The Book of Ruth
Thanks to Sue, Claire and Jean for participating in this morning’s worship.
Psalm 146: 1-2, 7b-10 (NRSV)
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Opening Prayer
Let us pray:
Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord, all you people
God our hope and life,
Triune community of perfect love,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Praise be your name.
You were before all things,
You are the author of all things,
You brought life and light out of nothing,
Yet you are closer to us than we can imagine, and you always remain faithful to us all and all your creation:
Faithful in love.
Faithful to save.
Faithful to tend.
Faithful to share.
And so we worship You,
with all of our heart,
all of our mind
and all of our strength.
And we rejoice to know that when our hearts are misled,
Your heart is to forgive.
When our own thinking is confused
You show us that truth is found in the way of Jesus
When our strength fails,
You draw near and hold us close.
Hear us in the quiet as we confess to You
where we have turned away from You or others
and where we need Your healing and forgiveness.
We give You thanks, Oh God, that in you is life and forgiveness beyond measure,
You who upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
Who sets prisoners free,
and gives sight to the blind,
who lifts up those who are bowed down,
and loves the righteous.
You who watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
who frustrates the ways of the wicked.
You Lord God, reign forever,
for all generations.
In the name of Christ, Praise the Lord.
Amen.
Based on material from October 31st, 23rd Sunday After Pentecost | The Church of Scotland
Prayers of intercession
Loving God,
You call us to walk in love as Christ walked in Love and bless us the Holy Spirit and gifts of ministry to enable us to live out this calling.
We are sent to care for those who,
like Naomi, Ruth and Orpah had no security.
And so we pray for those who have no food
because of a famine, or because of Covid …
We pray for those impacted by the damaging of our planet’s environment and pray for the enacting of global policies which enable good stewardship of your creation.
We remember those who are grieving the loss of a loved one … that when they feel alone that You would meet them in the compassion of others.
We think of those whose world has been turned inside out by the pandemic –
grant that they would know the support and care of others,
the help they need and the strength to carry on.
Lord Jesus, You suffer with us,
and through Your resurrection,
have taken our sufferings into the heart of God.
Help those who are alone and vulnerable
know that You have been there too,
that You are with them,
even as they struggle to find hope from any source.
And for us Lord,
help us be open and willing
to be part of the answer to these prayers.
To be Your hands to care,
Your ears to listen,
The body through which You might bring healing and life.
In the name of Christ, Amen.
Based on material from October 31st, 23rd Sunday After Pentecost | The Church of Scotland
Offering Prayer
Lord God,
you have given us more than we asked for
and more than we deserve.
May we show a like generosity
in all that we do for you and for our neighbours;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Unless otherwise stated prayers are either by the author or based on resources from Uniting in Worship 2 © Uniting Church Press, Sydney, 2005. And images are from Wikimedia Commons and are in the public domain.
