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Follow me
Gathering
Leader: Loving
God, you call to us, to choose life and not death,
People: to love you and follow your paths.
Leader: Yet sometimes these ways look dangerous.
People: We are tempted to turn aside, and to choose the shortcut,
the easy way.
Leader: Help us to learn your ways, to dig deep roots of faith as
we trust your love and care.
Confessing
O
God of life, we have seen your work and want to follow your
ways. We know you love us and want what is best. But do you
really mean for us to risk all for your sake and the new community
you are building? To treat everyone as a brother or sister—even
those who are different, and difficult to understand?
Dear God, you ask so much. We fear others will misunderstand
us and we will lose relationships we care about. We are afraid to
follow you all the way. And yet we know your way is the only way
to life. We know you will lead us to the kind of growth that will
not dry up or wither away. Help us to trust in you, and follow.
Amen.
Sending
We go forth this week as sisters and brothers. We are no longer
slave or free, stranger or citizen, weak or strong, outsider or insider.
For we are all one in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God!
—Linda Gehman Peachey, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Bible readings for today: Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Philemon
1-21; Luke 14:25- 33.
Bible readings for next Sunday: Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm
51:1-10; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10.
Mennonite
Worship Bulletins © 2015 MennoMedia, Harrisonburg, Va., and Kitchener,
Ont.
Cover design by Paul Stocksdale; © 2015 Church of the Brethren. Printed in
the USA. 09-04-16
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