leadinginworship

Coming Coldness Congregational Prayer

Creator God,
thank you that you order the change of the seasons.
Thank you for the great upheaval that is fall.
Billions of trees dropping every leaf.
Birds heaving themselves across oceans to warmer continents.
Animals burrowing, amphibians tunnelling, everyone going deep
to escape the coming coldness.
All of this orchestrated by you.
Be with us in these changing times.
We pray for people without shelter,
or who have to choose between being warm and being fed.
Give workers in social service agencies patience and compassion.
Give politicians in government the will to help.
Open our hearts to help our neighbours.
We think of people we know who are sick with colds and flus,
or coping with longer term illnesses:
bring healing to their bodies.
And there are many here who are grieving who need your presence,
they have said goodbye to someone dear and their soul is aching
(we think especially of...)
And yet right in the midst of hard times you send new life and new love. 
Thank you for babies who turn our lives upside down in good ways,
(we give thanks especially for...)
We pray for parents of young children as they navigate
the changes of childhood...give their love strength in the midst of tiredness,
as they face a million small important decisions.
In this season of growing darkness bring us together as a community,
neighbour helping neighbour, each looking out for each.
As we fall into winter,
blanket us with your presence.
Draw us deeper into your love.
In this long season, help us sing your songs, songs of joy and protection.
We pray this in the name of Jesus, our Saviour, Amen

Constant Calling Congregational Prayer

Great God:
Thank you for the constant call we hear from you every day.
The wind whispering around our ears,
the birds singing to us from the trees,
rain pinging on the window,
the good earth inviting our steps.
We hear that call again and again,
through kind hands and warm hearts around us.
Open our ears to your call, 
which is as expansive as the world,
and as particular as a poor man walking a dusty road
to a cross on Calvary.
Like him, help us to love, not just in word, but in deed:
love for our neighbours who are hard to love,
love for newcomers in our community,
love for people who are cast out by others.
Forgive us for the times we have failed to share your love,
choosing to hoard what is freely given, 
fearful that we have limited resources, limited time...we're too tired.
Thank you that even then, your consoling voice calls us.
Help us to respond with cheerful hearts as we do your work.
Strengthen those among us who face heavy burdens,
who live with pain; physical, emotional, spiritual.
Holy Spirit, bind us together as a community
to sing your chorus of love faithfully, heartily.
Multiply your call in us and through us.
In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Spring of Life Congregational Prayer

Great God,
this week we have been witnesses
to the power of resurrection;
slow motion explosions of green
soundlessly changing our landscape,
blossoms blossoming pink,
tulips tuliping their brilliant colours,
opening their mouths to the warmth of the sun.
We find ourselves opening up too in these May days,
opening our windows,
turning our faces upward,
breathing deeply.
The fragrance of spring permeates our world,
and we give you thanks for the blessing of life renewed.

We pray for our government;
for our mayor ___________and our local leaders,
as they debate issues, and make decisions
about new initiatives and new program.
Help them to make decisions that benefit all citizens,
particularly those who are marginalized and voiceless.
We pray for our Prime Minister _______________
and our MP [MLA]_____________,
especially as they make decisions
about foreign aid and foreign policy;
that they could sow seeds of peace.

We are mindful this week that even as spring comes to Canada,
in ___________ they are facing a natural disaster
which has brought heartbreak and destruction.
Comfort the bereaved, give strength to the rebuilders.
Open the hearts of the world as we contribute to relief.
Sustain the [international relief organizations you support] as they deal with this crisis,
so that they could continue to provide help in your name.

We lift up those we know with health issues, especially ___________.
We need your healing power for these dear ones.
We also pray this morning for those in the spring of life,
who are expecting new babies,
that you would give them patience and health, and safe deliveries.

Forgive us for the times this week we have been too overwhelmed to act,
too selfish to look beyond ourselves,
locked in a winter of self-preoccupation with our own business.
Bring new life to our primary relationships.
For those who are married, renew our vows of constancy,
rekindle love so that we can truly cherish one another.
Give us new strength and new patience as we
go about our work of caregiving for children.

Help our congregation to be an incubator of hope,
a blessing in our community, and in our city [region].
We want to join with you in your kingdom work,
as your hope grows,
pregnant with possibility,
ripe with promise.
In the name of the resurrected Jesus we pray,
Amen

Beginner Call to Worship

Our call to worship is from Colossians 1:18-20:
Jesus Christ is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have first place in everything. 
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  
and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Let’s pray:  

Jesus, we come to worship today
beginners in the school of beginning.
You are the firstborn of the dead,
harbinger of hope in despair,
bringer of light after a long season of darkness.
Begin a new thing in us today,
new ways of thinking,
new ways of living,
new ways of being a reconciling community.
We pray this together
as people of peace,
as a people longing for peace, your peace,
peace that passes understanding. Amen.

Great Connector Congregational Prayer

Creator God,
thank you that we are a connected people.
We are connected in ways
other generations could never have imagined;
connected with wires and radio waves,
fibre optic cables and the internet,
connected with roads and train tracks
and airline flightplans.
We are more connected with each other
than at any other time in history and yet…
something isn’t right.
Sometimes we are overwhelmed,
there are too many people to connect with.
And we are so frantic in our drive to be connected,
that we neglect the elemental connection
with those right in front of us,
friend and stranger whose eyes try to meet us
while we stare at our screens.
Open our eyes and hearts to the connections
you would have us pursue.

Thank you for placing us on planet earth,
a world where we are inextricably connected.
We breathe the air with other creatures,
we walk the same earth, we return to dust like them.
Help us to revel in this global family life,
to nourish it, to protect it, to steward it.

God of grace, there are places in the world
where the disconnect between people
is so deep and so wide, we don’t know what to do with it.
Places with walls, like Palestine and Israel, Gaza.
Places with barbed wire and bomb craters like Afghanistan.
Places with factions that don’t want to talk--like Syria.
Places in our own homes and communities
where we feel like we’re speaking across a great divide.

There are people in our community
who are living in the land of sickness,
the land of great pain, the land of depression.
They feel separation and estrangement from life as they knew it.
Help us to reach out, to offer your love,
to be practical in our efforts to comfort.

You are the Great Connector,
you brought this great world into being.
Re-create us in your image.
Fill us with your uniting Spirit.
This is what we’re praying, in the name of Jesus,
who came to connect us with you forever. Amen.

Amazing Congregational Prayer

Thank you God for this amazing world,
that is both diverse and complex.
Thank you for a world that includes snowy tundra and desert,
that includes rocky mountains and tropical beaches,
that includes icy lakes and warm oceans,
that includes cold winds and warm breezes.
Thank you that the world is not all the same.
Thank you for its beauty and our place in it.

Thank you for our amazing families,
that are both diverse and complex
You know our relationships inside out,
you know that we have family we love,
family we tolerate, family we can hardly stand.
Give us patience with our families this week.
When we would count the ways we have been neglected,
teach us to remember that we too overlook others.
When we would keep track of hurtful words,
call to mind the thoughtless words we have spoken.
When we would itemize the imperfections of our family members,
reveal to us our own shortcomings.
We need Jesus to show us the way,
giving us a love for our families
as deep as the need for love within ourselves.

Thank you for our amazing congregation
that is both diverse and complex.
Thank you for all who work so hard to make this place tick.
Thank you for those who teach children and youth and adults,
serve meals, donate money, clean sidewalks, arrange flowers
Thank you for those who pray, who work on committees,
handle our finances, practice music and hospitality,
share stories, clean up, visit the sick, play instruments
and attend our services.
Thank you for all the gifts you`ve given
and the way they are used to build up this body of Christ.  

Thank you for the amazing way you work in our world,
in diverse and complex ways that we can hardly understand.
Thank you for the role you give our congregation and our families,
sowing seeds, being salt and light everywhere we go.
We pray especially today for those we know who are sick….
Our hearts are heavy with the story in the news this week [name story]…
you know how peace was broken and how it can be healed.
We call on your amazing power to renew, to restore, to rejuvenate.

Bless our congregational meeting this Sunday,
we want it to be a good time of community sharing and visioning.
May the words we hear(d) today from scripture
speak to us about who you want us to be this year,
in this time and this place.
We pray this in the name of Jesus our Saviour, Amen.

Mennonite Offering Prayer

Lord, let our congregation be a witness to you:
             immersed in scripture,
             constant in prayer,
             joyful in worship,
             generous in giving.
             A loving, supportive community
             reaching out to those in need.
             Accept these gifts we offer, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Summer Congregational Prayer

Our souls magnify the Lord.
Our souls amplify the goodness of God--
we take a good close-up look at all our blessings.

Thank you for plants.
For the deliciousness of fresh lettuce
and the sharp tang of dill,
but also for their beauty, their leafy wonder,
their greenness,their fragrance.
Thank you for the miracle of growth,
for sun and rain which has made them grow
and for the mysteries of photosynthesis.
Creation at work at a molecular level,
converting energy from the sun and carbon dioxide
into organic compounds that we call food,
that we eat, that sustains our life.
Thank you God for plants!

We magnify your goodness,
and take a good close-up look at all our blessings.
Thank you for our families,
for the companionship of people who have known us over time.
Thank you for old uncles, for young grandchildren, for siblings and in-laws.
Thank you for the variety of personalities in our life,
the way they challenge us, change us, endear themselves to us.
Love at work at the everyday level,
converting our everyday world into an ordered world,
filled with harmonies and disharmonies,
a symphony of relationship.

We magnify the Lord, and proclaim your lordship over our broken world.
Give us eyes to see how you are tending to that brokenness,
how you would use us to address poverty in our own community,
how you would use us to address loneliness in our own community,
how you would use us to address racism in our own community.
We proclaim you Lord over our lives,
forgive us for the times where we have gone our own way,
narrowing our vision to only our own interests.
We have neglected the work that you have for us.

Help us as a church to be clear about our mission here,
faithful followers of Jesus, together,
working to bring your peace.
Show us how to magnify, amplify, glorify your name
in all we say and do this week.
We pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

Body Congregational Prayer

Thank you for the miracle of our bodies;
for breath that fills us,
blood that circulates,
synapses that spark,
microscopic particles exchanging in good order
everything working together in harmony.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
 
As creatures, we are vulnerable,
we have weaknesses and sicknesses.
Creator God, we need your healing presence:
when we have symptoms that are unexplained
and we wonder, “What does this mean?”:
bring healing, bring peace.
When we live with chronic pain
and we cry, “How will I get through this day?”:
bring healing, bring peace.
When the road to healing is so long,
and we are doubtful, saying, “I don’t think I can do this”:
bring healing, bring peace.
When we look for answers,
and we ask, “Why is this happening to me?”
Bring healing, bring peace.

We pray for your body, the Church,
that our congregation could be salt and light
in our community and in our world.
Grant us today;
your courage to fill us,
your power  circulating in us,
your hope sparking in us;
your community communing in good order.
And when we argue,
and we do argue,
show us how to do this well,
to be passionate, yet loving,
committed, yet humble enough to change our minds.
Help us to model our life together
on Jesus Christ, who showed us
how everything is knit together for good.
It is in his name we pray, Amen.

Breathing Thankfulness Call to Worship

God of all creation, our chief end
is to glorify you,
and enjoy you forever.
Our deep delight is in your presence,
our fondest thoughts are of you,
our strongest longing is for your house.
In this hour of worship,
help us to become who we are meant to be--
a community that breathes thankfulness,
voicing your praise in all we do.   Amen.

Mutiny on the Disciple Ship

Getting on board the disciple ship
was not what I expected.
I imagined clear sailing,
Jesus at the helm,
the congregation a happy crew
learning the ropes together. 

Back then, I didn’t know how close quarters
can sometimes drive us
to gnawing on the ties that bind.
Conflicts rolling over us like sea billows.
Doctrines, finances, personalities,
all these loomed large
until they were dwarfed by
a tsunami of debate on inclusion and exclusion.
The wind came from every direction,
and we either cut or lost the anchor somewhere.
It was a dark and stormy night,
and though the call was for
“All hands on deck”,
we were tossed over like Jonah.
Adrift on the sea, we tread water,
looking for a whale of a solution. 

Imagine our surprise when Jesus appears
walking on this wind-swept sea.
Looking at both the overthrown
and the throwers-over,
he throws out the one-word life-line:
“Come.”

Holy responsive call to worship

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory. [Isaiah 6:3 NRSV]
The Lord of hosts is with us.
Let us lift up our hearts!
We lift them up to the Lord!
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!
It is a good and joyful thing to give God thanks and praise!
Let us pray:
Holy God,
we come together as your people
searching for sacred space,
longing to be cherished,
craving a real connection.
In this hour of worship
let thankfulness sink deep
and joy spring up.
We lift our hearts and souls and minds
to the God of our creation,
for we are wholly yours
now and forever. Amen. 

The gathered congregation's call to worship

Call the congregation,
assemble the people,
join together in worship to God.
We long to be made holy
through the Spirit
who sanctifies us in Jesus’ name.
We dedicate this hour to God,
and to God's glory. 

Let’s pray:
Here we are God!
We’ve come from our week
filled with many things.
Some are filled with joy and excitement;
others with sorrow and despair.
Some are filled with energy,
others are filled with weariness.
Some are filled with love for you,
others wonder where you are,
for they feel far from you.
We are the gathered congregation,
we lay ourselves before you
with all the honesty we can muster.
We give you what we are;
create in us clean hearts.
Fill us with your Spirit in this hour of worship,
so we can be made holy
to serve you wholly.  Amen.

Kindred Spirit

I want someone to love me just as I am,
someone who calls me when I need calling,
hugs me when I need hugging,
cries with me when I am crying,
laughs with me when I am laughing,
someone who dances with me
and matches my walk stride for stride.
I want a companion who sits companionably,
watching the world go by with me,
happy to be quiet or silly or thoughtful
as the moods chase us together.
Whether they live near or far,
I know they are with me in heart,
my bosom buddy, my kindred spirit. 

God of great gifts,
grant that I may not so much seek to have kindred spirits
as to be a kindred spirit.
Give me ears to hear the needs of those around me,
arms to hold them when they need holding,
eyes to see their pain or their joy,
and a heart to feel it.
God grant that I may not so much seek
to be comforted as to comfort,
to be loved as to love,
to be enjoyed as to enjoy,
to be thought of, as to think of others.
And most of all help me know
that You are the Kindred Spirit
whose love we can count on,
time in and time out, time after time.

 

Crossroads Offering Prayer

Every time we come to the moment of offering,
it’s a crossroads.
There is an inner struggle between selfishness and generosity,
a pull between fear of the future and belief in God’s providence.
We give our offering this morning, Lord,
stepping out in faith down the road of grace.
We do this together, as your people,
called and sent to be a blessing for all the world.
In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

True home Call to Worship

Our call to worship is from Isaiah 49 (The Message, by Eugene Peterson)

"Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore?
But even if mothers forget,  I'd never forget you—never.
Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands.
The walls you're rebuilding are never out of my sight."

Thank you, God, that worship is always our true home.
Thank you that it is here that we are welcomed,
here that we can show our true selves
and be truly accepted and loved for who we are.
Help us in this hour to rest in your love,
in the presence of our church family,
children of God, together.

God of Gardens

God of gardens,
you are the great Cultivator,
growing faith  for the ages.
You aren’t picky about the size of the harvest.
You rejoice in the vast prairie field,
one crop from horizon to horizon,
just as you rejoice in the tiny plant
breaking through the inner city cement crack.
You carefully tend the tenderest of plants,
taking deep delight in burgeoning beauty.
Under the light of your gaze,
faith breaks out in different colours
and different stripes
all over the wide world.
You aren’t threatened by new cultivars
that change through the generations;
you’ve grafted in new strains
cross-breeding for hardiness and vigour.

We come on the scene,
eager gardeners,
anxious to work till kingdom come.
We long for and then write gardening manuals.
We outline what is acceptable and unacceptable,
and what should never be tolerated.
We come to work with books in hand,
ready to raise up something from nothing.
We’re shocked and even a bit dismayed to find faith
growing wild and strong
even before we arrive.
We don’t know what to make of this faith,
undomesticated by us.
You tour us around, smiling broadly,
remembering the lavish generosity
of those who planted so others could harvest.

God, reveal to us the mystery of faith
in the eyes of a child, wide with amazement
as the petal of each new day unfolds.
Reveal to us the work of faith
in the hands of our grandparents,
calloused from decades of labour.
Reveal to us the fundamentals of faith
in the harvest of righteousness
you are growing in the earth today.
Help us to see the harvest
not as something to be owned and controlled
but as something to be celebrated,
pressed down, shaken together, running over.
Help us to see that we are the newly planted,
and give us humility as we grow
into good gardeners in this your garden of life. Amen

The Fights of our Lives: A Poem of Confession

God, we invite you into the fights of our lives;               
fights with the ones we love the most,
our brothers and sisters, our partners and parents, our children.
Despite all our promises and hopes to honour and cherish,
we drop the ball and all hell breaks loose.
Words explode like grenades on the home front.
“You never,” “You should,” “You always.”
“I’m sick and tired of,” “Not this again,” “That’s it.”
Anger spews out of us,
fear and rage rumble inside.
We know how this plays out,
and it’s not going to be pretty.
God, you are the Referee who calls a time-out.
You’ve seen every move, followed every play;
the blood, sweat and tears are all too familiar.
At first we pray fervently,
trying to get you into our corner.
“Father, there are snakes and vipers,
and look at all the foul things done against me!”
We become aware of your eyes on us.
It dawns, slowly, that you have beloved children
on each team here.
With firm patience, you explain the rules again.
“No hitting.  Play fair.  Love one another as I have loved you.”
Jesus, help us review and remember.
Be with us as we take a deep breath
and enter again into the game You are calling—
a match made on earth as it is in heaven.

A Singing Call to Worship

Thank you God for your song, which we are invited to sing.

Thank you for all the parts you’ve made for the song;

soprano, alto, tenor, bass.

Thank you for the children’s part and the senior’s part,

thank you for the youth part and the part for middle agers,

thank you for the crazy baby descant

that we all love to hear each Sunday morning.

We are singing your song today:

help us to sing true and clear,

listening for your voice in our ears,

hearing you in the voices all around us.  Amen.

Sanctuary Prayer

I weave a circle of prayer around this sanctuary

Protect, dear God, this space from sin.

Let evil thoughts be dropped in the parking lot

along with petty quarrels and all bitterness.

Let selfishness be relinquished on the steps

and pride be renounced at the threshold.

Let quarrelling be left at the door

and all hard feelings be hung up in the cloakroom.

Help us enter this hour of worship simply,

as children, eager to meet you here.

 

I weave a circle of prayer around this sanctuary.

Equip, dear God, this space for worship.

Let love be present in every handshake

and every meeting of eyes.

Let spirits be open to your presence,

and let our hearts be eager to feel your embrace.

Let music touch our deepest chords

and let our prayers be the melody we hum as we go.

Let us leave this hour of worship carrying no baggage,

only the blessings of your sacred congregation.