the season.
We believe that Jesus was betrayed, he suffered and died.
We begin to wonder if it really matters;
does our faith really affect our lives?
does God make a difference in the real world?
We believe in the Resurrection,
that suffering and even death are not the final word,
that God can and will triumph even over death.
We believe in the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Reflection
What areas of your life is God absent from?
Are there things in our lives that we are rationalizing or justifying when they’re clearly sin?
Benediction
Go out now as God’s chosen witnesses
to testify that Christ is risen
and that we are raised with him.
Set your minds on the things of God
and do not be afraid
for your life is safe with Christ in God.
May God raise you from all that would entomb you.
May Christ Jesus be your life.
And may the Holy Spirit empower you for all that is good.
Go in peace and live the church
in the name of the Father, of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go in peace and live the church.
See you throughout the week.
[Photo by Evita Weed @ Flickr]