We Purify in Hope

By Kwasi Kena and Safiyah Fosua

We Will Witness

A Call to Worship for Luke 24:48
(Kwasi Kena)

“You Are Witnesses of these things” Luke 24:48 (NRSV).

Leader: “Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.” (Micah 6:1)

People: Mountains and hills are God’s witnesses.

Leader: Isaiah prophesied, “The mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12b)

People: Hills rejoice, and trees applaud our God.

Leader: Jesus said, “I tell you, if these (disciples) were silent, the stones would shout out.” (Luke 19:40)

People: Even stones trumpet God’s praise.

Leader: And what about us?

People: And what about us?

Leader: What will we do?

People: What will we do?

Leader: What will we do for the God who breathed life into Adam, life into dry bones, and life into our congregation?

People: We will be God’s witnesses.

Leader: Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

People: We will pray.

Leader: The apostle Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.” (Romans 1:16)

People: We are not ashamed of the gospel. We are not ashamed of our faith.

Leader: Who will be a witness for our God?

People: We will!

Leader: Who will tell the nations of God’s goodness?

People: We will!

All: We declare God’s goodness before all creation; we will be God’s witnesses!

Look at My Hands and My Feet

A Prayer for Luke 24:39-43
(Safiyah Fosua)

When Jesus appeared to the disciples, he offered his nail-scarred hands and feet as proof that he was, indeed, the Risen Lord. Then, he ate in their presence. (from Luke 24:39-43)

Lord, we are living in a world that behaves as though you never lived. Our eyes behold atrocities and insults that we never thought possible and that our grandparents thought they would never see again. We live in a world that is longing for proof of the Resurrection, proof of the Living Lord.

Lord, show us how to prove your living through our lives. Put our hands to doing what you would have done were you still on this earth. Place our feet on a path that leads others to salvation. Pull us out of our caves of isolation so that we might be seen as ordinary, living, breathing, caring people of the Resurrection.

When the people of the land cry out for proof that you are alive, or even that you ever existed, may we be able to offer our hands and feet and our lives as living proof. Amen.