“Our help is in the name of the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.”

What did God do to help us?

God chose the people of Israel to make a new beginning.

They received God’s covenant and prepared the way

for Jesus to come as our Savior.

Let us worship the God of the covenant, the God of heaven and earth.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, Darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Centuries before Jesus walked among us,
The Spirit of God was promised to him, so that he would bring justice to the nations.
Jesus sent the Spirit of truth to teach us and give us peace.
That same Spirit is among us now. Let us worship God!

Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;

and in his name the Gentiles will hope.

Teach us to number our days

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Relent, Lord! How long will it be?

Have compassion on your servants.

Satisfy us this morning with your unfailing love

That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Let us not be conformed

To the pattern of this world,

But be transformed

By the renewing of our minds.

Then we will be able

To test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Risen Christ Jesus, help us to conform to your pattern of life.

Since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Come, Let us worship the Lord!

Wonderful Counselor, open our ears

So we may hear your song

God is with us, God is near

Mighty God, open our eyes

So we may see you at work

For goodness, truth, and justice

Everlasting Father, open our hearts

So we may release our worry,

Our loneliness, and our striving

Prince of Peace, open our hands

So we may take yours and each other’s

And walk together the path of grace

God who hears our cries and is moved by our suffering,

Speak to us a word of comfort, challenge, and co-mission.

Capture our attention and call us out of our routines,

That we might catch a vision of your deliverance,

finding our place in the movement of God’s justice

Be in our worship, Lord

Quiet our reservations,

Orient us to action,

And in all things, root us in your love.

With what shall we come before the Holy One, and bow ourselves before God on high?

God has shown us what is good.

What does the Holy One require of us, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God?

Let us worship our God of Justice.

Your steadfast love, O Lord,

Extends to the heavens,

Your faithfulness to the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

Your judgments are like the great deep;

You save all of creation, O Lord. So please help us to depend fully upon you.

Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. God dwells with us, and we are God’s people.

God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more.

There will be no more mourning, crying, or pain anymore.

The One on the throne proclaims, “Look, I’m making all things new!”

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

Let us worship God.

The Lord says,

“I am the God of your ancestors.

I have indeed seen the misery of my people.

I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors.

So I have come down to rescue them.

And to bring them into a good and spacious land.”

Oh Lord Almighty,

We look to Your second coming, to your promise of restoration, of Shalom. Empower us to help bring about your kingdom here and now.

Jesus said, “And you will receive power,

When the Holy Spirit Comes on you.

And you will be my witnesses.

In Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Holy Spirit, we ask you, empower your people once again!

We exist because God made us.
We are here because Jesus calls us.
We are together because the Spirit binds us to each other.

Without God, where would we be? Who would we be? Let us worship God, who makes us a community of love.

Written by Beth Merrill Neel on her blog, ‘Hold Fast to What Is Good’. Used with permission.”

Lord, we thank you this day for all our Mother's
Whether by Blood, or through you Body,
The women who helped us grow in faith and stature
Through your mercies.
We thank you that through the beauty of your Body
That all can be Mothers
That all can share in the joys of raising and nurturing
Your beautiful children.
Without them, we would not be who we are.
You have given children to the childless.
And with them, we give you thanks for all our Mother's this day.

There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord;

Christ is just like the human body—a body is a unit; and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many parts.

We are all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free.

We are all given one Spirit, and we ask him now to be in our midst.

Come, Holy Spirit!

For the beauty of human love

Brother, sister, parent, child.

Friends on earth and friends above,

For all gentle thoughts and mild;

Lord of all, to thee we raise,

This, our hymn of grateful praise.

We gather together in resurrection life, ready to live as the disciples did.

We devote ourselves to the teaching of Christ and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

We yearn to be filled with awe and enchantment at the many wonders and signs of God.

We seek to have everything in common so not one of us will go without.

We strive to sell our excess to give to anyone who has a need.

We look forward to abiding together as God's people in this sanctuary our homes throughout this week.

Now, let us lift our voice as one, break bread, and invite the Holy Spirit who is anxiously awaiting us.

The sinners, the saints; the broken, the whole

We all come seeking the One who offers grace and hope.

The doubters, the devout; the wonderers, the wanderers

We all seek to follow the One who works for justice and hope for all of God’s people.

The hesitant, the heroic; the grandparents, the little children

We all listen for the songs of joy all creation sings to the One who gives life and peace.

Out of the darkness of grief and despair
comes a message of hope.
Christ is risen.
Christ is risen, indeed.

We run to the tomb to see for ourselves.
And it is true.
Christ is risen.
Christ is risen, indeed.

We hear a voice call our name,
and we know our risen Lord
is with us now and always.
Christ is risen.
Christ is risen, indeed.

Let us join our voices in song, worshiping the risen Christ.