Call to Worship
One: Today is a new day, and we come together to worship the Lord.
All: We will be faithful, and turn to the Lord whatever the day may bring.
One: We thank God in times of great gladness.
All: We rejoice and the heavens echo with our songs of praise!
One: We call out to God in times of great trouble.
All: We cry out and the Lord hears our sorrow.
One: Today is the day that the Lord has made! Let us be glad and rejoice in it!
All: Let us sing to the Lord our God today, and all the days of our lives! Amen.
Prayer of Renewal (Adapted from Romans 7:15-25)
Lord God, come dwell within us, for our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. I confess that, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it alone. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. When I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.” Thanks be to God that there is a power greater than me that dwells within my heart. Lord God, strengthen me. Renew my spirit and my body so that I can do what I know I should do. And may everything I do be in the name of Jesus Christ always and forever. Amen.
Scripture Romans 7:15-25
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, 23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.