Prayer by Christine Sine | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

Prayer of Invocation | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

The following prayer of Invocation is from the United Church of Christ.

O God, with gladness and expectation, we gather in this space today.
For you are the one who makes all things new.
You are the one who satisfies our hunger and restores our soul.
In this holy space, help us, your daughters and sons,
to know that you always love us.
Through our worship today,
help us to know that if we stray away from you,
you are always ready to receive us with open arms.
Prepare our hearts as we worship you
to welcome and embrace all of your children as you do us.
With gladness and expectation we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lenten Prayer | Idlewild Presbyterian Church

I am sharing with you this beautiful Lenten prayer from Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

Holy and Human,
Forever Word,
Truth,

Sometimes the road is heavy and belief is hard.
During this Lenten journey turn us from sin,
and walk alongside us that we might continue in the Word.

For places of unbelief, give to us clarity.
For places of resistance, give to us vision.
For places of frustration, give to us gratitude.

Allow us the treasure of walking in your grace and forgiveness.
Set us free in your truth –
not wandering in waywardness or complacency –
but clearly that we might be with you in your Wisdom,
who cries out in the busiest of places.

With Christ we pray,
Amen and amen.

Call to Worship (3) | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

Leader: Return to the Lord your God,

People: for God is gracious.

Leader: Confess to the Lord your God,

People: for God is merciful.

Leader: Repent to the Lord your God,

People: for God is slow to anger.

Leader: Praise the Lord your God,

People: for God abounds in steadfast love.

Leader: Worship the Lord your God.

All: Together, let us worship God!

Submitted by Rev. Daniel Commerford, Bethany Presbyterian Church, Covington, GA

Call to Worship (2) | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

Leader: We are here.

Side 1: In this place where we experience God’s love.

Side 2: In this place where we practice loving each other.

Leader: We are here.

Side 1: Some of us have returned from a distant country.

Side 2: Some of us have snapped out of our own petty preoccupations.

All: At least for now.

Leader: We are here.

All: We are home.

Submitted by Rev. Joanna Harader.

Prayer of Confession (3) | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

Holy One,

The space between us is too great–

this agonizing expanse between you and us:

The rift we have created by demanding our share.

The distance we have put between us as we flee to a far country.

The resentment we hold when things don’t seem fair.

Our refusal to join your gracious party.

Forgive each selfish request

each step away

each bitter thought

each joyless rejection.

Forgive us

and run toward us

with open arms.

Submitted by Rev. Joanna Harader.

Prayer of Confession (2) | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

God of the old and the new,
we want to embrace your new way,
but we like the old just fine.
We repeat tired ideas and resist new possibilities.
We hold on to old grudges
and resist your word of reconciliation and new life.
We are too afraid of the unknown to step out into something new.
Forgive us, loving Lord.
Help us to see the way of your new creation in our lives and our world,
that we might be reconciled to you and one another in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Submitted by Rev. Andy James, First Presbyterian Church, Whitestone, New York

Prayer of Confession (1) | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

The following liturgy was shared via LiturgyLink.

One: God, you have called us into community, and gifted us with ways to celebrate your presence and to mark our journey.

All: Forgive us for the times when we have believed that our way is the only way, trusting in the words and actions rather than in the One to whom they point.

One: Through words ancient and new, you speak. Through bread and water, journey and prayer, feast and fast, you show us your way.

All: When these rituals of your people become nothing but empty rote recitation, not worth our attention, forgive us.

One: We hear your words of invitation, but sometimes we are certain they do not apply to us.

Reader 1: We are not worthy of your notice.

Reader 2: We are too smart and sophisticated for such things.

Reader 3: We aren’t sure we believe it all.

All: We are not ready, we do not understand, if you knew what we’d done…

One: And you say: You are my beloved, and I have called you by name.

All: We offer ourselves to you, O God, not because we are good, but because you are good.

sung: Kyrie Eleison

silence

Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, the Presbyterian Church of Palatine, IL.

Prayer for Illumination | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

Gracious God,
by the presence of your Holy Spirit,
bless this our proclamation of your Word
that we may receive the gift of your grace
and share it with those who we will meet
on this journey to which we are called.
Speak to us this day for we,
your servants, are listening. Amen.

Call to Worship (1) | Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C)

We are gathered as people created by God
to sing, to praise, and rejoice.
We are gathered as people redeemed by God
to confess and be embraced by mercy.
We are gathered as people sustained by God
to listen, proclaim, and to follow.