Heard of this Hope

Call to Worship

Children of God, are you listening? Have you noticed? God has planted seeds of hope among us.
We have heard of this hope!

Are you listening? Have you noticed? God nurtures hope among us, helping us bear the fruit of faithfulness in this world.
We seek this hope as we learn to live in faith.

Are you listening? Have you noticed? The hope of God’s good news forms you to love one another with the love of Christ.
We cling to this hope as we grow in love of God, self, neighbor, and all creation.

Children of God, come! Come, let us worship God who graciously offers us the gift of hope.
Come, let us worship God who empowers us to put our hope into faithful and loving actions!

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, January 2025.

Prayer for the Day

Holy God, we come together to worship,
a people who would like to think that we love you
with all our hearts and souls,
with all our might,

but there are so many other things in our lives
that clamor for our attention
that we often relegate you to Sundays
and Wednesdays,
and times when we want you to rescue us.

Most of us really do want you to be the one
in whom we live and move and have our being.
We really do want to listen to your voice
above all of the other voices in our lives.
But we get bogged down in the daily routine.
We forget who we are.
We forget who you are.
We forget what the church is supposed to be.

So here we are, gathered before you today,
with our human foibles
and our short attention spans,
asking that you would make yourself known to us,
that you would help us to recognize
the presence of the Holy,
that you would continue to challenge us,
inspire us, and make us into the people you want us to be.

Amen.

Adapted from Katie Cook, in Sacred Seasons, Pentecost/Ordinary Time 2000. Posted on Simple Living Works, http://simpleliving.startlogic.com/indexoth.php?place=archives/.

Articles/WorshipAltItems3.php. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2013/06/opening-invocation-for-ordinary.html.

Prayer of Confession

Gracious and Merciful God, your love is steadfast, and your mercy endures forever. Forgive us for not loving as you love. Forgive us for the ways and words we’ve used to oppress your people and help us to forgive those who’ve oppressed us. Forgive us for the deeds that we’ve done that have burdened instead of uplifted the hearts and minds of those we’ve encountered. Forgive us for silence during times of injustice and free us to rise and advocate for those who live under the leadership of unjust rulers, who live in a state of turmoil and depression. Help us to reconcile and make peace with one another. Help us to bear one another’s burdens and to be agents of your liberating love so that all of your people will be able to live justly. We confess our sins before you silently now, knowing that you are willing to able to cleanse and revive us through Christ’s resurrecting power, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Written by Stacey Cole Wilson, The Africana Worship Book, Year C (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008), 150.

Benediction

Children of God, remember: you are not alone! This hope you have heard is the hope that draws us together to co-create a world where hope becomes reality. Go now in the blessing of the Triune God, the Source and Sustainer of our hope, to share the love of God wherever you go. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, January 2025.