For June 25, 2017 -- Working with Ruth 2

CALL TO WORSHIP

The God who casts the seed,

is the God who gives the growth.

The God who gathers the grain,

gathers God’s people together.

We are part of God’s family,

and we have gathered for worship.

Come! Sing, pray, listen, reflect.

We celebrate God’s presence among us.

As we gather for worship, we greet our brothers and sisters with words and signs of Christ’s peace...

OPENING PRAYER

God of the harvest, God of abundance,

even the gleanings of your love fill us to overflowing.

God who has called us together today,

move within and among us, allow us to know oyour presence and hear your voice.

God who calls us to be your people, God who challenges us to care for each other,

in our time together reawaken in us the desire to serve, to share your love as we share the gleanings of our lives.

We pray as those who bear the name of Christ, who pledge to follow his path, and who pray as he taught his friends...

PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien, You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien (Lev 23:22. Lev 19:10)

God we hear your command to provide for those who are vulnerable among us.

When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” (Ruth 2:15-16)

God we hear how Boaz went above and beyond what was commanded.

God of grace, there are days,

times when we find ourselves standing in emptiness, wondering what we can find to sustain our souls

God, when we face the times of scarcity,

remind us to look, that we could glean the grace that overflows wherever you are found.

God, when our cups are full,

remind us to be like Boaz, passing the abundance to those who are struggling.

And in all these things,

May we find and share the grace that passes all understanding. Amen.

COMMISSIONING:

We have gathered. We have sung, prayed, listened, reflected..

Now we go out to live and serve.

God calls us to search the world for the gleanings of grace that have been left for us to find.

God calls us to ensure that we share from our abundance so that others can glean together a living.

We are the gleaners, we are the harvesters, the givers and the receivers.

Thanks be to God, from whom all blessings flow.

Go with God who creates, redeems, and sanctifies.

Amen.