64C*
A Call to Worship
All Saints' Day Year C 2010
Psalm 149

Come, sing a song together
of our new experiences of God!
Come, praise the Lord with gladness,
and with joyful celebrations!


Yes, alone in our homes we will sing
a new song to the Lord!
Yes, gathered in worship we will sing
a new song to the Lord!


The Lord is delighted when humble people
gather together to sing praises to God!
We joyfully respond to God with our songs—
dancing in reality - or in our imagination—
as we come in worship to praise our God. Amen.



Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
All Saints' Day Year C 2010
Psalm 149

God of power and majesty, we gather to sing a new song
which expresses our new understanding of who God is;
who God was to so many people; and who God will be
to so many more people. With joy, all your saints in light
join in our songs of praise and thankfulness to God.

O great and Holy God, we gather to offer you our praise
and our thankfulness for the wonders of your mercy,
and we exult in this privilege of bringing honour to our God.
We rejoice that we can praise you with our whole being—
through song, through movement, and also in quiet joy.

God of tenderness and grace, we gather to celebrate
together the wonders of your glorious name. We are in
awe of the concept that the Lord God delights in our quiet
private prayer and also in our expressions of praise and
thankfulness to God; and that God especially delights when
we gather together as God’s own people to worship God.

God of the poor and oppressed, we gather to raise our voices
in prayer and in praise of God. We give thanks that these our
songs and prayers are peace-making tools in God’s hands against
apathy, injustice, tyranny and the suppression of the rights of
people who always remain unseen because of our blind eyes.

We gather to sing a new song of praise to God. We rejoice and
give thanks, and honour the power and majesty of the holy God.
Come, sing praise to God, the Lord of all things and of all peoples. Amen.


A Personal Meditation
All Saints' Day Year C 2010
Psalm 149

I often pause in my daily round of life, to offer to God
my thankfulness for a new experience of the wonders
of God’s own self, as they are revealed to me each day.
Sometimes these new revelations are through nature,
with the beauty of a flower; the song of a bird, the glory
of a vibrant sunset; or the power of the mighty ocean.

Creative pause: Nature urges me to thank God.


Other times I pause to offer to God my songs of thanks
for new understandings of people shown by their kindly acts;
or through gentle words of comfort and encouragement;
or through a smile of sympathy and companionship.
There are times too, when I praise to God for people,
for their examples - people I know or people I have read about;
their every action and word a testimony to God’s goodness.

Creative pause: People encourage me to thank God.


I am inspired to praise and thank God when I hear
good music or sublime singing; and when the genius
of humanity is revealed with new scientific discoveries!
Then too, there are so many new songs I would sing to God;
so many new dances; so many new pictures to paint;
so many new books to write – all seeking to express to God
my prayers of praise and thanks – but words fail me!

Creative pause: Sometimes I am silenced by the wonder of God.


There are those quiet moments, in the privacy of my mind,
when I struggle to find ways to express my thoughts and
concepts of who and what God is! Or there is the quietness
of a small group of people sharing their inmost thoughts and
needs amongst friends. Then too, there are those great
experiences of crowds gathered for worship and praise of God,
how uplifting they are! There are so many new ways to experience
God, and so many ways to respond to those new experiences!

Creative pause: I give thanks for uplifting experiences.


But worship and praise is not all I am called to offer to God.
Through my living, my words and actions, I am also called
to be a voice for justice and compassion; to be a voice
against tyranny and oppression; a voice against the wilful
neglect of poor and undernourished people; to speak out
against the horrors of violence and pride in possessions.

Creative pause: My thankfulness to God is expressed in many ways.



Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and Meditations are from
‘The New Revised Standard Version’ Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union'); as it offers an easy sequential numbering
for the Revised Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.

If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2010 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

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