59C*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 19C [Ordinary 27C] or [Proper 22C] 2010
Psalm 137

O God, we come to worship you, and we remember…
We sing and pray in our worship of God, and we remember…
Come to us, God of all comfort, and warm our cold hearts
and help us make sense of the chaotic darkness of our life.

O God, we give thanks for all your blessings, as we remember…
At times, we struggle to praise to God, even as we remember…
Come to us now, God of compassion - as we come to you.
O Lord our God, may we never forget you and your love.

O God, how vulnerable we have become, as we remember…
We feel so alone now in our anger – even as we remember…
Come, O God, and cool our burning anger with you grace,
so that we may worship and honour you with a right spirit.
Renew our hope and faith in our ever-loving God. Amen.

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Prayers of Confession and Lament
Pentecost 19C [Ordinary 27C] or [Proper 22C] 2010
Psalm 137

God of our past, present and future, we come to worship you today
with our shoulders drooping under the load of our fears and anxieties.
Things are not right in our community. We remember the joyful
occasions of worshipping together, when life was simple and good.
O Lord our God, now times are tough and we are hurting.
O God, help us to faithfully sing God’s songs in this strange new world!

Faithful God, with our guilt and fears affecting our thoughts and feelings,
we come to you seeking your guidance for your people in your world.
We confess that we have not always been as faithful to you as we
promised; we have been half-hearted in our worship and witness;
and unfaithful in our prayers and praise, and in reading the Scriptures.
O God, help us to faithfully sing God’s songs in this strange new world!

Ever-present God, help us we pray, to accept our responsibility for the
life of the God’s mission in this place and amongst this community.
Your holy name is not honoured as it should be; and people are rejecting
the concept that you, as our God, you have a right to expect loyalty and
commitment. We struggle with the world’s complacency, and we cry:
O God, help us to faithfully sing God’s songs in this strange new world!

Comforting God, we come seeking your help, your healing and wholeness.
Our minds are cold from anger and anguish; yet our hearts are burning
at the injustices of this world. We see children neglected and abused;
elderly people ignored because they are vague or misunderstood; the
rejection of people from different ethnic groups; and people with physical
or mental challenges considered to be useless; and we cry out in pain:
O God, help us to faithfully sing God’s songs in this strange new world!

Renew your people O God, by opening our eyes and ears to recognise
that your presence is still active in the world; that faithful people are still
selflessly serving you; and that your holy name is proclaimed to waiting
hearts and minds. O God, help us to remember that this is your world,
and that you have never left this world without any faithful witnesses
to your holy name, and to your saving grace and mercy. O God, come to
us and help us to faithfully sing God’s songs in this strange new world! Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 19C [Ordinary 27C] or [Proper 22C] 2010
Psalm 137

O Lord, I sit in the quietness and remember, and I weep.
All those special people, now becoming older and more frail,
who served you so faithfully, giving of themselves until
they hurt, to help needy people and to serve their community
and their church. The days are now gone when I was there
in the thick of things - and now only my memories remain.
Help me to trustingly sing God’s songs in this strange new world!



O my God, how can I forget the thrill of worshipping you,
when there was only standing room, because of the crowds?
How can I forget those young lives that I helped to influence
in the Sunday School, or amongst my friends and neighbours?
O God, now I am captive to frailty, an old body and old mind.
Help me to trustingly sing God’s songs in this strange new world!



O God, I am filled with anger and with anguish at the frenetic pace
of life that is somehow considered both necessary and attractive!
Don’t people know that they will finish up destroying themselves
with their foolish passion for ‘things’, or for prestige and position?
Help me to trustingly sing God’s songs in this strange new world!



May I never open my mouth or write another word if I ever forget
the purpose of my life – helping to introduce people to God, and
sharing God’s love with them; and assisting them to make sense
of living in God’s world with all its challenges, whilst never knowing
any results! But now? Sport is the Sabbath’s ‘god’ and it is worshipped
with fervour, with commitment and loyalty, and with funding!
Help me to trustingly sing God’s songs in this strange new world!



O God, times are tough and life is very difficult! Even so, I give thanks
that my God is changeless, generous and gracious, and always present,
even in this strange and challenging new world that God has gifted to us!
Help me to trustingly sing God’s songs in this strange new world!

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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:
© 2010 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: pentecost19[27]c_2010.pdf

© 2010 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year C