Call to Offering – Wandering and Wondering

A Thanksgiving Thought –

Liturgy from our Thanksgiving Worship

This was not from this week but last. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the beautiful final altarscape with the vessel completely returned to wholeness. We have been putting it together throughout our journey in Exodus and now that they have crossed the Jordan, it is completed.

Call to Worship – based on Psalm 22

Pastor: There are days God feels far away from us

People: God, my god, why have you forsaken me?

Pastor: There are days we wonder if God hears the groanings of our hearts.

People: God, why does it seem you are so far from me?

Pastor: There are times we may wonder if there is a God at all.

People: O God, I cry day and by night, but you are silent and I find no rest.

Pastor: Do not fear, beloved, God is as close as your breath. God is seeking the way of good in every moment. Trust in the Lord your God.

Invocation

Creator, Sustainer, and Protector, make yourself known to us. Do not be far from us, but gather our tears and allay our fears. Let us know you in our hearts. Let us hear you cry out, “ Peace!” in our soul as Jesus did in the storm. Help us to still ourselves and take respite from the world long enough to remember that you are God. AMEN

Preparing

Prayer of Transformation

Teilhard de Chardin offered the ideas that in all our dark moments, God is present. God is in the parting of the fibers of our being and penetrating the very marrow of our substance . . .

Stop.

Listen.

Absorb in the silence the active stillness of a God seeking to work in your heart.

Moment of Stillness

AMEN

Response to Stillness –

May the movement of God within and through you not only work to heal you, but may it heal the whole of the world.

Pastoral Prayer

On this Thanksgiving Sunday, when Christians everywhere proclaim Christ is King, may we give thanks for the people in our lives:

Those who brought us to life,

Those who cared for us when we were young,

Our teachers,

Our mentors,

Our bosses,

Our partners,

Our friends.

Let us give thanks for those who make our days easier:

our mail delivery person,

the person who makes us food or coffee,

the bank tellers,

neighbors,

garage mechanics,

the grocery check out person,

and the bagger.

Let us give thanks for those who seek to make our lives healthier:

our doctors,

physical therapists,

chiropractors,

dentists,

cardiologists,

nurses,

physicians assistants,

mental health professionals,

and nutritionists.

Let us give thanks for those we forget to acknowledge who make life go smoother:

the road workers,

the tree trimmers,

the traffic directors,

the civil engineers,

water treatment staff,

electricians,

plumbers,

carpenters.

We are thankful for all the people who give of their time and talents to make this world a better place. God, may you continue to inspire them in their calling and let them know how their work is truly a ministry in the world.

We pray also this day for those who are feeling down on their luck and for whom giving thanks seems more like a joke than a possibility. May you strengthen their reserves. May you move helpers into their lives. May you make level their path. May you give them concrete and palpable hope that there are those who see them and understand their need.

We pray also for those on our minds today. Hear as we lift their names to you:

(Have people speak the names of those who are on their heart)

We pray all of this in the name of Jesus, our King of Kings, and your son, who taught us to pray saying:

& Lord’s Prayer

Prayer of Illumination –

O Lord, speak to our hearts. Let your words move beyond our ears and take root in the deepest corners of our soul so that it might grow and transform our ways. AMEN

Invitation to share –

Today, we are invited to not only put in our weekly offering, but to dedicate the pledges that have been coming in for weeks. We honor the thoughtful consideration that has gone into deciding how much to pledge to the mission and ministry of this gathered body.

As the plates are passed, please put any final pledges in the plate. We give not out of necessity, but out of desire; not out of confidence, but out of humility; not out of what is left over, but boldly from our first fruits. We give knowing that we together with each other and with God truly can change the world.

Prayer of Dedication

God of the Ages, receive today both our offerings for the day and the promise of tomorrow. Unify us in spirit. Unify us in ministry. Unify us in mission. May you receive our pledges and our gifts. May they show honor to you, and may they go to serve all of the world in your name and to your purpose. AMEN

Blessing of the Animals Worship Liturgy . . .

Call to Worship- based on Psalm 25

Pastor: To you, Abba, I lift my soul.

People: In you, Amma, I trust.

Pastor: Let us take solace in you.

Pastor: Let us learn your ways.

People: Make straight our paths.

Pastor: Teach us truth and wisdom.

Pastor: Let us leave our troubles.

People: Revive our hopes.

Pastor: We wait for you.

Invocation

God of slow time, in our impatience we try to direct. We like to demand things in our time and in our way. In this time though, right now, encourage us to let go of the reins and listen for you. Amen

Prayer of Transformation

Holy God, You created us in your image. Help us to continue to develop and mature in that image. There is so much that draws us away from you and taints our reflection. Call us back to your dream and hope. Help us trim the waste and release the build-up on our original sacred form. Teach us to listen to your still small voice within and give us the strength to follow wherever you might lead.

In you,

Through you,

And for you,

Let us develop to the fullness that you imagine. AMEN

Assurance of Pardon

May you know God is always working with us, in us, and through us. God loves you just as you are and seeks to help you grow. May the love and acceptance of God offer you the nourishment you need as you continue to heal and bloom.

Pastoral Prayer

Today, O Lord, we lift the world in prayer:

The places of strife,

The places of civil war,

The places of poverty, hunger, and pestilence.

We pray for the places, where there is what seems to be an impenetrable chasm between the rich and the poor.

We pray for those places that turn a deaf ear to the needs of the people and only line their own pockets,

We pray for those places where the rule of law is being side stepped for the enrichment and comfort of a few,

We pray for people being displaced and disappeared for those being deported, and for those living in fear that they are next.

There is so much on our mind and our heart.

Search for that which we have forgotten to say.

We pray also for the individuals known to us who are in need today. Hear now as we name them.

We pray all of this in the name of your son and our teach, Jesus, who taught us to pray together saying:

& Lord’s Prayer

Invitation to share

We are invited now to share. It is not a demand. It is not a requirement. It is not a key to heaven. It is an invitation into the reciprocity of creation. Seeds are sown. Plants grow. Fruits are harvested. Meals are made and served. We are invited to participate in a system of grace, gratitude, and giving. May you hear the invitation and respond with joyous love and appreciation.

Prayer of Dedication

God of all that was, is, and ever will be, acknowledge the gifts that we have brought forth. Like the fall harvest, you have long ago planted seeds within us. They have grown and born fruit; and so, we return a portion to honor what we received first from you. May these gifts represent our gratitude and thanksgiving for all that you have done, and may they go forward to plant and assure a crop of the future. AMEN

NOTE: Permission granted for use for religious or educational purposes with citation.

The blessing took place in lieu of our chancel steps time. The kids helped to bless the animals. Each animal was given a certificate and a cookie if it was allowed by their owner.

The sermon was based on the story of Balaam’s Donkey Numbers 22:21-33. This reading does not appear in the lectionary and is rarely shared in Sunday School stories so often is unknown to a congregation.

From our Ghana Sunday Service

Our church has a partnership with a community in Kpenoe, Ghana. This partnership has been in existence since 2008. To learn more about the partnership, visit https://www.wolfeboroucc.org/ghana.

Each year we renew our covenant with them and celebrate our friendship. This liturgy comes from that service in 2025.

This is a picture from last year’s celebration in which we centered the idea of harvest and the blessing of sustenance as embodied in the Yam.

Call to Worship Based on Psalm 33 –

Pastor: Rejoice in the Lord

People: Praise the Lord with instrument and voice.

Pastor: Sing to God a new song.

People: Play with vigor and joy.

Pastor: The Earth reverberates with the steadfast love of the Lord.

People: Let us tremble and stand in awe of God.

Pastor: Our soul shimmers in response to the creator.

People: our souls wait for God and are glad.

Invocation –

Holy and awesome God, we celebrate your presence amongst and between us. We honor all of your creation. Open our eyes to see you in all the ways you make yourself known to us. Let us learn more about you as we learn about each other. Amen

Prayer of Transformation

Lord,

I open my heart to you.

Soften it where it has hardened.

Move it toward compassion.

When I seek to protect it, keep me open and attentive to what it says.

Remind me of the courage and strength it contains so that I may support spiritual siblings.

Keep me aware of its inner yearnings.

Remind me that a heart is not divisible, but exponentially expandable.

Open my heart, O Lord.

Let me be crafted by your hand and be as you need me in this world. AMEN

Pastoral Prayer

Holy parent of all,

As we pray today, we cannot forget the wider world: not only those places that we are familiar with, but the points and places we may never see, the people who look and speak differently than us. People of different cultures, histories, and faiths. We bring before you, O God, the whole of the world and the world itself.

We pray for the planet

and for the people of every nation who inhabit it.

We pray for the soil under our feet, the air in the sky, the water that flows through the land and sits in aquifers underground.

We pray for the swallow and the orca, for the spider and the sea cucumber.

We pray for the iris and the prairie grass,

for peat moss and the giant sequoia,

for all that lives and breathes.

We pray for the interaction and the interchange that each has with the other.

Let us all remember that each is connected to you and a reflection of you.

We also pray for those specifically known to us that need your love and care this day . . . (Lift up your arms and let the congregation fill it with the names of their loved ones in need)

And all those we don’t know to name or don’t know how to name.

We pray this all in the name of Jesus. Our brother, your son. Who taught us to pray together saying:

Lord’s Prayer . . .

To be mindful of the reciprocity of this relationship – this will be our words to invite giving:

Invitation to share

Generosity is a very important concept in Ghana. One of their precepts is that we share because we are blessed with things to share. Unlike our tendency to assure that we have “enough” first, people in Ghana say, “Because I have something. I need to share.” So let us with joy consider what we have and therefore, what we need to share. As you decide what that is, whether dollars or actions; talents or treasurers; may you dance up your gift. Letting the joy of gift carry you into the act of giving.

We will also be interspersing the idea of hand washing within the worship to remind us that it is not only us doing the giving and they the receiving, but that we both learn and grow by through our relationship. At multiple times during the worship will will enact a symbolic hand washing, remembering that one hand washes the other. And thus our Prayer of Dedication following the collection of the offering will be:

Prayer of Dedication

Holy One, you have given and we have received. We are blessed and so we pass on that blessing. We send out our blessings into the world so that others too may be blessed. Let us continue the washing of one another’s hands as we celebrate the many gifts that you have poured upon us all. AMEN

Here is the link to last year’s Ghana Sunday worship: https://youtu.be/UYfCHU4yU68?si=DtF65pIp8ANU7bUE

Liturgy for ONA Sunday

Opening Centering Chant –

I am precious in God’s sight.

You are precious in God’s sight.

All are precious in God’s sight.

Call to Worship

Pastor: Within each of us lies a holy seed.

People: Let us tend it. Let us nurture it.

Pastor: Let us not fear it as it presses its way to the surface.

People: God wants each of us to grow and thrive.

Pastor: The world needs each of us to grow and thrive.

People: Let us be as God designed.

Invocation

Holy One, pour your spirit upon us. Shine within us. Weed out that which chokes life and feed what brings it. Let us grow toward you; ever seeking, ever reaching to be all that you have created us to be. May our time today encourage us to continue to grow. AMEN

Prayer of Transformation

Liberation God,

Help me to peel off the facades that I have built up.

Take off the masks that I have created to protect myself and be what others thought I could or should be.

Remind me of my divine origin and inspire us each to nurture the divine flame within and encourage us to feed that flame in others.

Free us from expectations and revisions that society places on us and work with us to shed the ideas of shouldn’t, can’t, or that is not for you. Clear out our ears so that we might hear you whispering, “Beloved, you got this. Keep going.” Let us listen closely to our heart and with your support, bravely and honestly show who you made us to be. AMEN

Assurance of Pardon

God is our originator, our creator,

In us is the divine fingerprint.

Let us always seek to reveal that wonder within being fully who God created us to be.

Prayer of Illumination

Holy Spirit flow into our heart.

Open our ears and let us hear this spoken word.

May each phrase set upon us and enlighten our understanding of God’s kin-dom and dream. AMEN

Invitation to share

As one body, we do care for one another. This is what God asks of us.

Thus, like the earliest Christians, we gather our gifts together to help all of humanity and the ways of God.

Let us respond to the wonders of God and all of God’s gifts by opening our hands and our hearts.

Prayer of Dedication

God, Receive these gifts as a symbol of our deeper commitment to work together for the coming of your kin-dom of heaven on earth. AMEN

CALL TO WORSHIP (based on Psalm 104)

Pastor: Bless the Lord, O my soul.

People: The Lord is great, clothed with honor and majesty and wrapped in light as with a garment.

Pastor: The Lord has stretched the heavens like a tent across all the earth.

People: God has set the earth on its foundations.

Pastor: and created all that is within, and upon, and around this earth.

People: Every bird and every tree, every blade of grass, every mountain, every rock, every spring bursting forth with water, God has made all things.

Pastor: God made the moon and the sun. God set the seasons into motion.

People: God made the darkness and light.

Pastor: God made humanity

People: and blew air into our very lungs.

Pastor: God is the creator and the redeemer of all.

People: God is our beginning and our end.

ALL: Bless the Lord, O our souls.

More Lenten Prayers

Call to Worship
Pastor: In the tiredness of the day, Lord,
People: you are there.
Pastor: In the weakness of my soul, Lord,
People: you give me strength.
Pastor: In the chaos of the world, Lord,
People: you ground me and give me courage.
Pastor: You, O Lord, are our ever-present help. Let us rejoice and praise you.

Invocation
Holy One, Meet us here and give us insight to the world and to ourselves so that we can navigate our lives and interactions in a way pleasing to you and to the benefit of all. Help us find balance in the imbalance. Help us find calm in the storm. Be our anchor and our rudder. AMEN

Pastoral Prayer

God who created and cares for each one of us,

We reach to you today to leave at your feet the prayers we hold that are too heavy to bear. Prayers of the hurting, the persecuted, the tired, and the tormented.

We seek your balm to help offer comfort to those who live too often in discomfort.

We seek your peace to soothe the agitated and anxious.

We seek your healing to bring heath and recovery to those who are in physical and mental pain.

Bring healing, peace, and your balm to all who need – those who are both known to us and unknown to us. Search our hearts for the names of those we know, who need you this day and inspire us to care for those whom you know and we may not.

May your grace pour upon all who are in need.

And now let us pray in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together saying:

The Lord’s Prayer

Unison Prayer of Illumination

God, Sometimes we trust our eyes and our mind too much.

Sometimes we let what we believe we know override what you know to be true.

Help us to set down our preconceived perceptions and release our understanding of the world so that your truth may be revealed.

Let us release our expectations so that you can show us your way.

Let us open our heart and hear today’s sacred text. AMEN

Invitation to share

Peter showed Jesus his trust by stepping out of the boat. When do we step out of the boat? When do we begin to let go of control? When do we let “Jesus take the wheel” as Carrie Underwood once sang? One place we can do that is through practicing our generosity. We can open our hands and our hearts and trust that God will meet us there. As you open your hands today to release your offering to God, ponder what you have now made room for.

Unison Prayer of Dedication

God of Grace and hope, Too often we give limitedly, fearful of what giving too much might mean for us. Sometimes, we give just enough for people to notice so that we are seen as generous people. Today though, let us give what is right and good. Let us feel a bit of a pinch as we let go so that we can learn to trust and let us celebrate the fact that we are blessed to be able to give. Accept all that we give and encourage us to give even more through service. AMEN

Call to Worship, et al

The front door before renovations at the First Congregational Church of Brimfield, UCC.
-July 1, 2021

Call to Worship

Pastor: In times when we feel like giving up,

People: come to us anew.

Pastor: In moments when we are lost or confused,

People: illuminate your path that we might see where to tread.

Pastor: In times of trouble,

People: protect us and give us refuge.

Pastor: When we are arrogant, believing in only our way,

People: humble us that we may remember our interconnectedness with you and with each other.

Pastor: You sent your son that we might all live,

so let us open our eyes and our hearts that we might learn and live as he did.

Assurance of Pardon

God of Grace,

Pour your love upon this world.

Mend the torn.

Heal the broken.

Weave us together.

Remind us that we are your children, loved, beloved, and forgiven.

Invitation to share:

God as we think of seeing things in new ways, let us not think of what we are necessarily giving to God, but recognize what we are withholding. Help us to notice those areas that our heart is still full of plaque and needing to be cleansed. Relax our grip on personal security and help us trust on the care of one another. Remind us of the widow, who thought not of her own needs, but gave out of faith all that she had, making way for a new way to be birthed.

May we make space by giving out of joy and faith

And not reserving out of fear.

Let us be a part of a new economy of love and thanksgiving.

Prayer of Dedication

Holy One,

As we have opened our hearts to you,

refill us with even more generosity.

Give us new eyes to see potential where others see lack.

Give us new hearts to embrace creative solutions to problems.

Give us new hands to be the helpers the world needs.

Let us honor all you have done for us,

by doing the same for our siblings. AMEN