Call to Worship: Resurrected Senses (1 Cor. 2:9-12)

Call to Worship: Listening in the Spirit

L: Lord, we come as your people this morning. You have created in us new life in your son, Jesus by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit.

C: Lord, we grew and matured, were taught and trained, to taste, smell, feel, see and hear to many wonderful things, but they were not you. It is our habit to notice these, so that when you speak now, in our new life, your words are easily overlooked and drowned out. Worse, we often desired it so. Forgive us.

L: We cannot express the connection we now have in you. "Taste and see that the Lord is good"? We lack the vocabulary.  “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. (1 Cor. 2: 9-10)

C: Lord, you have placed us in Christ--united with him and granted fellowship with the Father, Son and Spirit. "For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us." (1 Cor 2:11-12)

A: Lord, you have brought us back into life and communion with you. You deserve credit for it all as we see in the character, works and reputation of the Messiah, Jesus. Amen.

Call to Worship: God's Chosen People (Colossians 3:12-17)

Call to Worship: God's Chosen People

L1: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

L2: Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

C:  Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

L1: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

L2: Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

C: Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Amen

Call to Worship: May None of God's Works Keep Silent

From a 3rd century Christian prayer found written on shards of pottery, discovered in Oxyrhynchus in Egypt:

May none of God's wonderful works keep silence, night or morning.
Bright stars, high mountains, the depths of the seas, sources of rushing rivers-
May all of these break into song as we sing to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
May all the angels in the heavens reply: Amen! Amen! Amen!
Power, praise, honor, eternal glory to God, the only Giver of grace.
Amen! Amen! Amen!

- A. Hamman, ed. Early Christian Prayers (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1961), p. 69 as cited in M. Noll, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Baker Academin, 2012), p. 39

Call to Worship: Shout for Joy (Psalm 66:1-9, 16-20)

Call to Worship (Psalm 66)

C: Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name

L: Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind! He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot—come, let us rejoice in him.

C: He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations—let not the rebellious rise up against him. Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.

L: Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart,  the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

Call to Worship: God of Genius (Proverbs 25:2)

Call To Worship: God of Genius (Prov. 25:2)

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. - Proverbs 25:2

Our God, you are the genius in the room. You did not wake up this morning, surprised, and say, "I wish I'd thought of that." You are not stumped. You, whose words sparked the galaxies, orbited electrons around a nucleus, bloomed fields of flowers and animated every human heart, are full of ideas.

Our God, you lead us in a life of discovery as you beckon us from the other side of today, saying, "Come and see! Come and see! Isn't this amazing?" You know the end from the beginning, you know the answer before the question, you know the solution before the problem, you know the house before the plans or foundation, you know the feast before the grape is planted and the grain is sown and you know us.

Our God, yes, you know us. Fragile as we are, we cannot know it all, yet you grant us the portion that we need at the right time-for hope and not despair. We search you out and we find that you are good, and you are strong, and you care.

Amen.

Alternate ending:

Lord forgive us when we get consumed by the things of this world that fight for our love and our passion. As our eyes are open wide and on you, grant us the privilege of your world view, and may your kingdom be what wakes us up and lays us down.[1]


[1] Lose My Soul, tobyMac (Portable Sounds, 2007), Toby McKeehan, Christopher Stevens, Michael Ripoll