Fall 1995: Pioneering Faith
Seekers Church
A Christian Community
In the Tradition of the Church of the Saviour
Fall 1995 (Revised for January 30, 2000)
Pioneering Faith
REFLECTION
The way through the wilderness of our time is going to have to be improvised by us or by God or by both together. To speak of Christ and community, then, is to speak of Christ the improvisor and of a community without a center, without clear boundaries, and with no secure place of dwelling. One must speak of a community … drawing its strength from the solidarity it creates in the face of … unpredictable events.
Tom Driver, Christ in a Changing World, pg 151.
PRELUDE
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: In faith, Abraham and Sarah set out
because God beckoned.
People: In faith, we seek to follow God in our lives.
Leader: In faith, the church continually seeks
to understand what tasks God has set before us
at the present moment.
Unison: In faith, we gather now to worship,
knowing that as we reach out to God,
God will make us new.
Give us the faith, O God, to go forward
and embrace the newness
to which you call us.
INVOCATION
HYMN
WORD FOR THE CHILDREN
SILENCE
PIONEER LITANY
Leader: The gospel of Jesus Christ
is a call to risk the practice of radical trust.
People: This trust is the active response of faith
to the gift of Divine Love.
Leader: Radical trust draws us toward life at the edge,
the territory of paradox and ambiguity.
People: Such trust encourages us
to embrace the world from the heart of the Gospel.
Unison: Radical trust is a way of living with care,
a way of acting out of the strength of love
rather than out of the weakness of fear.
SILENCE
PRAYERS
CHANT
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
CONFESSION
Leader: Loving Maker of Mystery,
we come together as a community
hungry for assurance
in the midst of unpredictable times.
We want to claim simplistic answers,
live in superficial harmony,
and know that there is only one way.
People: We work so hard to gain control,
to keep violence and uncertainty at bay.
We want the comfort of being right,
even though we know so clearly
that we are not perfect.
Unison: Forgive us our hunger for assurance,
our striving for control.
INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE (Leader)
Who are we to say that God is bound
by what God has already done?
God is not finished with Creation.
We are part of God’s unfolding mystery,
beloved in our human imperfection. Amen.
CONTINUING PRAYERS
HYMN
THE WORD
Scripture
Community Reflections
Chant
OFFERING
OFFERTORY MUSIC
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN
BENEDICTION (Leader)
May the God of grace
create in you that which is pleasing in God’s sight;
and may the God of peace
equip you with everything good,
that you may do God’s will.
Amen.
Hebrews 13:21
WORSHIP SOURCES
Call to Worship: Flames of the Spirit, pg 65.
Confession & forgiveness: After Driver, Christ in a Changing World, pg 77.
Assurance: After Driver, pg 77.
