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For other song ideas click here.
Preparation for Worship
Songs: Ask yourself and the people who will be worshipping with you (kids included), “What are some of the songs we sing about following God’s call?” Play them on Spotify, sing them acapella, or create your own instrumental arrangement.
Bible: You will need a Bible to read from the scriptures. You can use this doc or your phone as well…but I’d recommend using an actual Bible.
This week’s liturgy is based on the following texts:
Exodus 3:1-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, Jeremiah 15:15-21 and Psalm 26:1-8, Romans 12:9-21, Matthew 16:21-28.
You can decide who will lead the different movements of this gathering. It would be great for every person to have a part.
Gathering
Gathering Words
In the Bible, in Matthew 18:20, the scripture says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.” We believe that the church is not a building. The church is made up of people. So, we have gathered here in the spaces in which we live to be the church. We will worship God together. We trust that God is here with us, and God is at work among us.
Call to Worship
Leader: Come, let us give thanks to God together,
All: for our God always keeps His promises!
Leader: Let us sing praises to God and tell of all of his wondrous works,
All: for our God always keeps His promises!
Leader: Let us tell of His presence among us,
All: for our God always keeps His promises!
Leader: Let us remember the miracles and all the wonderful things He had done,
All: for our God always keeps His promises!
Let us worship God together!
Song of Praise
Sing one song that focuses on God’s love and God’s call.
Some suggestions:
Praise the Lord Everyday (for kids)
For other song ideas click here.
Reading of the Psalm
The psalmist writes in Psalm 26 (CEB),
Establish justice for me, Lord,
because I have walked with integrity.
I’ve trusted the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, Lord; put me to the test!
Purify my mind and my heart.
3 Because your faithful love is right in front of me—
I walk in your truth!
4 I don’t spend time with people up to no good;
I don’t keep company with liars.
5 I detest the company of evildoers,
and I don’t sit with wicked people.
6 I wash my hands—they are innocent!
I walk all around your altar, Lord,
7 proclaiming out loud my thanks,
declaring all your wonderful deeds!
8 I love the beauty of your house, Lord;
I love the place where your glory resides.
Exhortation from the New Testament
Romans 12:9-21 (NRSV)
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Prayer of Preparation
Holy God,
You call us into a life that is not easy.
You challenge us to forgive, to love our enemies,
to bless those who curse us.
Grant us the patience and endurance to walk with You.
Give us ears to hear your voice calling us to live outside of the mold set for us by this world.
May we fully experience
Your love, grace and peace, and extend that same love, grace, peace to others.
In Your name we pray. Amen.
Listening
(The time of listening is a series of reading the scripture, re-telling the story, and paying attention to where God is stirring your hearts as you listen. Invite everyone to listen to the words of the scriptures and to be ready to re-tell the story. You may want to read/act out one or both of the following readings)
Hear the word of the Lord from Exodus 3:1-15 (NRSV)
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”
13 But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:
This is my name forever,
and this my title for all generations.
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16 (CEB).
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and legal experts, and that he had to be killed and raised on the third day. 22 Then Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him: “God forbid, Lord! This won’t happen to you.” 23 But he turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are a stone that could make me stumble, for you are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me. 25 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will find them. 26 Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? What will people give in exchange for their lives? 27 For the Human One[a] is about to come with the majesty of his Father with his angels. And then he will repay each one for what that person has done. 28 I assure you that some standing here won’t die before they see the Human One coming in his kingdom.”
Re-Telling
Let’s remember together what happened in this story. You may want to read/act out one or both of the following readings. What happened first? What happened next? (go around the circle and tell the story to each other. Try to remember as many details as possible.). Perhaps your group would like to act out this story…
Paying Attention
What part of this reading stood out to you? Why do you think that part stood out?
Let each person in the circle take a turn to wonder about something in this text…a word, a phrase, something that happened in the text, something that you’re thinking about… Start out by saying “As we read these scriptures, it made me wonder…”
How do the Old and New Testament readings relate to each other?
What will we carry into this week from this text?
How can we be praying this week?
Responding
Prayers of the People
Gracious God,
In love You created us,
and in love You sustain us, day after day.
So it is with confidence that we bring our prayers to You,
knowing that You hear us, and will respond.
We pray for the world around us,
for the many who continue to suffer and call out for help:
for those seeking justice;
for those caught up in violence;
for those picking up the pieces after Hurricane Laura;
for those desperate to find work to support their families. (pause)
We also pray for family and friends who are suffering:
those struggling physically or emotionally,
those facing challenges at home or at work;
those who are grieving. (pause)
God, You have called us to pray for our enemies;
to bless, rather than curse, those who deliberately seek to harm us.
We bring their names before You now—
those who have hurt us, physically or emotionally;
We ask You to bless them.
We pray for Your church around the world,
that it would be a living demonstration of Your coming kingdom:
God, we praise You for Your faithful love,
and for the mercy You have shown toward us.
Open our eyes to recognize Your presence in our lives.
Give us grace to hear Your call,
and courage to follow without hesitation,
knowing that Your way is the only way that leads to life.
As we pray the prayer you taught us to pray saying,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Sending
Benediction
Go out into the world to join God
in the work of love, of peace, of justice.
Take in the breath of life.
Know that you are always in the presence
of the Holy and Living God.
Closing Song
Living Room Liturgist 