PROPER 21
Worship
LECTIONARY WORSHIP AIDS
Series III, Cycle A
CALL TO WORSHIP
Exalt our Sovereign God, and extol God's name, the One who is holy and mighty, who loves justice and forgives our misdeeds.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God who is, God who acts, God who moves others to act, you are righteous, principled in all you do, considerate in all you seek to accomplish with others. Our sins give evidence of the evil that is still a part of our nature. Our actions are often unprincipled, based on self-interest and showing little concern for the rights and feelings of others. We make promises we have no intention of keeping, simply evading an honest declaration of our priorities and commitments. We make excuses that are transparent to almost everyone but ourselves. We are ashamed to acknowledge our vanity and rivalry with others. Forgive our inordinate pride, our undependable word, our uncertain service, for the sake of your humble, dependable, and obedient servant and son, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! God will hold innocent all who seek forgiveness of their misdeeds. Friends, believe the Good News. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Have the same love to one another. Look to each other's interests and not merely to your own. Have the same turn of mind and common care for unity like Jesus Christ.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Deliver us, gracious Savior, from the delusion that only scandalous sinners need to repent and believe, so that by acknowledging our imperfections, we may change our minds, and by believing more deeply, obey you more consistently. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Exalted Parent, humble and exalted Brother, shared Spirit, we rejoice in the story of Jesus of Nazareth. We revel in the mystery of his equality with you that he willingly abandoned to work as a slave to serve humanity's needs, to die as a criminal to free us from our sins, to rise to glory and the exaltation of a name that is more glorious than any other name. We praise you in the world's greatest music and in the simplest words of children. Receive our humble worship and sincere praise today and always. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
No service of ours is too humble to offer to you, suffering Servant, who having served in earthly humility, has returned to the place of heavenly honor. We offer you the best we can do. Amen.
PSALM 78:1-4, 12-16
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD,
and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt,
in the fields of Zoan.
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all night long with a fiery light.
He split rocks open in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
He made streams come out of the rock,
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
Exalt our Sovereign God, and extol God's name, the One who is holy and mighty, who loves justice and forgives our misdeeds.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God who is, God who acts, God who moves others to act, you are righteous, principled in all you do, considerate in all you seek to accomplish with others. Our sins give evidence of the evil that is still a part of our nature. Our actions are often unprincipled, based on self-interest and showing little concern for the rights and feelings of others. We make promises we have no intention of keeping, simply evading an honest declaration of our priorities and commitments. We make excuses that are transparent to almost everyone but ourselves. We are ashamed to acknowledge our vanity and rivalry with others. Forgive our inordinate pride, our undependable word, our uncertain service, for the sake of your humble, dependable, and obedient servant and son, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
DECLARATION OF GOD'S FORGIVENESS
Hear the Good News! God will hold innocent all who seek forgiveness of their misdeeds. Friends, believe the Good News. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
EXHORTATION
Have the same love to one another. Look to each other's interests and not merely to your own. Have the same turn of mind and common care for unity like Jesus Christ.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Deliver us, gracious Savior, from the delusion that only scandalous sinners need to repent and believe, so that by acknowledging our imperfections, we may change our minds, and by believing more deeply, obey you more consistently. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Exalted Parent, humble and exalted Brother, shared Spirit, we rejoice in the story of Jesus of Nazareth. We revel in the mystery of his equality with you that he willingly abandoned to work as a slave to serve humanity's needs, to die as a criminal to free us from our sins, to rise to glory and the exaltation of a name that is more glorious than any other name. We praise you in the world's greatest music and in the simplest words of children. Receive our humble worship and sincere praise today and always. Amen.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
No service of ours is too humble to offer to you, suffering Servant, who having served in earthly humility, has returned to the place of heavenly honor. We offer you the best we can do. Amen.
PSALM 78:1-4, 12-16
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD,
and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt,
in the fields of Zoan.
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all night long with a fiery light.
He split rocks open in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
He made streams come out of the rock,
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
