Liturgical Resources

Call to Worship

Beloved, this is the core of our faith: nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Thanks be to God!

God’s never-ending love surrounds us and calls us, assuring us that through God’s love, all things will work together for God’s good purposes.

Thanks be to God!

God’s never-breaking love empowers us in the face of temptation, distress, division, and scarcity to hold onto our faith and work together for the flourishing of all God’s good creation.

Thanks be to God!

Come, let us worship God who is Love, trusting that through joy and sorrow, happiness and despair, contentment and pain, Love will carry us through.

Thanks be to God who forms, connects, and guides us through Love. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2026.

Opening Prayer

God, Your extravagant love has called us together. Long before we even knew You, You already knew us, and had chosen us to be part of Your own family— sisters and brothers with our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. What amazing love You have shown toward us! And so we come before You with praise and thanksgiving, offering You the worship of our hearts and lives, and opening ourselves to the prompting and leading of Your Holy Spirit. Receive our worship—our praise and prayers and offerings— through the intercession of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. May the time we spend here in Your presence bring honour and glory to Your Name. Amen.

Posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2011/07/opening-prayer-romans-826-34.html.

Prayer of Confession

Creator of all things, who rejoiced in your creation at the beginning of the world; forgive us our sins of greed, selfishness, and carelessness by which we daily damage the beauty to which we have become insensitive. By war and violence, we destroy families and their means of livelihood. We cut down great forests that are the homes of people, animals, and birds. We ill-treat our farm animals in the race to outstrip our rivals in food production, yet still leave millions of people starving. We pollute our air and water with the excess of our greed, without thought for the disposal of what we waste. For all this, we ask not only forgiveness, but also the power to turn away from our headlong course of destruction, and instead to share in your constant work of creation in preparation for the time when our kingdom comes to earth as it is in heaven. This we ask through Jesus Christ, our Savior, who became part of your creation and gave his life for the whole world.

Silent prayer

Receive this good news: There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the power of sin that leads to death. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
Glory to God! Amen.

Adapted from Helen Lamb (Ireland) found in Prayers Encircling the World: An International Anthology (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), 148.

Benediction

Go now in the blessing and assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God. May this good news inspire us all to take up the hard work of building community and acting for the flourishing of all our neighbors, because we do not act on our own—we act on the power of God’s never-ending love. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2026.