Call to Worship Cycle: Servant

These opening words for worship were created to accompany the Epiphany sermon series, “Servant.” The bolded words are spoken by the congregation. You are welcome to use or adapt these liturgies for worship, with credit. When printing these liturgies, please use the following credit line: “Prayer by Rev. Carol Holbrook Prickett.”

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Week 1 (adapted from Isaiah 49:1-6)

We gather around the word of God, who says,
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.“

Week 2 (adapted from Psalm 40)

I waited patiently for the Lord;
God inclined to me and heard my cry.
God drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
The Lord put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God!

Week 3 (adapted from Psalm 27)

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
One thing I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek.

Week 4 (adapted from 1 Corinthians 2:10-12)

God has revealed to us through the Spirit,
for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
No one comprehends what is truly God’s
except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world
but the Spirit that is from God,
so that we may understand the gifts
bestowed on us by God.

Week 5 (adapted from Micah 6:8)

How shall we worship God?
We know what God requires of us:
not flashy sacrifices
but only to do justice
love kindness
and walk humbly with our God.

Week 6 (adapted from the hymn Here, O Lord, Your Servants Gather by Tokuo Yamaguchi)

Here, O Lord, your servants gather,
hand we link with hand.
Looking toward our Savior’s cross,
joined in love we stand.
As we seek the realm of God, we unite to pray:
Jesus, Savior, guide our steps, for you are the Way.