GATHERING 

ENTRANCE

REFLECTION
...in summer there is
everywhere the luminous sprawl of gifts,
    the hospitality of the Lord and my
inadequate answers as I row my beautiful, temporary body
    through this water-lily world.

Mary Oliver, from "Six Recognitions of the Lord,"
 in Thirst, p. 28


CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader:    The Holy One
spreads a luminous sprawl of gifts before us,
filling our senses with beauty and grace.

People:    Let us enter God's wondrous world.

Leader:    The Holy One clothes the earth in green,
scattering leaves and flowers and seeds
with wild abandon.

People:    Let us rejoice in the abundance of life.

Leader:    The Holy One invites us into the peace of Christ.

All:    Let us worship the God who calls us.

 
INVOCATION

HYMN

SILENCE

PRAYERS
COMMON CONFESSION
Leader:    Holy God of all Creation,
we have known both the poverty and the riches of life.

Voice 1:    We celebrate and share our strengths,
but hide the pain of sickness and injury.

 Voice 2:    We love the joy that comes in close relationships,
but hate the work it takes to keep them growing.

All:            Too often we cannot accept
            that living in your holy fullness isn't always easy.

INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE
Leader:     The God of all creation is with us
in the pain as well as in the joy,
sustaining us in ways we can't anticipate.
We live in the fullness of God.

All:            Amen.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

UNISON PRAYER
All:            O Holy One, we come today
            to claim our relationship with you.
            We pray for the commitment to grow together,
            sharing the gifts you give us with others
            here and in the wider world. 

            Give us strength and discipline
            to nurture our relationship with You;
            to care for every part of Your Creation;
            to foster justice and be in solidarity with those in need;
            to work to end all war, and violence, and discord;
            and to respond joyfully when you call,
            freely giving our selves as you have shown the way.

            We open our hearts to you and your Creation
            in the name of Jesus, who is the Christ. 
            Amen.

HYMN

THE WORD
SCRIPTURE
SERMON
SILENT REFLECTION

OFFERING

SHARED REFLECTIONS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HYMN

BENEDICTION
Leader:    Go now into the world.
Take time to feel the earth,
smell a flower,
watch a bird.

Live in the fullness of God's embrace.
Be joyful, refreshed and fueled by God's abiding love. 

People:    Amen