Here I Am!
Service Prayers for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

             In this Year of our Lord

            On this Sabbath Morning

            In this Holy Moment

            We come seeking God’s presence

            with hope, with wonder, with joy

            And we pray:

                         Holy, Holy, Holy, God of power and might,

                        the whole world is filled with your glory!

             Yet this beloved world is riddled with sadness,

            For need encounters greed,  

            And war is a constant;

            We listen for the call:

             Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?

             We come longing to be consoled,

            To be strengthened, to be changed

            So that in hope, in wonder and in joy we may answer:

             Here I am! Send me!

             Let us worship our God

            in this Year of our Lord,

            On this Sabbath Morning,

            In this Holy Moment!

Invocation

             O God

            whose glory fills the earth,

            whose presence is all around us

            if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear,

            meet us here today

            as you met Isaiah in the Temple

            and the disciples at the seashore.

            Surprise us with your beauty and your power,

            And fill us with the desire to follow where you call us.

            In Jesus’ name,  Amen.

Confession

            In different ways,

            Isaiah in the Temple and the disciples at the lakeshore

            experienced the power and presence of the Holy One,

            and were overcome with a sense of their own limitation and unworthiness. 

            Often we, too, are awed and frightened

            by the possibilities to which our God is calling. And so we pray:

            When you call us to the deeper waters of understanding and engagement

            with our world, and we are afraid to follow:

             God, have mercy.

             When we trust only our old patterns and ways

            and resist your call to begin afresh,

             Christ, have mercy.

             When service in your name overwhelms us,

            and we fail in faith and confidence in you,

             God have mercy.

Assurance of Grace and Peace

            Friends, in Christ our loving God offers us understanding and forgiveness--

            we hear the reassurance: “Do not be afraid!”

            and find new strength to follow into the future. 

            In confidence let us offer a sign of Christ’s peace to one another.

Call to Offering

             At Jesus’ request, the disciples cast their nets into the sea,

            and they found there a catch of such abundance

            that they needed help to bring it home! 

            Let us generously offer our gifts to this “Catch”

            of time, talent and treasure,

            that all may share in the abundance of God. 

Dedication

             O God, please take these gifts and multiply them;

            let them be a means to create the justice and peace

            you long for in this world. 

            In Jesus’ name we pray,  Amen.

Benediction

             In this Year of our Lord

            On this Sabbath Morning

            In this Holy Moment

            We have met our glorious, compelling, challenging God

            in this sanctuary,

            and heard the call to “Follow!”

            Let us follow our Savior,

            joyfully letting go of anything

            that stands in the way of the Way.

 Here I Am: Service Prayers for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, was written by the Rev. Susan A. Blain, Minister for Worship, Liturgy and Spiritual Formation, Local Church Ministries, UCC.

Copyright 2010 Local Church Ministries, Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH  44115-1100.  Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education.  All publishing rights reserved.