Sunday, July 19, 2026
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost | Year A
Genesis 28:10-19a | "You Shall Spread"

Call to Worship (inspired by Genesis 28, Psalm 139 and Romans 8)
One: The Holy One is in this place! Do we know it?
Many: The Holy One has searched and known us, our path, and all our ways. 
One: The Holy One is in this place! Such knowledge is too wonderful!
Many: Wherever we go, Spirit goes with us! We cannot flee for God is there!
One: The Holy One is in this place! Spirit bears witness with our spirit, and we gather and wait in hope. 
Many: The Holy One is with us. Praise God!

Invocation
Holy Love, God of Sarah and Rebekah, we come before you knowing you go before us and you keep us in safety. We come to this place in space and time across distance and difference as your offspring to receive an inheritance of your promise and to renew our lives in your covenant. Let our spirits receive your word and our hearts ignite with your compassion, mercy, and righteousness. Let your kindom spread in us and through us as we worship and follow you. Amen.

Prayer for Transformation and New Life
Righteous God, test us and stretch us, strengthen us in your truth and justice, fortify us with resolve and power so that we might be the people you have called us to be. Holy One, even beyond forgiveness, we seek transformation. Renew our minds, open our hearts, and release our hands to repair, reconcile, and restore in your name. Keep us from being the cause of suffering. Equip us to be agents of healing. Make us attentive to your presence. Attune us to your will. Lead us on the path you have paved before us so that the grace we receive will sow seeds of redemption and healing in the world. Amen.

Words of Grace
Offspring of the Divine, live in your power and purpose as beneficiaries of the new covenant and conspirators of God's liberating work and impact in the world. Receive God's forgiveness and move beyond shame and judgment to new life and right relationships with the Holy One and neighbor.

Invitation to Generosity
God's gifts are generous and abundant. Give in the spirit of sufficiency and trust that God has provided for all of our needs. Our gifts enable us to share abundance so that all may feast and rejoice in God's creation. 

Prayer of Dedication and Thanksgiving
Holy One, may these gifts reflect our trust in you and your provision. Magnify them for your purpose and grant us discernment to be caretakers of the resources entrusted to us. Amen.

Benediction (Inspired by Matthew 13)
In God, promises are not contained. They overflow.
Therefore, as you go from this time of communal worship
Return as participants in the communal witness
To spread the overwhelming love of God
To spread the overarching peace of God
And to spread the overcoming hope of God
Like good  seeds, sowing and planting a future 
That will shine like the sun in the kindom of God

You Shall Spread: Service Prayers for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Year A was written by the Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology for the United Church of Christ.