Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Pentecost +25
Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17
Psalm 127
Call to Worship (adapted from Ps. 127, The Message)One: We come, giving thanks to God!
Many: As God’s people, we know if God doesn’t build the house,
One: the builders only build shacks.
Many: If God doesn’t guard the city,
One: the night security guard might as well nap.
Many: Together, we offer our praise, knowing
One: it’s useless to rise early and go to bed late,
and work our worried fingers to the bone.
Many: But with God, we can build beauty, know security,
One: and receive the rest God gives to those he loves!
All: So let us worship God!
Opening Prayer
Merciful God,
some of us come this morning having worked our worried fingers to the bone.
Some of us yearn for rest.
Some of us come filled with fear, or struggling with anxiety.
Renew in us a sense of confidence that you DO bring beauty, provide security, and offer us deep “shalom”/peace/rest.
May the reading of scripture,
the proclamation of Good News,
our voices raised in songs of praise
all work together to provide confidence in you, and
in your desires for us and for this world. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship
Mark and Luke both include the story of Jesus, the disciples, and the offering given by a crowd. Some of the people came with large gifts, offered out of their abundance.
But Jesus also saw a woman he described as a “poor widow”.
He was able to see she offered two of the smallest coins – about what a worker would be paid for ten MINUTES of work.
Today I invite you to answer this question: what would Jesus surmise if he were able to see what you brought for our morning offering?
In our congregation we go to great lengths to make it difficult or impossible
for others to see what we give, or whether we give.
But, if Jesus could see, what would his response be for the disciples?
Today, let’s consider how Jesus might respond, and how we might change
our offering if we were clear this is one way we show our intention to live as
followers of Jesus.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Generous God, you continue to pour out good gifts for us. Thank you for the abundance you so freely share. Help us decide and then ACT as full followers of Jesus, freely offering our whole lives back to the One who first loved us. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
In worship today we’ve been reminded of the poor widow, who offered all she had: “her whole life”.
Can you imagine?
As we come to this Table, I invite you to imagine each of us, and all of us
standing before Jesus, the One who put everything he had on the line,
his whole life.
When he could have diverted, and gone the other direction,
he “set his face toward Jerusalem”.
When he could have walked out of the Garden and left,
he stayed to be identified by the kiss of his betrayer.
When he could have rallied the disciples to fight for his life,
he walked alone to Calvary.
So, let’s remember.
Remember what we know of that last supper,
when Jesus invited his followers to “take and eat”.
Remember what we know of Jesus on the cross,
and his words, “Father, forgive them.”
Remember the empty tomb,
and his promise to his dis-believing disciples: “I am going before you”.
Jesus’ whole life, offered so we, and many, might have eternal and abundant life. Come, for the table is set, and you’re invited!
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