37C*
A Call to Worship
Ascension Day C 2013
Psalms 47 and 93

We come, in reverent awe before the holy reign of our Eternal God and King.
We come, because God’s everlasting rule is founded on wisdom and strength.

We come, singing joyful songs of thankfulness for our life-giving God and King.
We come, because God’s throne is based on stability and life-sustaining power.

We come, to celebrate together all creation’s Maker and Ruler - our God and King!
We come, because all creation – past, present and future - is a testimony to the
everlasting powers of our God, whose decrees call us to our promised home in God. Amen.

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Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Ascension Day C 2013
Psalms 47 and 93

We come, Mighty and Mysterious God, because you are covered in glory
that is beyond our understanding, and whilst creation in all its diversity
teaches us a little about our God, we will never even grasp a fraction of
God’s creative powers. We are so amazed, and give thanks for the many
revelations of our God’s creative powers, in all its simplicity and complexity;
its massive and minute examples of creation; its power and its gentleness;
and its many contrasts of beauty and inexplicable ugliness - that is only
attractive to one of its own kind! We give our thanks and praise to our
Creating God, for trusting us with God’s creation – just one very big gift from
God, amongst many other wonderful gifts to all of us. Today, we seek
God’s guidance and blessing for ways we can assist in helping to nurture
and responsibly care and preserve all this bounty for future generations.
In reverent awe we come together, to worship before our Holy God and King.
God is the Great King over all creation, and reigns in glory forever and ever.

We come, Holy and Majestic God, as God’s people in this place, and at this
time, conscious of all that has gone before us, and all that will follow us in
God’s own time and ways. The Lord, our God and King is greater than all
created things; is above all created things; and is totally beyond all created
things, and for this we bow in humble worship and praise. We especially offer
our praises and thankfulness for the wonderful gifts our God has bestowed
on humanity; because each of us have within our inner self, a spark of God’s
own Being that can never be explained or quantified, because we have been
created as part of God’s own self-expression. We give thanks that the God
we worship has chosen to be involved in our lives and our living, and is here
today with us today, and has invited each of us to be part of God’s Kingdom.
The Most High God is awesome, whose ways are of justice and peace.

We come, Loving and Saving God, because you have been and always will
be Love itself, as a clear expression of our Unknowable and yet Knowable
God; whose patience and acceptance has been our destiny through all time.
The world’s leaders have come and gone, but God’s reign over all people stands
forever sure and trustworthy, and God invites us, all the leaders and ordinary
people; all the women and men; all the children and the elderly, to bask in the
glory of God’s eternal reign. May all peoples join together in praising our God!
God’s throne of love and holiness has been established from time immemorial. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Ascension Day C 2013
Psalms 47 and 93

In the mornings, when I see the glories of the rising sun, and the fading
beauty of the setting moon, I am in awe of my Great God and King, who,
has created this beauty for no other reason than as to teach humanity
something of God’s own Self, in all its glory, complexity and uniqueness.
All these earthly wonders make me want to sing songs of thankfulness
and praise, that I have been gifted with such a blessings to start this new
and pristine day. Despite our different understanding of the structures
within the universe to that of the author of these Psalms, I am still in awe
of the power and majesty of my God, who reigns over, above and beyond
us all; yet who gathers me, and all others who seek to love and serve their
Lord, into the fellowship of God’s own self, as God’s own beloved people.



During the day, with the warmth of the sun encompassing me like a robe, I
remember the author’s imagery of God of God robed in majesty and might—
and I feel that I too am robed, but in joy and thankfulness, for God’s mighty
acts of love and mercy towards me and all peoples. God’s loving generosity
extends even those who have rejected God’s ways and have chosen to live
their own selfish lives; and despite the choices people make, our God remains
their God and King. In my church, we have several ancient and huge chairs
that were part of a former denomination’s church furnishings, before we joined
together in Church Union; and these huge chairs stand so squarely and are
so solidly built, that they always remind me of the firm and strong thrones that
ancient leaders graced in all their majesty and power; and for me, they are
a regular reminder to me of this Psalm’s imagery of God seated on a much
more regal throne, built on the precepts of righteousness and justice, and built
to encompass peace and stability, steadiness and the solidarity of God’s reign.



Even as this day is dying and will soon be no more, I am still surrounded by the
glory and majesty of my God, and still enveloped in the glories of God’s other
and different creation, when the mysteries of the night are revealed. Once again,
I am humbled by the extent of God’s created Kingdom, over which our God rules
and the way God continues to teach me that our Creating God is mightier than
the planets and stars; more amazing than the Milky Way; and more gently quiet
than the utter silence of outer space. As I reflect on the end of this one day
amongst many thousands of days, I know it will never return to me again, and
I pray that I have been faithful to my calling as God’s child in God’s world, during
this day that is now ending. May I let this day go peacefully, thankfully and with
good grace into God’s own hands, and then rest, wrapped in the security of God’s
robes of love, majesty and power. May I look with anticipation to new opportunities
on the morrow, when, through God’s grace, I can once more rise to praise and
thank my God, because I am a small part of God’s Royal Kingdom here on earth.

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Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and
Meditations are from the ‘New Living Translation’, © 1996. Copyright. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189 USA.

*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:
© 2013 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: ascensiondayc_2013.pdf

© 2013 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year C