Liturgy: 5th Sunday After Pentecost, Selections from Leviticus 26 (June 23, 2024)

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Hymns

Hymn GTG #81, “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken”
Hymn GTG #639, “O Sing a New Song”
Hymn GTG #64, “I Long for Your Commandments”
Hymn GTG #65, “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”

Call to Worship (based on Leviticus 26:11-13)

Leader: God dwells among us!
People: We are not despised!
Leader: God walks among us!
People: We are God’s people!
Leader: Let us worship the Lord our God!


Call to Confession (based on Leviticus 26:40)

Leader: Scripture tells us that if we confess our guilt for the wrongdoing we commit against God and our continued opposition to the Lord, then God will remember the covenants with Jacob, with Isaac, and with Abraham. Let us, then, confess our sin, trusting that our merciful God will remember us, too.


Popcorn Prayer of Confession (based on Leviticus 26:2-3)

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: We confess, O Holy One, that we do not keep your Sabbath. We view rest as a personal shortcoming rather than a divine mandate. We confess that we do not respect your sanctuary. We confine sanctuary to the space within walls made by human hands and disregard the sanctuary of creation that you have called good. We do not keep your commands, and we know that this grieves you. Forgive us, Creator God. Expand our minds to encompass all that which you call holy, and expand our hearts to encompass all that you love. In your mercy, hear our prayers… 

(Silent prayers of personal confession)

Declaration of Forgiveness (based on Leviticus 26:45)

Leader: It is for our sake that God remembers God’s covenant with our ancestors. The Lord has promised to be our God, and it is for this reason, because God keeps God’s promises, that we are all forgiven in the name of Christ!
People: Thanks be to God!