In Weakness and in Strength

Call to Worship

Beloved, when our bodies feel unable and incapable, and the voices all around us disparage and criticize our bodies as weak and worthless, God calls to us…

Open your heart to your weakness and my strength.

When we persist in the false belief that we should and must do everything on our own, never asking for help and persisting in our drive for full independence, God calls to us…

Open your heart to your weakness and my strength.

When we feel shame because we need help, and the deep vulnerability of our needs pierces our hearts, God calls to us…

Open your heart to your weakness and my strength.

Listen! Pay attention! God calls to us in our weakness, not to erase our frailties or bemoan all the things society may tell us we lack, but to empower us within the vulnerability of our humanness, naming us Beloved in the fullness of who we are.

May we open our hearts in worship to receive the goodness in our weakness and the power in the strength of God’s love for all of God’s vulnerable creation. Amen.

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

Opening Prayer

Loving God,
Who opens our hearts
to the mysteries of faith in
ordinary and extraordinary moments,
come near to us today.
Make known among us
and within us your strength,
that we might experience
your power that uses what
the powers of this world call weakness
to demonstrate your Almighty love
to all creation.

Amen.

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

Prayer of Confession

Merciful God, of what do we boast?
Can we truly say with Paul that we do not boast about ourselves
or our achievements?
Does the danger in such thinking lie in the next step—
the thought that we can do anything, or all things—by ourselves?

Forgive us the times when we ignore you, O God,
and depend on our own strength to do things our own way.

Paul talks about power being made perfect in weakness.

Forgive us for believing
that we have to be hard and domineering
if we want to get ahead in life.

Paul says that he boasts of his weaknesses
so that the power of Christ may dwell in him.

Forgive us when we use our power selfishly or aggressively,
ignoring that indwelling, Christ-given power
which frees us to be vulnerable.

Jesus says “My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”

Permeate our lives with your grace, Lord,
so that we can affirm with Paul
that we are content with weaknesses for your sake,
and fill us with the knowledge
that it is when we allow ourselves to be empowered by you,
that we are truly strong. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness

Hear again the good news: that Jesus’ grace is sufficient for us all—
sufficient for us to be forgiven in his name.
Receive that grace and rejoice in the power to live in his strength.
Thanks be to God!

Written by Moira Laidlaw, on Liturgies Online. http://www.liturgiesonline.com.au/. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/06/confession-2-corinthians-12-2-10.html.

Benediction

Beloved, go from this place blessed with divine contentment in the deep and beautiful knowledge that in all things, the power of the crucified and resurrected Christ dwells in you. Amen.

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