Call to Worship
1.
Leader: Eternal God, whose breath is the universe, whose Word is the world—
All: amazed, we praise you.
Creating God, who with delight and play, with wisdom and beauty
fashions every creature—
in love, we thank you.
Loving God, you weave us into the great web of life,
which is our shared home, our common body, our one belonging.
Grateful, we worship you.
2.
Leader: ”The heavens are telling your glory, God;
and the firmament proclaims your handiwork.
All: Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares your Word.”
The stars have lit their candles
The dawn puts on its robe and begins the procession.
The great organ of the wind and the choir of the sea sea lift up their music.
The trees and mountains stand in awe of you.
The whales and the meadowlarks sing their praise.
The rivers flow with their offerings.
And even the continents, ever so, slowly, dance with joy.
And we, your creatures, gather with all our sibling creatures
to glorify you, to hear your Word., and to worship. Alleluia!
3.
Leader: The land holds us.
All: Sky breathes in us.
Trees stand around us alike ancestors.
Birds sing to us like friends.
Rivers flow with tears of joy.
Living beings feed us and walk with us.
In the end the earth receives us.
All Creation is God’s love poured out;
we receive it with joy, care for it with gratitude,
and in unity with all Creation we worship God. Alleluia!.
4.
Leader: Creator of the universe, you have made us, and we are in awe!
All: You have saved us and we are grateful!
You inspire us and we are full of your love.
Alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, and transform us by your grace. Alleluia!
5.
Leader: Creating God, the rising sun proclaims your goodness.
All: The flowing river speaks of your grace.
The fruit of the earth feeds us with your love.
We worship you with humble gratitude.
Bless us that we may live in harmony with all living beings,
as members of the Body of Christ, one in your Holy Spirit,
to your glory and delight. Amen.
6.
Leader: Eternal God, maker of all things, all Creation dances before you.
All: The stars and planets circle in joy and wonder.
The seas wave and clap their hands.
The trees sway to the music of your wind.
Every living thing is a song of praise to you.
And our hearts sing with thanksgiving.
Alleluia! We worship you with joy and reverence. Alleluia!
7.
Leader: Creator, O Mystery, Our Source, we praise you.
All: You have made one great Creation and we are part of it.
The harmony of all living things, woven together, is the hymn of your praise.
Our oneness is your will. Our belonging is our inheritance.
With stars and microbes, ocean currents and nerve fibers, we are one.
We dwell in the ecosystem of heaven.
We are your microbiome, O God.
We who have thought ourselves separate return.
We who have acted as if we are alone, rejoin you.
We worship you as the Body of Christ.
May our harmony with you, with one another and with all Creation
be our praise and our worship. Amen.
8.
Leader: All of Creation surrounds us, the great Circle of Life.
All: We are a part of the circle. We give thanks to you, O God our Creator!
God has blessed us with all living things, and with the gift of love.
Christ, our Teacher, lead us in the path of love, the Way of Life.
Every living thing bears glory to God.
Come, Holy Spirit, and fill us with your grace,
that we may bear fruit and give glory to God,
in our worship now, and in all of our lives. Alleluia!
Prayers
1.
Eternal God, in the beginning was the Word, and all things were created in the Word. All Creation is your Word made flesh. Speak your Word to us now, that our flesh may become your Word. We open our hearts to your presence and your grace. Amen.
2. Leader: Creator God, we celebrate your gift of Earth, your gift of all Creation.
All: We give thanks that you embodied your love in Jesus,
made your compassion real with the dust of the earth,
and so blessed our lives, our breath and our bodies.
Loving Creator, we renew our reverence for your gift.
We look to Earth not as a “resource,” for our use, but a temple of your presence,
a living being that we are part of and in relationship with.
God, we, praise you; we confess our self-centeredness.
We open our hearts to your Spirit, that we may love as you have loved us.
3.
God, you spun the stars out of the Word, you molded planets with your hands, you brought forth green living things with your breath and birthed every creature with love. The winds praise you, the mountains stand in awe, and the birds sing hymns of gratitude. We share the thanks of the waving grasses, the joy of the leaping dolphins, and the reverence of the seas. We belong to your Creation; may we honor your work, live peaceably with all living things, and work for the healing of the wounds of the earth. Amen.
4.
Creator God, we are grateful to be a part of your Creation. We give thanks for the gift of life around us, and we open our hearts to your gift within us as well. Speak your creating word to us, that re-weaves us in the web of life, that we may bear fruit, fruit that gives life, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
1.
Creator God, we confess we have not honored your Creation;
we have not loved it as you have loved us.
We have thought ourselves separate, not part of your Creation.
Forgive our ignorance and arrogance,
our greed and destructiveness.
Bring us again into the oneness of your Creation;
forgive us, heal our fears and transform our desires,
and shepherd us to be good stewards
of the gift of life.
2.
God of love, we are a broken people.
The fabric of life is tattered in our hands;
the web is torn.
Even as we wound the earth
we dream of its wholeness.
Even as we deplete Creation
we marvel at its abundance.
Even as we separate ourselves
from the natural world
we long to rejoin it,
to reclaim our sacred belonging
in the Body of Christ.
We have starved ourselves of your grace, O God.
Though we have tuned away, forgive us.
Heal us and renew us.
Deepen our hunger for unity.
Renew in us the gift of your Spirit
that we may truly be branches of one vine,
all Creation, bearing the fruit of your love.
Amen
.
Response
Leader: People of God, children of the earth,
know that the God of Life forgives all our sin,
and heals our brokenness.
As the earth receives us at our death,
God receives us and includes us.
As spring renews the face of the earth,
God renews the Holy Spirit in us,
that we may have life, and have it abundantly,
in the great ecology of grace.
By the grace of God, in the name of Christ,
the oneness and the blessing and the beauty of all Creation
are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Readings
1. [from Psalm 104, paraphrased]
Sung Response: Praise be to God, the Almighty, who rules in Creation.
Bless the Holy One, O my soul.
O Holy One, my God, you are great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
wrapped in light as your robe.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent;
You make the winds your messengers,
fire and flame your ministers.
You set the earth on its foundations,
and dress it with oceans and land .
You make the springs bubble forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills,
giving drink to every wild animal.
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches. R
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle
and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth,
and wine to gladden the heart.
oil to make the face shine,
and bread to strengthen the human heart.
The trees of God are watered abundantly;
in them the birds build their nests.
O God, how wonderful is your working!
In wisdom you create this whole miracle.
Every living being looks to you to give them their food in due season;
when you open your hand they are filled with good things.
When you take away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
when you send forth your spirit they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
May your glory, O God, endure forever.
I will sing to God as long as live.
I will sing praise to God while I have being. R
2. [From Psalm 148]
Praise God! Praise the Holy One from the heavens;
praise God in the heights!
Praise God, sun and moon;
praise God, all you shining stars!
Let them praise the name of the Creator,
who commanded and they were created.
Praise the Eternal One from the earth,
you sea creatures and all deeps!
Fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling God’s command!
Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
Rulers of the earth and all peoples!
People of every gender, age and race together!
Let them praise the name of the Loving One,
for God’s name alone is exalted.
God’s glory is throughout earth and heaven.
Praise God!
Response / Creed / Affirmation
1.
We believe in God, Creator of all, who is creating even now, bringing all things into existence, whose Word is made flesh in all Creation, whose presence is embodied in all living beings.
We follow Christ, who perfectly embodied God’s love. He taught and healed; he fed the hungry and embraced the outcast. He was at one with all Creation: even the seas upheld
him, and the wind and the waves listened to his voice. He was crucified, but even in death life blessed him: God raised him from the dead, the Ruler of Life.
We live by the Holy Spirit, the breath of life in us and all creatures: the power to love, to forgive, to create, to give life. We trust in this grace that makes us one with all Creation. And by the power of that Spirit we devote ourselves in covenant faithfulness to humble reverence and grateful service to all Creation, in the name of Christ. Amen.
2.
We praise you God, for your Creation of all that is, of galaxies and toadstools, of earth and all its wonder and goodness.
We thank you, O Christ, for you have embodied God’s love among us. You healed people in mind and body; you touched those who were rejected and laid your hands on those who were broken. You fed the hungry with the gifts of the earth. You created a new community that embodied God’s vision of justice. You have shepherded us in green pastures of love, through the deepest valleys, to a place of feasting and hospitality. You laid down your life for us, and God raised you from the dead, redeeming all flesh, making holy all living things.
We belong to you, Holy Spirit. You make us one Body with one another and with all Creation: one divine, living ecosystem of love. You empower us as stewards of life, to care for Creation, to lead all living things toward wholeness. Holy One, we belong to you; and we give our lives for the sake of life. Amen.
Suggested Songs
(Click on titles to view, and hear an audio clip, on the Music page)
An Offering verse (Tune: This Is My Father’s World)
This is your world O God, a gift of love from you.
We pray that we may faithfully serve you in all we do.
Since all we have is yours, and bears deep love from you,
Bless us with care to gladly share your love as you would do.
All Things Bright and Beautiful
[ Words: Refrain and v. 1 Cecil Alexander; vv. 2-4 Steve Garnaas-Holmes]
(Refrain) All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful: the Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens, each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colors, and made their tiny wings.
The animals that guide us and bear our heavy loads
remind us of the God who walks with us on all our roads. (Refrain…)
The creatures who befriend us and love us faithfully
make God’s pure love, that never tests, so clear and plain to see. (Refrain…)
With many kinds of glory, all fish and bugs and birds
call forth our thanks and wonder and praise beyond all words. (Refrain…)
Heavens Are Telling (Tune: Morning Has Broken)
[Ps. 19.1]
Heavens are telling, galaxies singing,
your Word compelling, “Let there be light.”
All living beings shine with your glory;
all we are seeing is your delight.
God, your love flows in every direction,
filling and blessing every dark place.
Even the shadows shine with your presence,
even the darkness hums with your grace.
Everything moving moves by your Spirit:
flight of the birds and dance of the stars,
migrating whales and flow of the river;
breath of the wind is breath that is ours.
Bless every creature, bright with God’s glory;
bless every feature, fin, fur and wing.
Each is completing God’s wondrous story;
each is God’s greeting; praises they sing.
Join in the Circle (Tune: Be Thou My Vision)
God, we are one with the water and land,
made from the dust of the earth by your hand:
one in your Spirit that in us all sings,
one with Creation, and all living things.
Giver of Life, God, our Source and our Womb,
in selfish greed we abuse and consume.
Heal us, forgive us, and bring us new birth;
bring us back home to our place in the earth.
Maker, Sustainer and Healer of all,
Servant of Love, may we honor your call:
“Join in the circle, and flourish and live:
take, bless and share, now, this life that I give.”
O Great Creating God (Tune: This Is My Father’ World)
We sing in awe, O God: each wondrous, living thing,
earth, stars and sun you made as one, and all your praises sing.
O great creating God, creating still, in grace
these gifts you give, and let us live on earth, this holy place.
We breathe as one, O God, one Body with all earth,
one flesh, one blood, one common good, one love that gives us birth.
O great creating God, your cry goes out, unheard,
for when we bruise or we misuse your earth, we scorn your Word.
We cry in grief, O God. Creation’s wounds we mourn:
by war and greed, disease and need, the web of life is torn.
O great, creating God, forgive our prideful sins
for we have scarred your earth and marred the gift where life begins.
We live in hope, O God, and bear your holiness:
in Christ we turn our hearts and learn to heal and serve and bless.
O great creating God, in grace creating still,
may we renew this world with you, in peace with your good will.
The River of God (Original Song)
[A dialogue between cantor/song-leader and congregation]
Cantor:
Praise is due to you, O God, our Beloved.
To you alone we devote our lives.
O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
Congregation (Refrain):
The river of God is full of water.
Praise to you, O God!
By mighty deeds you deliver us.
You are the hope of all people on earth. …Refrain
Morning and evening resound with joy.
We are silent in awe. —Refrain
You bless the earth and water it,
granting the blessing of bountiful growth. …Refrain
Meadows and wilderness overflow,
wearing their finest in joy. …Refrain
When the depth of our sin overwhelms us,
you forgive all our transgressions.
How blessed we are, O God,
that you hold us near your heart. …Refrain