42C*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 3C [Ordinary 10C] or [Proper 5C] 2013
Psalm 146

God of hope and God of glory, we gather together to praise our God.
God of unmeasured compassion and care, we gather to praise you.

God of patience and God of joy, we gather together to celebrate our God.
God of unknown depths of comfort and peace, we gather to celebrate you.

God of faith and God of mercy, we gather together to worship our God with
songs of praise, with prayers seeking forgiveness, and in shared fellowship.
God of unequalled capacities for love and grace, for mercy and forgiveness—
we come together, seeking to better understand all that you offer to us all. Amen.

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Prayers of Trust and Petition
Pentecost 3C [Ordinary 10C] or [Proper 5C] 2013
Psalm 146

We come to you this day, our God of hope and trust, desperately seeking
the reassurances which history has told us, that our loving and merciful God
can and does provide for all people who seek to follow God’s ways in worship
and committed service. There are times when we struggle to even see any
signs of hope for an end to the suffering, hatred and violence, discrimination
against people who are “different” to us and our communities. If we believe
all we read and hear in the media, there is little to hope for any changes to
our communities or our nation. Yet, the God we worship is a God of hope and
joy; a God of compassion and gentle, tender care for people who are in need.
We celebrate: “This, this is the God we adore: our faithful, unchangeable friend;
whose love is as great as his power, and neither knows measure nor end.”¹

We gather together in grateful thanks, to praise the absolute reliability of our
God, whose compassion and mercy is so trustworthy; and whose daily presence
in our lives fills us with hope and joy, with peace and a sense of quiet well-being.
Patient God of grace, we also come seeking your help in becoming more fully
your faithful follower in the way we live our lives; in the way we treat each other
in our daily living; and in the way we communicate with each other. We know that
we are not always willing to offer another person the benefit of the doubt; or to give
them a second chance to reveal themselves to us. God of the second and third
chances, we give thanks for the hope you plant in our hearts and minds. And so
we rejoice that: “This, this is the God we adore: our faithful, unchangeable friend;
whose love is as great as his power, and neither knows measure nor end.”

Hope inspiring, Hope-renewing God, we come seeking your generous continuation
of your merciful care to all people in need. Our media resources remind us every
day about the plight of refugees and displaced people; of people who are unjustly
treated because of their race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, or their different
physical or mental appearance or condition; and of all people who have unequal
opportunities for health, education or welfare resources. We come asking that you
will awaken our hearts, minds and consciences to worship and serve you more truly,
by being your compassionate and caring agent for good, in our own communities. We
give thanks to you that: “This, this is the God we adore: our faithful, unchangeable
friend; whose love is as great as his power, and neither knows measure nor end.” Amen.

¹ From “Together in Song” #220 “This, this is the God we adore”
Words by Joseph Hunt 1712-68 (alt.)
Words in the Public Domain, Used with permission.

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 3C [Ordinary 10C] or [Proper 5C] 2013
Psalm 146

This Psalm is an amazing one, and filled with hope – of hope for all people
who have lost hope. It speaks of hope in a time beyond my own imaginings;
of hope beyond my wildest dreams; and of hope actually surviving against
all the dark powers of despair. It speaks of hope as it affects my personal or
shared fears, my own or shared sense of isolation and desolation; and of my
own and other’s utter bewilderment at times when nothing seems to make
any sense in life. With so much suffering and anguish in the world, within our
communities, even within my own life, God’s hope is like a shining beacon.



This Psalm has the same message of hope as does a flower or plant which
creates cracks in the surface of a road or footpath or which breaks through
concrete to grow towards the light. It is the same message as those stories
we sometimes hear of people - who despite the most horrific and degrading
of circumstances that the bestiality of humanity can produce – they survive and
grow in their inner being, even despite the horrors of their forced incarceration.



God of hope, hear my cry for the gift of a greater hope – a hope that will enable
me to see the development of new cures for diseases, and for those lingering
and debilitating illnesses that are genetically based. Help me to have trust in
God’s reign of peace, joy and hope; of equal opportunities and choices for all
people in education, health care and employment; and in God’s reign of justice,
mercy and compassion towards people desperately in need of these holy gifts.
Help me to be an agent for hope, mercy, joy, peace; and for changes in life for
all under-privileged people, in relationships, in their homes and in communities.

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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: pentecost3[10]c_2013.pdf

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