for Epiphany, Year A
One: Call out to God. Ask for God's help.
All: God will respond, "Here I am."
One: The fast that God chooses is
to loosen the bonds of injustice,
All: to undo the thongs of the yoke,
and let the oppressed go free.
One: to share our bread with the hungry,
All: and bring the homeless poor into our house.
One: When God needs hands to do this work,
All: let us each answer, "Here I am."
from Isaiah 1-9a
First Sunday in Advent 30 Nov 1986
One: Call out to God. Ask for God's help.
All: God will respond, "Here I am."
One: The fast that God chooses is
to loosen the bonds of injustice,
All: to undo the thongs of the yoke,
and let the oppressed go free.
One: to share our bread with the hungry,
All: and bring the homeless poor into our house.
One: When God needs hands to do this work,
All: let us each answer, "Here I am."
from Isaiah 1-9a
First Sunday in Advent 30 Nov 1986
Call to Celebration
L: Come, let us go to the house of Yahweh!
P: Let us rejoice and praise God's name!
L: Together in worship we are united with brothers and sisters throughout the world.
P: Together we look forward in expectation. The day of Yahweh is coming!
L: Yahweh lives here among us: Peace be on earth.
All: And praise be to Yahweh! Let us worship God!
from Psalm 122
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
Invocation
Invocation
We stand at your mountain, God, in awe and expectation. As the special day in our year draws near, we join in prayer with sisters and brothers around the world. You have taught us that all people are our friends and our family, and so we pray for peace and prosperity for all people in our world. Teach us each day to hammer swords into ploughshares and spears into sickles, that we might together know your peace and your happiness in this, our world. In your son's name we pray. Amen.
Second Sunday in Advent 7 Dec 1986
Invocation
O Yahweh, we gather to celebrate your name! Your scriptures teach us so much about hope, justice and peace. Our faith calls us to follow your teachings, yet we so often fall short. In this season of advent, we pray to you, O God, that we may have such joy and peace in our faith that the power of the Holy Spirit will remove all bounds to hope. In your son's name we pray. Amen.
Second Sunday in Advent 6 Dec 1992
Call to Celebration
L: Yahweh, you are a God of justice and hope!
P: Give your justice to our leaders, that they may rule the nations rightly.
L: That they may defend the cause of the poor, and save those in need.
P: Let the mountains and hills yield prosperity for the people.
L: May righteousness flourish and peace abound!P: Until the moon is no more!
All: Let us celebrate Yahweh, our God.
from Psalm 72:1-8
L: Yahweh, you are a God of justice and hope!
P: Give your justice to our leaders, that they may rule the nations rightly.
L: That they may defend the cause of the poor, and save those in need.
P: Let the mountains and hills yield prosperity for the people.
L: May righteousness flourish and peace abound!P: Until the moon is no more!
All: Let us celebrate Yahweh, our God.
from Psalm 72:1-8
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
Third Sunday in Advent 14 Dec 1986
Creator God, we look to you in expectation, each year awaiting your special mystery. Yet at times, we know we have not even recognized your glory. Again and again you must remind us of its simplicity and humbleness. Open us, O God, to hope for and seek the joy and beauty of your simple justice. This we ask in your son's name. Amen.
Third Sunday in Advent 12 December 2010
Call to Celebration
L: Let the wilderness and the drylands exult, let the dessert rejoice and blossom!
P: Let it bring forth flowers like the crocus. Let it rejoice and sing for joy!
L: For Yahweh, God of Jacob, maker of heaven and earth, is forever faithful.
P: Yahweh gives justice to those denied it, gives food to the hungry, and liberty to prisoners.
L: Yahweh restores sight to the blind and straightens the bent.
P: Yahweh protects the stranger, the orphan and the widow.
All: Let us shout for joy, for Yahweh our God is coming!
from Isaiah 35 and Psalm 146
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-BatesFourth Sunday in Advent 19 December 2010
Call to Celebration
L: The earth is God's, and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.
P: Lift up your heads, O gates!
L: And be lifted up, O ancient doors!
P: That the God of Glory may come down.
L: This will be the sign: a young woman with child.
P: She shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.
L: God is with us. Emmanuel.
All: God is with us. Alleluia!
from Isaiah 7:10-16 and Psalm 24
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
Invocation
O God Who is with us even now, each year we hear the Christmas story - through songs and scripture, in sermons and storybooks. The words are so familiar that we generally fail to really listen to them. Lift up our heads, and open our hearts that we may be energized by God's continuing message of new birth. Alleluia. Amen.
For Christmas 24 December 2010
Call to Celebration
L: In those days a decree went out that all should be registered.
P: Declare God's glory, God's marvelous works in all the nations!
L: Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the city of David called Bethlehem, and with him Mary, to whom he was engaged.
P: Sing to God, all the earth!
L: Mary was expecting a child.
P: God is great and greatly to be praised!
L: While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.
P: O sing to God a new song!
L: And she gave birth to her firstborn son.P: Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice!
All: Alleluia! Amen!
from Luke 2:1-20 and Psalm 96
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
First Sunday After Christmas 26 December 2010
Call to Worship
L: Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; and in the heights!
P: Praise God, all the angels and all the host!
L: Praise God, sun and moon and shining stars!
P: Praise the name of the Lord,
L: Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!
P: Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!
L: Kings of the earth and all peoples,
P: Young men and women alike, old and young together!
All: Let them praise the name of the LORD. Alleluia!
from Psalm 148
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
Second Sunday after Christmas 2 January 2011:
L: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
P: The Word became flesh and lived among us.
L: Even in this new year, God continues to live among us.
P: God guides us along a marvelous way; God herself is our shelter by day and a starry flame through the night.
L: Through God, we are redeemed and find new life for a new year.
All: Sing aloud with gladness! Proclaim the Lord and give praise!
taken from the Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 10 and John, chapter 1
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
ALTERNATE:
Second Sunday after Christmas
Call to Worship
L: Sing aloud with gladness,
P: Raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
L: Proclaim, give praise, and say, "Save, O LORD, your people, the remnant of Israel."
P: For God lets us walk by brooks of water.
L: Come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and be radiant over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd;
P: Their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again.
ALL: Sing aloud with gladness! Praise God!
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-BatesSunday after Epiphany 9 January 2011
L: Bring tribute to God, O heavenly beings,
P: Worship God in holy splendor.
L: God gives us as a covenant to the people,
P: A light to the nations,
L: To open eyes that are blind,
P: To bring out prisoners from the dungeon.
L: The voice of the Lord is powerful,
P: The voice of God is full of majesty.
All: Praise be to God!
from Psalm 29 and Isaiah 42
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
(Year A)
Call to Celebration:
One: You are the light of the world!
All: Let your light shine before others, so that they see your good works and give glory to God!
One: Loosen the bonds of injustice and let the oppressed go free.
All: Share bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless into your house.
One: Then your light will break forth like the dawn!
ALL: Praise be to God!
from Isaiah 58:1-8 and Matthew 5:14
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
Proper 4 12 June 1994 (Lectionary was changed after this date - now goes here)
Call to Celebration
L: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
P: Therefore we will not fear, though the mountains shake,
L: For God is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.
P: God makes wars cease to the end of the earth,
L: God breaks the bow, shatters the spear, burns the shields,
All: Let God be exalted among th enations! Let God be exalted in the earth!
from Psalm 46
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
Proper 29: 23 November 2008 (or 20 November 2011)
L: Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food?
P: When were you thirsty and we gave you something to drink?
L: When was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you?
P: When did we see you naked and give you clothing?
L: When was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?
All: Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.
Matthew 25: 37-40
Call to Celebration by K.K. Hudson-Bates
