After Pentecost 10B – July 28
Sunday, July 28, 2024
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
John 6:1-21 | “Gathering Fragments”
Call to Worship (Inspired by 145:10-18)
One: We call upon the Holy One, who is near to us. We testify to your power to make your kindom known among creation.
Many: All your works shall give thanks to you, Holy One, and all your faithful shall bless you.
One: We speak of the glory of your miraculous acts, your abiding presence, and your abundant love.
Many: All your works shall give thanks to you, Holy One, and all your faithful shall bless you.
One: With justice and grace, with hope and mercy, with abundance and discernment, you sustain those in need, you uphold those who have been broken, and you satisfy those who seek a better way.
Many: All your works shall give thanks to you, Holy One, and all your faithful shall bless you.
Invocation
Great and Mighty God, we seek your presence among us. We strain to hear your voice as it so often gets drowned out by the noise of the world. We pause to consider your works, your word, and your way. Speak to us now in spirit and in truth. Open your hand and our hearts that we may join in this moment of holy encounter. Forge us as a community committed to follow the path Jesus has marked for us. Amen.
Prayer for Transformation and New Life
Creator God, we confess that we fail to recognize the bounty around us. We are not satisfied; we never have enough. We consider what we have received and what we have generated, and label is too little rather than sufficient. We need to cultivate our imagination and our faith to observe abundance and opportunity rather than scarcity and deficiency. Help us to comprehend that, in your kindom, the fragments you gather are more than enough for flourishing.
Words of Grace
Beloved, you are enough. God’s grace, strength, love, and hope meet you with sufficiency. Through the Holy One’s sustaining power, we can gather the fragments that make our lives beautiful and God’s kindom real in the world.
Invitation to Generosity
Generosity encourages us to consider what we have to share beyond our own use. May we exhibit the generosity of the young person found in the gospel narrative that shared their lunch when Philip surveyed the crowd of thousands. The miracle starts with that act of sharing and faith.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
Sustaining God, receive our offerings and magnify them beyond our imagination for the benefit of your kindom, this ministry, and your creation. Cultivate a heart of generosity within us and enable us to witness the abundance that can be found in the fragments that remain as testimony to your power at work in us. Amen.
Benediction (Inspired by Ephesians 3:16-21)
May you, according to the riches of God’s glory, the presence of Christ, and by power of the Spirit, be strengthened in your inner being, be rooted and grounded in love, and be filled with the fullness of God.
To the Holy One who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Gathering Fragments: Service Prayers for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost Year B was written by the Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay who serves as Minister for Worship and Theology for the United Church of Christ.
