Ringing in Peace
Service Prayers for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
August 4, 2013

Hosea 11:1-11	Psalm 107	Colossians 3:1-11	Luke 12:13-21

	On August 6, 1945 the world entered the nuclear age when a US B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. As many as 250,000 people were killed, most of them civilians. In the decades since, the world has lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation and the struggle for the abolition of nuclear weapons. 
	We invite you to slow worship down today to meditate on what is needed for peace, by framing the prayers with the resonant sound of a bell--a hand bell with a bass tone, or a Buddhist singing bowl.  Set the bell to sounding, and let its vibration run its course in the silence of the space.

Bell Tone
Call to Worship	

Leader:		O give thanks to our God who is good,
		Whose steadfast love endures forever! 
	
People:	The people God loves
		have been gathered in		
		from the east and from the west, 
		from the north and from the south. 

		Some have wandered, finding no safety,
		Hungry and thirsty. 
		
		In their trouble they cried out to God 
		who delivered them from distress.

		Let us thank our God for steadfast love 
		for all humankind. 

		For God satisfies the thirsty, 
		and fills the hungry with good things. 

All:		O give thanks to our God who is good,
		Whose steadfast love endures forever! 

Invocation 

		Holy God, we gather this day 
		to give thanks for your steadfast love 
		and to experience afresh your desire to gather all people 
		into communities of  safety, justice and peace.
		With Christ as our guide, we seek to grow into “a new self” 
		in your image:  generous, compassionate, welcoming.
		Baptized into Christ, 
		we seek to love all of our sisters and brothers 
		with Christ’s  inclusive love that sees beyond difference 
		and extends the hand of peace to strangers.
		Send your Spirit among us 					
		and inspire our imaginations and wills 
		in the things that make for peace, 
		for we pray in the name of the One 
		who was called the Prince of Peace, Amen. 

Bell Tone
Call to Confession

	This week we remember the events of sixty-five years ago:
	the bombing of  Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 
	In the decades since, 
	the world has lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation 
	and many have worked and struggled for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

		O God, like a father who teaches his child to walk, 
		like a mother who feeds and heals her children, 
		You desire to nourish all people and rescue them from injustice.
		You call us into this work of justice-making and care. 
		Yet we follow other paths; 
		we make choices that lead to violence and destruction.
 
		Meet us here and teach us how to put aside 
		all temptations that lead to violence, 
		from the smallest to the most global.    Bell Tone
	
Assurance of Pardon

	The apostle Paul calls us to seek the things that are above 
	and find new life revealed in Christ. 
	As we have been called by Christ, we put away the things that lead to death 
	and Christ’s life is revealed in us. 
	Friends, believe the Good News of the gospel: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
	Bell Tone

Passing the Peace

	With the hope of those who are forgiven, 
	and with a commitment to walk in the way of peace, 
	let us pass the peace of Christ to our neighbors.                

Call to Offering  

	The God who has blessed our lives calls us to store our riches with God. 
	In thanksgiving and in faithfulness, let us share our gifts and offerings.
	
Dedication
	
	Loving and merciful God, 
	we offer these gifts in gratitude 
	for all the ways in which you have blessed our lives. 
	We offer these gifts to remember 
	that you are the source of our hope and our peace. 
	With these gifts we commit ourselves to serve you 
	and to work for peace in this world. 
	Bless these gifts that they might be used 
	in ministries of restoration and reconciliation. Amen. 

Benediction

	Go now into the world, 
	renewed in hope and dedication to serve God 
	with all your heart and strength 
	and to work for reconciliation among all of God’s peoples 
	until the whole human family can live in peace and security.                Amen. 

Bell Tone

Ringing in Peace: Service Prayers for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost, was written by the Rev. Christopher Ney, Pastor of Central Congregational Church, UCC, of Newburyport, MA.

Copyright 2010 Local Church Ministries, Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH  44115-1100.  Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education.  All publishing rights reserved.  
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