21st Century Worship Resources for Pentecost 16B

WHO
do you say that I am?
Am I only known through
words
debates
and thinking?

HOW
do you say that I am?
Do you use words
do you talk with your

HANDS
your deeds
your tears?

WHERE
do you say that I am?
In a whisper
or a SHOUT
in the parlor
or from the housetops?

Or do you bother to say it at all?

(Safiyah Fosua)

Call to Worship
(Based on Psalm 19)

One: If you listen
Many: You'll hear Heaven tell it.

One: If you listen
Many: You'll hear the Earth shout it.

One: If you listened long enough
Many: You'd know Day learned how to speak about it.

One: If you listened quietly enough
Many: You'd hear Last Night telling Tonight about it.

One: What would we hear?
Many: Tell us!

One: What would we hear?
Many: Tell us!

One: We'd hear all creation say
Many: God's ways are more precious than gold.

One: We'd hear all creation declare
Many: God's ways are sweeter than the honey in the honeycomb.

One: Now open your hearts and pray with all of creation.

All: Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

(Kwasi Kena)

Prayer for Wisdom
Based on Proverbs 1:20-33

Open our ears, dear God, to your wisdom. Let us not be like the people in Proverbs who could not hear your voice over the noise of the city or over the longings of their own souls. Help us to heed the wise teachers that you place in our midst and not despise their words. Open our ears, dear God, to your voice of wisdom -- guiding us around the pitfalls, leading us through green pastures. Teach us to listen for your voice and to refuse to accept a counterfeit. Open our ears, dear God, to Wisdom, that we might truly live for you. Amen.

(Safiyah Fosua)

The Rev. Dr. Kwasi I. Kena is a former staff member of Discipleship Ministries currently serving as Assistant Professor of Christian Ministry at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University. Kena is a clergy member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Safiyah Fosua is also a former Discipleship Ministries staff member. Dr. Fosua is a clergy member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference, currently serving as Assistant Professor of Congregational Worship at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.