May 25, 2025
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 | A Sabbath
Call to Worship
One:  G-d, strengthen our faith
ALL:  by firing up our imaginations
One:  Because we know the Holy Creator works through us 
ALL:  So we can begin to stitch back together our community!
One:  Powerful images are not empty or without meaning
ALL:  but true symbols that guide us to probe this war-filled world.
One:  Isn’t this why G-d gave us an imagination anyway?
ALL:  So we can look with the eyes of faith beyond surface impressions
One:  to see what is really going on in our world
ALL:  in order to recreate new worlds of flourishing for all!

Invocation
Liberating G-d, the imagination for what you want out of your people has been found and sprinkled throughout our Holy Scriptures and experienced in our own lives. The hard message of a clear lesson in this book is that G-d has searching eyes on corruption and those who openly participate.  Let us rest in that.  Give us wisdom to allow the creative symbolism and storytelling of our scripture to guide us in what needs to be done to discern the presence of this harm and then to remember joy and to embody love, peace and gratitude on this day and all the hard days ahead. Amen.

Prayer for Transformation and New Life
G-d of the Other, we say to you that we cannot remember the last time we listened, truly listened to the Other and sought understanding, let alone see the childlike glory in another’s spirit.  We come forward to say that starting today, we change by becoming more present in our interactions with all of your creation and we hold no judgement and cast no shame on someone trying to exist in this cold complicated and beautiful world.

Words of Grace
We are indeed a Beloved Community capable of working towards collective flourishing for it is bright as crystal flowing from the throne of G-d.  We are the light and let us shine brightly as we accompany others to abundance and collective freedom.

Invitation to Generosity
We honor the many ways your book guides us to be witnesses in the world towards justice.  Let us give generously with our time and our resources so that through our relationships with all we can become a new world and a new people.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
Still speaking G-d, we are witness to who Jesus is - from antiquity to modernity.  Faithfully, we experience a grace that renews and enlivens us. Bless our offerings so others can be witness to the ways we live into your word so that our communities may be refreshed and restored. Amen.

Benediction
Let us go forth knowing that our spiritual and religious journey as Christians begins with one word, one name, one person:  Jesus.  Now let us be an example of what that means so others can witness our compassion and solidarity to the weeping, to the joyful, and to those we don’t share common ideologies so that all might be refreshed in body and in spirit

A Sabbath: Service Prayers for the Sixth Sunday of Easter was written by (Rev. ellie Hutchinson, who serves as the Minister for Congregational and Community Engagement for the United Church of Christ.