How Can We Choose God?

REFLECTION
Faith is neither rational nor irrational. It is the courage to make a commitment to an
Other, human or divine. It is the determination to turn “ought” into “is”. It is the
willingness to listen to a voice not my own, and through hearing, find the strength to
heal a fractured world. It is truth made real by how I live.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Radical Then, Radical Now, Chapter 12

CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: People of God,

come with your questions
and your faith,
to follow the Way
of the resurrected Christ.
People: We come, seeking the faith
to live in ways that are
worthy of the Gospel.

Leader: Come to receive the grace of faith

to commit your lives
to the God at work in you.
People: In committing our lives to God,
we choose a vast mystery
beyond understanding.
Leader: In choosing God,
we come to know Christ
in the resurrection.
All: As we choose the God
who chooses us,
we ask for the power
of the mind of Christ in us.
LIGHTING THE ALTAR CANDLE
OPENING PRAYER
HYMN

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SILENCE
PRAYERS
CONFESSION
Leader: Holy One, we hear your call

to choose you in every moment of our lives.
People: Sometimes we lack the courage to choose you,
creating instead our own golden calves
out of wealth and our own hubris,
thinking that they will protect and console us.

Leader: God is with us,

around us and within us.

People: Help us as we recommit our lives to you,
so that your truth is made real by how we live.
Leader: Strengthen our commitment to you, Holy One.
All: Forgive us when we lose our determination
to fully embrace your hold on our lives
and to listen to your voice rather than our own.

INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE:
Leader: God’s grace is abundant. We are forgiven.
All: Amen.
THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE
INTERCESSION AND PETITION
COMMITMENT
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.
Forgive us for the hurt we have inflicted
and help us forgive those who have hurt us.
Give us strength and discipline

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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
COMMUNION
PREPARATION
Leader 1: This is the table of the heavenly feast,
the joyful celebration of the people of God.

Leader 2: We gather now as one body, joined around the table.
Here we celebrate God's presence among us,
united in Christ's spirit, broken and whole all at once.

All: Nourished and hungry, loved and loving,
sinner and forgiven, we make one circle
of knowing, believing, rejoicing, being,
as God lights and rests among us.

GREAT THANKSGIVING
Leader 1: Holy Source of all creation,

we give you thanks for the persistent presence of your love,
transforming “ought” to ‘is.”

People: We give you thanks for Jesus, the Christ,
who calls us to commit our lives
to being good news in the face of fear and chaos.
Leader 2: We give you thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit,
who keeps us moving together on the way of love.

All: We give you thanks for your church,

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where we are joined together in community,
to help bring healing to this fractured world.

BLESSING THE ELEMENTS
Leader 1: Christ invites everyone to eat the bread of life,
to drink the cup of the new covenant.
Leader 2: Jesus said, I am the bread of life.
You who come to me shall never hunger;
you who believe in me shall never thirst.

Leader 1: On the night he gave himself up, Jesus took bread,
and after giving thanks to God, broke it and said,
This is my body,
broken for the healing of the world.
Whenever you eat it, do so remembering me.
Leader 2: After supper, Jesus took the cup and said,
This is the cup of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for all.
Whenever you drink it, do so remembering me.

All: O Holy One, send down your Spirit
that these gifts of grain and grape,
and work of human hands
may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Unite us with Christ forever
and bring us with the whole creation
to your eternal realm.
SHARE THE ELEMENTS
Leader 1: The body of Christ, broken for all of us.
Feed on Christ in your hearts with thanksgiving.

Leader 2: The cup of the new covenant,
poured out for the healing of the world.
Drink deeply of it.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND DEDICATION
All: God of abundance and mercy,

we give joyful thanks
for your eternal love and healing presence
in our celebration of bread and cup.
Bless this Body of Christ
that we may attend faithfully to our call to be your servants,

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with each other and throughout the world. Amen.

SHARED REFLECTIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN
BENEDICTION
Leader: Be of good courage. Hold fast to what is good.

Render to no one evil for evil. Strengthen the fainthearted.
Support the weak. Help the afflicted. Honor all creatures.
Go forth to love and serve our God.

All: Amen.