Zacchaeus Call to worship

Once a long time ago

 a small man had to run ahead of the crowd and climb up a tree 

to catch a glimpse of Jesus

And be forever changed.

Jesus who came to seek and save the lost

Meets us wherever we are

Meets us right here

Come, let’s celebrate the transforming presence of our God.

Zacchaeus prayer of thanks

Thank you Jesus

For being here

For still being able to draw a crowd

For being a person as well as being God

For showing us a different way to live

Thank you Jesus

For noticing us

For caring about us

For giving your life

For rising again

Thank you Jesus

For having a powerful name

For being here at the beginning

For being there at the end

For lasting longer than everything we can see

Thank you Jesus

For being so good

For being so great at forgiving

For turning ordinary things into something special

And special things into something ordinary

Thank you Jesus

For inviting yourself to our place

For inviting us into your family

For giving us hope

And sharing your inheritance with us.

Thank you Jesus. Amen

Social Justice Sunday Prayer of praise and confession

Great God

Creator of the universe

You see to the ends of distant galaxies

Yet you hear the cry of the newest baby and delight in the smile of the oldest person living on our planet.

The things you must see each day!

In one place creation bursting into glorious new life

And in another place the earth groaning and aching

through natural disaster or human ambition and lack of understanding.

Each day you must see people filling you with delight

And people breaking your heart

We know you can do anything

Nothing is impossible with you

Some of us have seen it in our own lives

And we’ve heard stories of it

And yet we don’t understand why you don’t act when you could

Because our ways are not your ways.

Thank you for the freedom you give us

Thank you for giving us choices

And we’re sorry when we use our freedom to make stupid choices

When we think only of ourselves and don’t notice who else misses out

We’re sorry for our hurtful words or hurtful silences

We’re sorry when we only think about what’s in our immediate circle

And don’t think about who is further afield

We’re sorry when what we do or don’t do is unfair.

Help us to remember that we don’t have to do everything and be everywhere

But instead to notice and to be alert to where you want us to be

To where your Spirit is blowing us. Because that’s where true life lies.

We are made in your image

Grow us to be more like you.

We put ourselves in your hands

Shape us

Make us

Lead us

We who have glimpsed your Kingdom, may our lives show others a glimpse of it too by who we are and what we have been given and how we share all of that with our world.

Amen

Trinity Dance

http://www.bobhandelman.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=4&p=4&a=0&at=0

Trinity Dance Prayer

Creator God, whose gaze hovers over the vast universe

Father God who knows how many hairs are on each of our heads

You were here at the beginning

And you will be here at the end

The mystery of you is too great for us

Jesus, who was with the Father when the spirit hovered over the water

And who is the King of Kings

You made yourself small

And lived and walked and cried and bled and died as one of us

The mystery of you is too great for us

Holy Spirit, ever present yet hard to see

Ancient yet always at work all over the world breathing new life

Creative spirit that works deep in our hearts

Forging new pathways, transforming us from within

The mystery of you is too great for us.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit – the same and yet different

You weave your way in and out

Holding our lives together

Connecting us with each other

Open our eyes to your presence amongst us

Open our ears - tune us in to the music that you hear

Loosen our hands and feet

Lift our hearts and minds above our cares and fears and 

Sweep us up in your dance, O God, three in one.

Amen

   

Ways of abundance

 

Jesus, All those years ago

On the lake when the disciples saw you again after Easter

What a reunion it must have been.

Jesus, Lord of creation,

You knew where all the good fish were to be found  

you told the discouraged fishermen to throw their nets on the other side and the nets nearly broke under the weight of fish

We praise you.

When we just want to do our own thing our own way

And fumble around in the darkness

Help us to listen out for your voice to find out what to do next.

Because your ways are ways of life in abundance.

Jesus, friend and companion

you knew your disciples by name

Stood waiting for them on the beach

Sought them out,

Prepared a fire and cooked fish and broke bread for them and served them

We praise you

When we want to keep ourselves and our things and our time to ourselves too much

Help us to be like you, welcoming, serving, sharing, blessing.

Because your ways are ways of life in abundance.

Jesus, forgiver and teacher

Your knew the frailty of Simon Peter

And the way he denied you three times

He was so pleased to see you again he leapt out of the boat when he saw you

And then you offered him three chances to tell you how much he loved you

And you gave him important work to do

We praise you.

When we feel weighed down by our failures

Help us to remember that you forgive us and forgive us and forgive us

And you have all kinds of plans for us, more than we can understand or imagine.

Because your ways are ways of abundance.

Jesus, Lord of creation,

friend and companion

forgiver and teacher

We praise you

Like Simon Peter did

We long to see your face

Help us to walk in your ways

May your face can be known in our faces

And may we see your face in all those we meet.

Amen