Liturgy: Epiphany, Mark 2:1-12 (January 7, 2024)

 *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #110, “Love Has Come" 

Hymn GTG #155, “Raise a Song of Gladness”

Hymn GTG #154, “Jesus Entered Egypt”


*Call to Worship (based on Mark 2:12)

Leader: A child has been born to us, fully God and fully human.
People: We’ve never seen anything like this!
Leader: He preaches the word, forgives sins, and heals our broken parts.
People: We’ve never seen anything like this!
Leader: He blurs the line between what is possible and what is impossible.
People: O come, let us adore him!


Call to Confession (based on Mark 2:4)

Leader: In our scripture reading today, a man wanted so badly to encounter Jesus that his friends tore a hole in the roof to lower him down. Let us also tear down that which keeps us apart from Christ by confessing our sins.


Popcorn Prayer of Confession (based on Mark 2:7)

You are invited to speak a word or short phrase that describes a personal or collective sin of which you repent and seek forgiveness.

When the gathered community is finished sharing, we pray together:

People: Indescribable One, you took on flesh in order to blur the boundaries that we idolize – yet we stubbornly cling to them still. We proclaim humility, but in reality, we believe that we alone have knowledge of the truth, that we alone can determine what is and is not insulting to you. Grant us true humility, so that we might learn the ways that Christ calls us to cross those very lines for the sake of your kindom. In your mercy, hear our prayers…
(Silent prayers of personal confession)

Declaration of Forgiveness (based on Mark 2:5)

Leader: The words I speak to you now are ancient ones, offered first by the one who can see both the sin and the faith in your heart: in Jesus Christ, “You are forgiven!”
People: Thanks be to God!