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The Timeless Psalmsby Joan Stott |
A Call to Worship
Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22, Lent 4B 2012
Come, let us gather together togive thanks to our Faithful God.
We thankfully respond to our God,
because God’s faithful love is enduring.
Come, let us gather together to
sing our praises to our Faithful God.
We truthfully respond to our God with
songs of praise and thanksgiving.
Come, let us gather together to
celebrate our good and faithful God.
We joyfully respond to our God
by sharing God’s love with others. Amen.
If used in shared worship, please provide an acknowledgement as follows:
© 2012 Joan Stott – "The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year B, used with permission.
Prayers of Praise and Confession
Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22, Lent 4B 2012
Welcoming God, you are the One who calls us to gatherfrom the four corners of the earth, within every situation
and circumstance of life, and we gladly respond to your
warm invitation! We praise and thank you for the wonder
and joy of shared worship, and for the privilege of combining
together as one family to sing our praises to our Glorious God.
We give thanks that we can say “Yes, thanks be to God” to
the challenging question: “Has the Lord redeemed you?”
But Loving God, it is with regret that we cannot so easily
answer the next challenge: “Then speak out!” We sincerely
confess that we have not shared the good news of God’s
faithfulness and mercy, or even of God’s generous love.
Through our self-centred pride in our own achievements,
we have failed to give appropriate thanks to God for our
life’s successes, and instead, we believed we did it all by
ourselves without any help, guidance or blessing from God.
Therefore, we seek God’s merciful forgiveness for our pride.
Generous God, other regrets we have are that when things
are going well for us, we seem to forget about God’s goodness;
yet when disaster strikes, we immediately pray for deliverance!
We give thanks and praise to our Healing God, who’s tender
mercies have once again blessed us. In worship - together and
individually - we offer our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Amen.
If used in shared worship, please provide an acknowledgement as follows:
© 2012 Joan Stott – "The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year B, used with permission.
A Personal Meditation
Psalm 107: 1-3, 17-22, Lent 4B 2012
What a delight it is to be able to praise and thank my Lord and Godfor the enduring nature of God’s love that if offered to me every day
and night. From personal experience, ‘enduring’ is associated with
being a long-suffering martyr who has been ‘put-upon’ by everyone,
and who never let anyone forget it! Thankfully, God is so different!
| Creative pause: | Thankfully, God’s endurance is a positive, grace-filled experience! |
Generous God, your acts of grace and mercy are absolutely amazing!
Even when I have rebelliously rejected your guidance and deserted
you for so-called ‘greener pastures’, your love and grace has always
followed me, continuing to be there for me and never leaving me bereft
or alone. What an astonishing God it is that I worship and seek to serve!
| Creative pause: | God’s acts of grace and mercy are absolutely amazing! |
Listening God, not only have I rebelled against God’s ways, but God has
often been pushed into the background, with God’s voice lost in the noisy
strife of life! But when I am in trouble – who do I call for? God - of course!
The miracle of God’s grace is that God’s being and nature are steeped in
love and compassion; mercy and forgiveness, healing and wholeness and
all this is available to penitent believers when we confess our foolishness.
| Creative pause: | God’s miraculous grace is available to confessing sinners. |