Pentecost Sunday Prayers - May 24

(You can also find some of my bulletin cover art for Pentecost at this link: Pentecost Art.)

Approaching God

Welcome & Announcements

Prelude

Gathering

Call to Worship

Pastor:                  Let us come before the Lord with cheerful hearts and voices filled with praise.

People:                 We will worship God freely and openly, as well as humbly and faithfully.

Pastor:                  May our songs of faith and devotional prayers be acceptable to You, O Living Lord. Amen.

Hymn

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Guide:                  Everlasting Majesty and Lord of all Creation, we come here to praise Your Holy Name. We lift up our hearts to cheerfully rejoice in Your sacred presence. Throughout the Earth, billions of people are blessing and glorifying Your presence in their lives. Today, we gladly join them in the worship of Your ways and the praising of Your deeds.

People:                 Gracious Father, we know that our lives are imperfect and that we make disappointing mistakes. We confess to being selfish, proud, and faithless; stubborn, greedy, and insensitive; as well as angry, bitter, and spiteful.

Guide:                  Heavenly Lord, forgive us when temptation troubles our souls and sin separates us from You. Pardon us for neglecting our responsibilities, as well as carelessly casting aside our faith. To You alone, we bring our personal confessions and seek Your mercy through Your Holy Son, Jesus Christ. Hear us now as we silently pray.

- SILENCE -

Guide:                  Loving God, without Christ’s sacrifice, we would have no one to restore us to Your favor. We would still be subject to Your wrath, with no hope of entering Your everlasting Kingdom. Humbly and thankfully, we make our confessional prayers in the Name of Jesus, our Only Savior and True Lord. In His precious words, we unite our hearts, saying, “Our Father…THE LORD’S PRAYER (debts/debtors).”

Promise of the Gospel

Guide:                  Jesus, through the amazing love of His Father, gives us the key to Heaven. By Christ’s wounded body, our broken ways are healed; through His perfect obedience, we are reclaimed by God. So let us cheerfully rejoice, for our sins are completely forgiven, both now and forever. Amen.

Gloria Patri (sung in unison): Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

Children’s Sermon

Encountering God

Anthem

Prayers for Health and Healing

Pastor:                 Be merciful to us, O God, for in You our souls take refuge. We cry out to You, O God Most High, for You both create and fulfill the purposes of our lives. Release us from our fears through the power of Your faithful love. In the midst of our anxieties and troubles, grant us peace. From the discomfort of our illnesses and the suffering we endure, heal us, O Lord.

People:                 Let Your goodness and grace be experienced in our lives and those of all our loved ones as we seek healing from all that damages us in body, mind, heart, and spirit. Deliver us and all whom we pray for this day from distress, disease, depression, or despair. Hear us now as we silently pray.

Silent Prayers for ourselves and others. A candle is lit

Pastor:                 Great is Your love, O Lord, reaching from the farthest heavens into the very core of our lives. In Jesus’ Name, we thankfully pray. Amen.              (Healing Prayer based on words & phrases from Psalm 57)

A Time to Remember & Silence

Prayer for Illumination

Reader:                Holy Spirit, may we embrace these Scriptures and be led into Your beautiful presence. May we be filled with wonder and thanksgiving by all that Christ has done. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

Scripture Readings

The Message and the Apostles’ Creed

Serving God

Offering & Offertory

Dedication (unison – led by pastor):       Lord Jesus, we all have special gifts and talents, just as we all have different resources and treasures. When we combine them by gathering them before You, we glorify Your work and continue to proclaim Your Name. Take all that we offer this day, along with our lives, and bless them for the life, work, and ministry of this church, which You have called us to support and advance in Your Holy Name. Amen.

Hymn

Benediction (unison):    May Christ keep us united to His body so that we may accomplish great things together in His Name; may the Father sustain us as members of Christ’s church, so that we may honor His Kingdom; and may the Holy Spirit grant us a new vision, so that we may proclaim the purposes of God for this church and community, both now and always. Amen.

Doxology & Postlude