Call to Worship
Leader: The sustaining presence of God,
The sustaining promise of the Almighty,
Be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: I rejoiced when my friends said to me,
People: Let us go into the house of our God!
Leader: The house of God – a home for the prodigal and the pilgrim
Voice 1: Welcome home, you who have roamed so long in the wilderness
People: Welcome home!
Leader: The house of God – a shelter for the forsaken and forgotten.
Voice 2: Welcome home, you who have yearned so long for comfort and inclusion.
People: Welcome home!
Leader: The house of God – a hospice for those who seek wholeness and God’s healing.
Voice 3: Welcome home, you who have endured so long under the shadow of illness with challenged bodies, lives, and relationships.
People: Welcome home!
Leader: The house of God – a family for those who live in solitude and alienation.
Voice 4: Welcome home, you who have so long sought acceptance and community.
People: Welcome home!
Leader: God’s house is filled — With grace enough to embrace all who will enter in at the open door;
Voice 1: With light and understanding to show us the wisdom and truth of God’s Word;
Voice 2: With strength for those who live with affliction and infirmity;
Voice 3: With compassion for those who ask for healing and mercy;
Voice 4: With love, unbounded and unconditional, for those who will give and receive.
People: Scattered, diverse and beloved children of one sustaining Creator:
Leader: Let us go into the house of our God!
People: Welcome home!