Worship Resources
"Beside the still waters" Psalm 23
CALL TO AWARENESSLITANY OF HOPE AND PROMISEPRAYERSUGGESTED HYMNSLECTIONARY READINGSBENEDICTIONCHILDREN'S SERMON: PLANTING SEEDS
Leader: Why are we here?
People: We gather to bear witness to the love and mercy of God.
Leader: Why are we here?
People: We gather to celebrate the healing power of God, to worship the God who makes all things new.
Leader: How do we worship?
People: We thank God for promises of hope. And as we have been loved, we act to serve others in love.
Leader: How do we serve?
People: With God's help we are there for others, not only in this special hour but in all our hours.
Leader: With God's help we can respond, especially to the most vulnerable.
All: We show our love for God in our responses to all who are hurting. Let us now praise the God of love, mercy, healing, and hope.
(Suggested use: Dedication for the gifts received in the One Great Hour of Sharing special offering)
Leader: Gracious God, you created us to love one another as we love you. We offer these gifts of money in this One Great Hour of Sharing not only as symbols of our love for others but also as concrete expressions of the humanitarian work they support. You have promised to make all things new. We thank you for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, whose workers use these gifts to be there for us and to bring hope.People: We hear his call as our own: to be there with UMCOR, to take the hearts and the hands of the church wherever people are suffering.
Leader: God, we thank you for the work of UMCOR in silent disasters—like cholera in Cameroon, where our gifts teach communities to avert cholera breakouts.
People: We hear the call of Jesus to be there.
Leader: God, we thank you for the work of UMCOR in Sudan, where shelter and seeds, fresh water and schools, are signs of new beginnings in South Darfur.
People: We hear the call of Jesus to be there.
Leader: God, we thank you for the work of UMCOR in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, where families who suffered heavy losses of life and livelihood in the tsunami are able to move into their rebuilt homes and return to their farming and fishing.
People: We hear the call of Jesus to be there.
Leader: God, we thank you for the work of UMCOR with small farmers in Mexico who can earn a fair price for their coffee beans and provide for their families.
People: We hear the call of Jesus to be there.
Leader: God, we thank you for the work of UMCOR with United Methodist congregations that resettle refugees like Harrison and Onita, who celebrate the grace of God in their new home in the United States.
People: We hear the call of Jesus to be there.
Leader: God, we thank you for the work of UMCOR when workers and volunteers distribute emergency supplies to locations in the United States and around the globe—and supply hope to some of the world's most vulnerable people.
People: We hear the call of Jesus to be there.
Leader: God, we thank you for the work of UMCOR with its partners the United Methodist annual conferences so that when the worst hurricanes ever devastated the Gulf Coast, trained workers could mobilize to respond.
People: We hear the call of Jesus to be there.
Leader: To all these works, gracious and loving God, we dedicate our One Great Hour of Sharing offering. Thank you for your compassion that impels us to say Yes when your call us to be there with all who need our humanitarian ministry.
All: Thanks be to God! Amen!
Gracious and loving God, thank you for the blessings of your eternal presence. Remind us to pray through our actions toward others: to offer the cup of kindness, the responding hand when a community is overwhelmed by disaster or war, the spirit of justice and peace, and the open heart to all who are hurting. We know that in these ways we extend your love to the world. Amen.
The One Great Hour of Sharing offering supports works of justice and peace, restoration of self-sufficiency, and alleviation of hunger and disease. These hymns remind us how our calling as Christian disciples engages us with a hurting world. Selections are from The Faith We Sing (FWS) and The United Methodist Hymnal (UMH).
- As a Fire Is Meant for Burning, 2237 FWH
- Canto de Esperanza (Song of Hope), 2186 FWH
- Enviado Soy de Dios (Sent Out in Jesus's Name), 2184 FWH
- For the Healing of the Nations, 428 UMH
- Ubi Caritas (Live in Charity), 2179 FWH
- Sois la Semilla (You Are the Seed), 583 UMH
2008 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
Now to the God who created us to build bridges of care, we offer all these prayers and praise. Go out and act, in the spirit of a burning fire, giving glory to God's name, to find and to be there with neighbors everywhere.
The writer of these resources, Linda Beher, is a former staff member of the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
The Psalms in Inclusive Language, © 1993 by Joseph J. Arackal. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN 56321.
CHILDREN'S SERMON: PLANTING SEEDS
Scripture: "Beside the still waters . . . " Psalm 23
Supplies:
A cup or two with potting soil
Packet of seeds
Wide-mouthed water bottles for each child that can be used as coin containers
Lesson:
Say: I want to plant these seeds so they will grow. Can you help me? Have the children poke the seeds into the soil. Then act like you are done.
Ask: Is this all the seeds need to grow?
Someone should say they need water to grow.
Ask: What else needs water? Animals, flowers, people
Explain: We all need water. It's easier for some of us to get it than others. Like these seeds—they have to wait for water to come to them. They can't go water themselves. All the trees and the grass outside have to wait for rain to come. Animals can walk to water, but what if none is nearby? And some people don't have water in their homes, they have to go outside to wells, fill large containers and them carry them back to their houses. When it hasn't rained for awhile, water can be hard to find.
But God promises to lead us to places where all our needs will be met. Psalm 23 says, that God will lead us beside still waters. Sometimes God asks us to help bring water or other things to people who need them.
Pass out water bottles to the children and explain what they are for:
When you collect coins in these bottles and bring them back to church for the offering on March 2, 2008, you are helping to bring water, food, shelter and lots of other things to people who need them.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for loving us and for giving us everything we need. Thank you, God, also for letting us help you to bring people the things they need. Help us, God, to see how we can help others.
Amen.
