Litany and Prayer for Fourth Sunday in Easter, Year C

Call to Worship:

One: With God as our shepherd,

All: We need nothing more!

One: God leads us to paths at the wetlands,

All: Or by the quiet waters of Cache Creek, for walks that might restore our spirits.

One: God guides us to work for justice,

All: To challenge - in God’s holy name - any wrongs we find in our world.

One: Even in the depths of our misery,

All: Even while walking through our darkest hours,

One: The God of Love is with us, comforting us, chasing away our fears!

All: Let us worship God together!

         from Psalm 23

Community Prayer:

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray:
God of Love,

You are our Loving Shepherd.

Your creation beckons us, calling us to renew our spirits, to reconnect: to spend more time in our gardens, on pathways in nature, at the arboretum, on mountain trails or walking the labyrinth, to restore imbalances caused by too much work, too much screen time, too much time commuting on busy highways. You call us to better serve in our community and world: speaking justice, healing pain, and reaching out in love. We pray that we might answer your calls - to restore our souls so that we are energized, and to do your work in our world. This we pray, O God of All Creation. Amen.

                Litany and Prayer by K. K. Hudson-Bates

Litany and Prayer - Proper 25

Call to Worship:

One:  O God, Answerer of Prayer! To you all people shall come. 

All: When we are overwhelmed by our own misdeeds, 

One: You forgive our wrong-doing.

All: Time and again, you answer our poor or misguided actions

One: With loving kindness rather than judgement.

All: And because you have clothed us in joy, we shout and sing together in praise of you!

                        From Psalm 65

Community Prayer:

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray:

God of Our Salvation,

You are the hope of all at the ends of the earth and the farthest seas. We are awed by your signs. But, like the tax collector in Jesus’ story, we are not blameless. We find ourselves turning our backs on people because we are uncomfortable. We judge others as not worthy of our time or money. We procrastinate so that we don’t have to make hard choices. We pray that we might learn to be more humble and caring in our relationships. We pray that we might open our hearts to all peoples, so that we might be avenues for your love in our world. This we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

          from Psalm 65 and Luke 18

               Litany and Prayer by K. K. Hudson-Bates

Litany and Prayer for Proper 18, Year C

Call to Worship:

One: Loving Creator, you have searched us and known us,

All: You know when we sit down and when we rise up.

One: It was you who formed our inward parts,

All: And we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

One: In our lives today, we have choices that are before us.

All: We can choose between life and death.

One: We can choose between good and evil.

All: And because we have known you, God, we can choose to love as you have loved us,

One: And we can choose to walk in your ways.

All: Let us choose life so that we and our world might live abundantly! Amen.

                       from Deuteronomy 30.19-20 and Psalm 139

Community Prayer:

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray:
God of Many Possibilities,

You know us from the inside out. You know our intentions and our difficult choices. You have been with us from the moment we were formed. You know when we are hurting and when we may have hurt others, when we need a healing touch and when we can give a healing touch to another. You know the anguish we feel when we see injustice, and you are with us when we search for ways to respond to that injustice. We pray that our hearts will be open as your Spirit nudges us always in the direction that leads to abundant life. This we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Call to Worship and Prayer by K. K. Hudson-Bates