Sunday, September 27, 2026
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost | Year A
Exodus 17:1-7a | "The People May Drink"

Call to Worship (inspired by Psalm 25)
One: To you, O God, we lift up our souls. We trust you!
Many: Make your ways known to us. Teach us your truths.
One: To you, O God, we lift up our souls. We follow you!
Many: Lead us in your ways. Your path liberates and saves.
One: To you, O God, we lift up our souls. We worship you!
Many: Guide us in humility and goodness. Praise the Holy One!

Invocation
Living Water, we delight in your presence. You sustain us in dry moments and seasons. Quench our thirst for word and revelation. Let your Spirit flow among us. Send a river of anointing, power, and encouragement in this assembly.  We come to worship you and declare that you are with us…and we are with you. Amen.

Prayer for Transformation and New Life 
Holy Presence, you demonstrate the way of love and community, yet so often we turn immediately to quarrels and complaints against one another and against you rather than helpful ways of communicating and confronting conflict. Teach us to be loving even as we struggle. Stir up compassion and accountability in our interactions. Remind us that you are with us even through tests, trials, and disappointments. Transform us with trust and care to be faithful and to seek you in prayer when we feel driven to quarrel and complaint. Amen.

Words of Grace
The Holy One meets us with compassion and care even when we do not embody our best or strive for the goodness of God. Let us follow in the path of trust and faithful remembering of what God has done for us and how God has empowered us for transformation and new life.

Invitation to Generosity
May the gifts that we bring reflect the generosity of Creator's abundance and goodness. 

Prayer of Dedication and Thanksgiving
God who Provides, as we present our offerings before you, sanctify them for your glory and magnify them for your people. Amen. 

Benediction 
Go from this time of worship like streams of water,
Flowing from the abundance of the Living Water.
Saturate every encounter with the goodness and abundance of God
As a living witness that the people may drink.

The People May Drink: Service Prayers for the Eighteenth 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.