Sunday, September 14, 2025
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 15:1-10 | "Joy in Heaven"
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?z=p&d=75&y=384

Call to Worship (Inspired Psalm 51)
One: 	Let us enter the presence of our God with a renewed heart and a right spirit.
Many:	Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love.
One: 	Let us speak, hear, and embrace truth and the wisdom of God.
Many:	Strengthen and empower us, O God, according to your steadfast love.
One: 	Let us hear joy and gladness. Restore our crushed spirits.
Many:	Revive us again, O God, according to your steadfast love.

Invocation
Maker of Heaven and Earth, we rejoice in your presence. In you, we find joy and strength, comfort and courage, truth and insight. Speak to us again. Reveal your power in and through us. Show us your glory and be glorified in our worship. May your  glorious light shine through hidden spaces. May your blessed  darkness make space for rest.  Fortify us for this journey and make us instruments of your kindom. Amen.

Prayer for Transformation and New Life
Holy God, you seek us when we are lost. You do not turn away from those who others minimize and demean. Help us to recognize the belovedness of every human being and all your creation. Give us courage and curiosity to engage with those that others would ignore or isolate. Let us rejoice on earth as your rejoice in heaven as we make restoration, redemption, and reconciliation abound among us. Amen.

Words of Grace
Beloved, the Holy One seeks you and rejoices when you turn from the ways of the world that minimize and marginalize the community God has prepared for us. We can be builders of a future that celebrates the kindom of God alive and rejoicing on earth.

Invitation to Generosity
Let us give generously and lovingly to support the ministry of the gospel–loving our neighbors as ourselves through sharing the abundant gifts of God. 

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
God our Provider, receive these gifts in gratitude from your people. We pray that these offerings meet the needs of the world and our community. May they serve as a public witness of our commitment to being your church. Amen.

Benediction 
As you go,
Rejoice that God knows you, recognizes you, and communes with you.
Rejoice knowing that you have the power do do the same
With all you encounter.
Go, and rejoice!

Joy in Heaven: Service Prayers for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost was written by the Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology for the United Church of Christ.