Holding Together in God's Family

On Sunday, October 7, 2012 the Church of the Nativity UCC is departing from the usual lectionary readings and along with celebrating World Communion Sunday, we are also concluding our celebration of the Season of Creation with Humanity Sunday.  However, for those of you using the recommended readings, here is a Call to Worship based on Psalm 8.  Please feel free to use or adapt it as you wish.

Call to Worship   from Psalm 8

L: God our Creator and Ruler, all the earth praises your majestic name!

P: The light of your glory shines in the heavens above!

L: The miracle of babies reveals your love so powerfully

     that your enemies turn speechless.

P: We marvel at the night sky, the vast spangled heavens you made,  

      with the moon and the stars you put in place.

L: Then we wonder, why do you even care about human beings?

     Why do you bother with us, poor little balls of dust that we are?

P: Yet you have created us just slightly less than angels,

     and given us glory and honor we scarcely deserve.

L: For you have given us charge over this part of your Creation.

    Under our care you have placed farm animals and wild creatures,

    birds soaring, fish diving, and whales singing along the paths of the sea.

All: O God our Creator and Ruler, all the earth praises your majestic name!

In League with God

On Sunday, September 30, 2012 the Church of the Nativity UCC is departing from the usual lectionary readings and celebrating the second Sunday in the Season of Creation, Mountain Sunday.  However, for those of you using the recommended readings, here is are two Calls to Worship based on Psalms 19 and 124.  Please feel free to use or adapt them as you wish.

Call to Worship   from Psalm 124

L:  If God wasn’t helping us – shout it out with me now friends --         

  All:  If God wasn’t helping us…

L: When our enemies pinned us down…

  All: When our enemies pinned us down…

L:  They would have swallowed us alive!

  All:  They would have swallowed us alive!

L:  Swept away in their torrent of rage…

P: Drowned in the flood…

L:  Our lives extinguished…

P: In wild, raging waters.

L:  But bless God…

P: God didn’t abandon us!

L:  God set us free from the trap…

P: And we’re soaring like eagles!

   All: Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

Call to Worship     from Psalm 19

L: Sisters and brothers, let us praise and thank our Creator!

P: Our God has made the heavens and the earth!

     God has filled them with wonders!

L: The very sky cries out the glory of God!

     Each sunrise proclaims God’s presence,

     each nightfall whispers mysteries!

P: No human words are spoken, but God’s voice carries everywhere!

L: As the sun rises and sets, so God’s wisdom governs our human lives.

P: God’s commandments are clear, they make the simple wise.

L: God’s teachings bear fruit, they make us rejoice.

P: Respect for God and God’s ways is the key to life.

L: So we pray for God to clear away our hidden faults

     and keep us on the right path.

P: Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts

     be acceptable to you, O God, our rock and our redeemer!

All: Let us worship God!                                                      

Choosing the Wisdom of Faith

On Sunday, September 23, 2012 the Church of the Nativity UCC is departing from the usual lectionary readings and celebrating the second Sunday in the Season of Creation, Sky Sunday.  However, for those of you using the recommended readings, here is a Call to Worship based on Psalm 1.  Please feel free to use or adapt it as you wish.

Call to Worship    from Psalm 1

L: Blessed are you when you don’t keep bad company,

     get led around by scammers, or fall into malicious gossiping.  
P: Instead you love the wisdom of the Bible, and you turn to it

     every chance you get.
L: So your roots go deep into living water!
P: You’re like a tree planted by a river whose leaves never wither.

     You are a blessing to others and your life is full of grace.
L: Not so for the wicked, though. They are dust in the wind.
P: They have no foundation. Their day of reckoning will come.

All: You can count on it! God is guiding your steps.

        But the wicked choose their own way to ruin.

The Narrow Way

On Sunday, September 16, 2012 the Church of the Nativity UCC is departing from the usual lectionary readings and celebrating the first Sunday in the Season of Creation, Planet Earth Sunday.  However, for those of you using the recommended readings, here are two Calls to Worship. Please feel free to use or adapt them as you wish.

Call to Worship    from Mark 8:34-37

L: Sisters and brothers, as we worship let us remember Christ’s challenge:

P: If you want to follow me you must give up selfishness and embrace the cross.

L: If you try to save your life yourself, you will lose it.

P: But lose your life for me and the good news of the kingdom, and you will save it.

L: For what good is it to gain the whole world, but lose your soul in the bargain?

P: Do you think that anything is worth more to you than your soul?

All: Let us follow Christ along his narrow way –

       the way of the cross -- the way to eternal life!

Call to Worship    from Psalm 19

L: Sisters and brothers, let us praise and thank our Creator!

P: Our God has made the heavens and the earth!

     God has filled them with wonders!

L: The very sky cries out the glory of God!

     Each sunrise proclaims God’s presence,

     each nightfall whispers mysteries!

P: No human words are spoken, but God’s voice carries everywhere!

L: As the sun rises and sets, so God’s wisdom governs our human lives.

P: God’s commandments are clear, they make the simple wise.

L: God’s teachings bear fruit, they make us rejoice.

P: Respect for God and God’s ways is the key to life.

L: So we pray for God to clear away our hidden faults

    and keep us on the right path.

All: Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts

    be acceptable to you, O God, our rock and our redeemer!

    Let us worship God!

First printed in WorshipCalls for the third Sunday of Lent, March 11, 2012.