Sunday, September 28, 2025
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 16:19-31 | "Comfort and Agony"

Call to Worship (Inspired Psalm 146)
One: 	Praise God! Praise the Holy One, O my soul! 
Many:	We will sing praises to God our whole lives long!
One: 	Praise God in whom we may trust. Praise God in whom we may hope.
Many:	Happy are we whose hope is in the Maker of heaven and earth.
One: 	The Holy One lifts the bowed down. The Righteous One loves justice.
Many: 	The Holy One brings the way of the wicked to ruin. Praise God who reigns forever!

Invocation
God our Comforter and our Confronter, speak to our souls. Engage our spirits with truth and compassion. Stir our hearts with your vision of a world full of your love and hope. Inspire us through your word, meet us in the moment, and infuse us with joy and courage to pursue your way. Guide us on the journey even as you dwell in our worship so that we may honor you and be restored in you. Amen.

Prayer for Transformation and New Life
Compassionate God, we need to repent. We confess that too often we only care about our own suffering and discomfort and ignore the pain and troubles of our neighbor. We turn away or even contribute to the plight of others. We feast on systems that create deprivation and inequity. We enjoy the spoils of war that leave human siblings to subsistence in rubble and ruins. We accept distortions of the gospel that claim that your creation is insufficient to meet the needs of your beloved when your kindom enables all to flourish. Meet us as we turn back to your way and your reign. Liberate us so that we may be instruments of restoration, repair, and renewal in your name. Amen.

Words of Grace
God's mercy endures and renews. The world envisioned by the Holy One is available when we believe it, commit to it, and pursue it with all our being. Receive God's grace to do a new thing, in word and in deed, so that the world may know the love of God, the hope of God, and the promise of God through what we say, how we live, what we do, and the fruit we produce. 

Invitation to Generosity
May our hearts be open to the generous life. The Sovereign God invites us to participate in building the kindom through our financial resources. Let us give in gratitude and joy knowing that sharing our abundance blesses our neighbor, community, and world. 

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
Holy One, receive these gifts as expressions of trust and love of You and care and love of your beloved. Magnify them for your glory and bless those who give in faithfulness and hope. Amen.

Benediction 
As you go,
Spread comfort and hope
Notice people
Recognize their condition
Know their worth
And be comforted
That the Maker of heaven and earth
Notices you
Recognizes your condition
And knows your worth.
Go in hope and care.

Comfort and Agony: Service Prayers for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost was written by the Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology for the United Church of Christ.