37A*
A Call to Worship
Ascension Day Year A 2011
Psalms 47 and 93

God is our Majestic King—
let us worship God the King.
The power and majesty of our King
surpasses all we have ever known.

God is our Awesome King—
let us worship God the King.
The awesome beauty of our King
surpasses all we have ever imagined.

God is our Most High King—
let us worship God the King.
God Most High is the Name
beyond all names, and surpasses
everything we have ever experienced.

We come to worship God the King—
All praise and glory to God the King. Amen.

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Prayers of Praise
Ascension Day Year A 2011
Psalms 47 and 93

Glorious God, with awe and reverence we come
to worship you and to praise and celebrate you
for the power and authority you have over all
creation, past, present and future - with all things
held in your hands; and for the way you have
revealed yourself in the past, in the present, and
will continue to do so into the unknown future.

Holy God, King and Ruler - all things are yours—
people, places, times, and into the eternal realm
where you are enthroned in glory. You have
stretched out your hand in love towards your
creation, nurturing, renewing and enriching all
things that you have created, from the vastness
of the ocean depths and outer space, to the
smallest of cells. And yet, you continue to reach
down to humanity with your infinitely tender love and
wisdom, to bless and guide your struggling people.

Almighty God, you are Creative Love amongst us,
and we respond with the praise and worship we
offer to our God - who is beyond all things - yet who
reaches out to accept our poor offerings of praise.
You have given us the gift of your Law of Life, by
which we can learn to live, praising and worshipping
you, and living in harmony with all creation, and with
our sisters and brothers. Everlasting God, you are the
Holy One, God Eternal, and your name is Mercy, Joy,
Justice and Peace, and before whom we bow in joyful
worship, celebration and with reverent awe. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Ascension Day Year A 2011
Psalms 47 and 93

How do I go about offering praise and worship to the
Almighty God, when there are not enough suitable
words that are worthy enough to be to used when praising
God for all the bounty that has been bestowed upon us?
Do I invent new words or sentences? Do I compose new
songs and dances that articulate my joy in God my King?
Do I paint new pictures, take more photographs of God’s
wonderful creation to convey my respect and admiration
to God? People more skilled than me have attempted this,
and whilst I marvel at their work, they are still not enough.



I have seen and met many significant leaders and important
people, yet they always seem, to leave me disappointed
about some element of their life or actions, but it’s never
so with God! I want to praise and glorify my God for the
manifold ways God has been active in my life. But, I am
only one of the many millions of people whom God has
created, and maybe if we all came together, we might just
be able to raise a suitable cheer or an appropriate response
by singing or dancing to some multi-national music.



Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is the ‘hymn’ of the United
Nations – and that music is surely spine-chilling enough for
a suitable song of praise to God – if only we practised all
that we preached as we sang, played and lived out its beauty!



All the nations of the world rest in God’s hands, and God’s
wise judgement and mercy is theirs if their leaders seek God’s
help and blessing. All creation rests in God’s hands, and God’s
recreating love is active there every day and night. All humanity
rests in God’s hands, and God has dared to become involved
in the life and history of humanity, leading and guiding us to
our eternal home in God, and giving us all the privilege and
delight of being able to worship and praise our God. It is
certainly my joy and delight to worship and praise my God.



I give thanks for my heritage of faith, passed down to me
from my faithful forebears – going way back to the time to
the generations of Israel’s ancestors - and the more recent
generations of parents and grandparents. How blest I am!

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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:
© 2011 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year A. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: ascensiondaya_2011.pdf

© 2011 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year A