Here are worship materials for the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 5B.
Call to Worship 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 Adapted
One: We believe, and so we speak—
All: Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus.
One: Yes, and grace, as it extends to more and more people,
may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
All: So we do not lose heart.
One: Even though our outer nature is wasting away,
our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
All: For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us
for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure!
One: We look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen—
All: For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
One: For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,
we have a building from God,
All: This is a house not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens,
a house where God’s grace is unbounded..
One: In the hope of living amidst this eternal dwelling of unbounded grace,
we greet one another, “The peace of Christ be with you and within in you.”
All: So also with you.
Prayer of Invocation (in unison)
O God our Loving Father, help us to trust in you—to surrender to your good will for us and for the whole world. While we prefer the ways of the world, offer us your true Gospel. While we bend to strong men to rule, hold out to us the promise of your reign and the ultimate victory of your self-giving love. While we ordain principalities with power, whisper in our hearts the everlasting power of your kingdom.
For all these sins, corporate and individual, of commission and of omission, we confess; and we rely as ever on your Holy Spirit of forgiveness and freedom. Loose us from the bonds of sin and death; renew us in the bonds of your love and grace. Bind us to you and to one another that we together might be the mystical body of your Son, Jesus Christ.
In this, be as ever at work in the world, a new body politic that resists temptation, enacts forgiveness, and renews faith.
By this, we are saved, and we are safe—in your care, free from fear and death and the coercion that can come of these, clothed in what is eternal and given shelter in what abides forever.
Grant us such faith as this, which comforts and challenges.
In Christ our true king, we pray. Amen.