38B*
A Call to Worship
Easter 7B 2012
Psalm 1

With joy and delight we gather to praise our Holy God!
With reverence and awe, we approach our Gracious God.
We give thanks that God understands us, and does not
want us to be that which we were never created to become!


Creating God, you call us to worship you as your children,
made in your image, with a divine spark within each of us.
We give thanks that God understands us, and encourages
us to grow in our knowledge of God’s awesome holiness.


Glorious God, you invite us to sink our roots deep into your love
and holiness, and to grow stronger each day in our faith in you.
We give thanks that God understands us, and that the fruits
we bear are consistent with what God created us to become.
We gather to worship and praise our supporting and caring God. Amen.



Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Easter 7B 2012
Psalm 1

Faithful God, you always remain true to yourself and your holiness,
with all your dependable love and mercy that you shower upon us,
and we praise you, with minds and hearts filled with joyous praise.
We also give thanks that we are never independent of anyone else,
but that in fact, we need each other, even with all our failings; but
we especially need you and the warmth of your love and the light of
your Holy Presence, to help us to grow and fully become your people.

Nurturing God, we give thanks that you encourage us to allow our
roots to grow down into your own Holy Being, so that we are nourished
from the rich resources of your love - a love that help us to grow into
the people we were created us to become. We give you our praise and
thanks that you created deep down within our inner being a yearning
for God’s holiness, and a yearning for the guidance we need for right
living, and to follow the paths that lead to fullness of life. We give thanks
that God continues watch over and offer guidance to all God’s children.

Holy God, we give thanks too, that you call us to holy living and to
choosing our priorities in ways that give honour and glory to God.
Strengthen and sustain us O God, when we are tempted to choose
the questionable paths in life that lead us away from your presence;
and guide and direct us into those paths that lead to truth and beauty,
found only in you and in your nurturing care of your beloved children.
We ask that you will bless us in our life-renewing decisions and choices. Amen.


A Personal Meditation
Easter 7B 2012
Psalm 1

My faithful God, how I love the imagery of this Psalm - the first
prayer in this ancient Prayer Book – which, through our fellowship
with God, helps all who yearn to lead a faithful life to discover the
path to follow, and how to walk in the way that lead to holiness
and grace. Day and night, I know I can rely on God’s presence as
I try to respond to the Holy One, who created me to be only me, and
not anyone else! This means that I do not have to try to be different
to that which I am already, and to rejoice that my deep roots are
stretching down into God’s blessedness, and that the fruits of my
God-given gifts and graces are developing through God’s love for me.

Creative pause: I am who God made me, and no one else.


I find my greatest delights in serving my God, with my over-gown of
fresh green leaves sparkling in the sunshine of God’s love; and despite
the winds of change and trouble, these leaves do not wither or fall off;
because of the nurturing strength that is given to them, because of
the deep roots that are nourished by the flowing waters of God’s Spirit.
This nurturing strength sets for me a path of right living, just as long as
I remain connected to these gracious and supportive gifts from God.

Creative pause: I delight in the strong roots and green leaves God has given me.


O God, my prayers are for those people who choose not to follow the
paths of right living, and who never seem to find in life what they are
yearning and searching for. Do they realise what they are missing out
on in life by ignoring God’s claims on their life? Don’t they understand
that God’s paths lead to Life in all its fullness, giving creative growth
and purpose for living? Don’t they know that rejection of those paths lead
to death? Don’t they recognise that without God travelling with them, that
life has little purpose or meaning when God is shut out of their commitments?
O God, may the reality of your love grow in them, and so meet all their needs.

Creative pause: I pray for the people who turn their back on God.



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:
© 2012 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

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