Thanksgiving 1997: Gratitude Begets Justice

 

Seekers Church:
A Christian Community
In the Tradition of the Church of the Saviour

Gratitude Begets Justice

Thanksgiving 1997

Silent Reflection

Thirsting for God’s justice, we should now suckle the holy element from God’s breast and never have enough of it, so that we will be forever refreshed by the vision of God…. When we grasp justice in this way, we shall surrender to it, taste virtue, and drink.

After Hildegard of Bingen, quoted in Matthew Fox, Book of Divine Works, pp. 39-40.

Prelude

Call To Worship

Leader:

Listen! Christ comes knocking.
We lift the latch, open the door.

Voice 1:

Are you tired from your long journey?
Step in, sit down, for you are home.

Voice 2:

Do you thirst from miles of walking?
The well is deep and the water cool.

Leader:

Do you hunger for bread and kindness?

Unison:

Look! Listen! The feast begins.

Invocation

Hymn

Word For The Children

Silence

Litany Of Thanksgiving

Leader:

Gratitude begets justice.

Voice 1:

When the Spirit roars through,
we know how deeply we have been blessed.

Unison:

We cry out in thanks to our Creator.

Leader:

The praise that most pleases God
is not burnt offerings or pretty words.

Voice 2:

When we walk with our sisters and brothers
who are shackled by oppression,
  hunger
  and lack of opportunity,
God gives thanks.

Unison:

Gratitude begets justice!

Silence

Prayers

Common Confession

Cantor:

God will give you a new heart,
a new spirit put within…

Leader:

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so longs my soul for you, O God.

Cantor:

God will give you a new heart,
a new spirit put within…

People:

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?

Cantor:

God will give you a new heart,
a new spirit put within…

Psalm 42

Individual Prayers Of Confession

Assurance

Cantor:

God will give you a new heart,
a new spirit put within…

Prayers of the Community

Hymn

The Word

First Lesson

Silence

Gospel Lesson

Sermon

Silent Reflection

The first Sunday of each month we switch to a Communion Liturgy here.

Offering

Shared Reflections

Announcements

Hymn

Benediction (Leader)

We have been fed by the Holy Spirit,
  refreshed by the vision of God.
Let us go forth in the name of the risen Christ
  to serve at the banquet table
    of those who thirst for justice.

Amen.