Call to Worship
One: We are here
All: By the grace of God.
One: We are here
All: To grow in faith.
One: We are here
All: To be sent into the world as Christ’s hands and feet.
One: Gracious God, strengthen us in faith today and nourish us with your word so that we may know your will and follow it throughout our lives.
All: Amen
Prayer of Confession
Merciful God,
in baptism you grafted us into the body of Christ,
promising us forgiveness of sin and newness of life.
But we fail to live as forgiven people.
We keep destructive habits and hold grudges.
We allow our past to hold us hostage
and are reluctant to welcome newness.
In your loving-kindness
have mercy on us and free us from sin.
Remind us of the promises you have made to us in baptism
so that we may live as your people,
claimed in the waters of promise.
Scripture Ephesians 2:1-10
1You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.
4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.