The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 22
October 2, 2022
Increase Our Faith | Luke 17:5-10

Call to Worship
One: Increase our faith!
Many: Let our worship uncover clearer understandings of you.
One: Increase our trust!
Many: Let our worship unearth stronger connections to you.
One: Increase our hope!
Many: Let our worship unleash fresher possibilities from you.

Invocation
Meet us here with all our questions and insecurities. Challenge our knowledge and certainties. Transform our beliefs and perceptions. Influence our commitments and actions. 

Prayer of Transformation & Words of Grace
We don’t always get what you mean, Storytelling Jesus. We want to be better followers, so we exclaim, “Increase our faith!” Your response exposes our flawed approach, well-intentioned though it may be. Forgive us for transacting our faith for your favor.
<observe a brief stretch of silence>
God’s abundance is illogical and immeasurable. Though we may not understand it, we are yet worthy of basking in the undeserved goodness of God. Praise be!

Invitation to Generosity
If tiny mustard seeds can produce unruly and enormous plants that contagiously spread and impact their landscapes, so too can our cents, seconds, and cells, which we are now invited to graciously share.

Prayer of Dedication and Thanksgiving
We thank you for these gifts of money, time, and selves that we cheerfully give to you, Multiplying God. Expand and bless every single one in service to you and the work you’ve called us to do. Amen.

Benediction
As we go back into the ordinariness of the world out there, may God infuse our whole selves with the specialness that we’ve created here together. Let it shape everything we say and do as bearers of God’s image. May it be so!

Increase Our Faith: Service Prayers for after Pentecost were written by The Rev. Phiwa Langeni, the Ambassador for Innovation & Engagement for the UCC’s CARDD, and the Founder and former Director of Salus Center in Lansing, MI.