Call to Worship

The psalmist declares, “Lord, you have searched me and known me.” Will you open yourselves to be searched by God?
Search us, O God, and know our hearts.

God searches you, knows you, and loves you, and invites you to search out God in return. Will you seek the heart of God?
We will search you, O God, to know your heart.

The Triune God who creates all and knows all is revealed in running rivers and fluttering butterflies, in warm sunshine and the smell of the earth. Will you pay attention?
We will pay attention, O God, to your fingerprint of love on all of creation.

Open our hearts today to encounter your love, holiness, and glory that create and sustain all that was, is, and will be.
We come today to enter the dance of the Trinity, the all-knowing Creator and Sustainer of life.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2024.

Prayer for the Day

A Prayer of Thanksgiving (Ps. 139)

God, we cannot escape your love. We can find no place to hide. You search us out wherever we may be. Your love is like a mother’s blanket, protecting us wherever we go. Your love shields us from evil. We may travel to the moon or to the depths of the ocean: your love is there. We may think ourselves to greater levels of sophistication: your love is there. We may fall in the pits of sin: your love is there.

Thank you, Mother, for steadfast mercy.

Thank you for being there, wherever we may be. Amen.

Written by John H. Danner in Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship, Updated, ed. Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2012), 277.

For use in worship services, include the following permissions statement:

Prayer of Confession

I come before God knowing that “confession is good for the soul.” But the thought of opening up before you is overwhelming. At times, I cannot bear to remember how often I have gone astray. At other times, I cloud my memory, justifying what I know is wrong in your sight. I cannot trust myself to confess my sins as often as I should. I need you to help me to be honest. So, like the psalmist, I say, “Search me Lord.” You know me. You know my thoughts. You know where I have been and where I am going. Search me, Lord; and if there is any wicked way in me, deliver me and lead me into righteousness.

Offer prayers of silent confession.

Receive these words of assurance. The Lord is slow to anger and quick to forgive. The cleansing power of the Holy Spirit is here today. Receive God’s forgiveness and the Holy Spirit’s cleansing. Live now in the newness of life afforded children of God. Amen.

Adapted from Kwasi I. Kena, The Africana Worship Book, Year A, ed. Valerie Bridgeman Davis and Safiyah Fosua (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2006), 148 and 156.

Benediction

As we prepare to leave this place, turn to a neighbor or, if you are at home, look in a mirror. Now, look into the eyes of the person in front of you and say, “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.” May this truth be a blessing to you this week: the Creator who knows you better than you know yourself fearfully and wonderfully made you just as you are. Let us go now to speak truth, share love, and recognize the Creator’s fingerprint in all of creation. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2024.