Worship Elements: Called Before You're Ready
1 Timothy 1:12-17 (CEB) · The Gospel on Stage and Screen · Series Finale
These worship elements are an early draft being shared as a preview for the upcoming service. The final version used in worship may be adapted or revised. Pastors and worship leaders are welcome to use and adapt these for your own context.
Welcome
Welcome to worship at McPherson First United Methodist Church. I’m [NAME], [CONNECTION to McPherson First]. Whether you’ve been part of this congregation for years or this is your first time, in person or online, you belong here.
Today, in the final week of The Gospel on Stage and Screen, Paul tells Timothy about being called long before he felt ready, a testimony of mercy that became a mission. The promise we lean on most today is witness, telling the story of the mercy that found us.
For your next step, visit mcphersonfirst.org/next or open the Church Center app.
Call to Worship (8:30 only)
I invite you to join in the responsive call to worship as you see the words on display.
Leader: God calls people long before they feel ready.
People: We come as those still becoming.
Leader: Paul was shown mercy, and the mercy became a mission.
People: We are examples of God’s endless patience.
Leader: The ocean calls. The shepherd searches. The Spirit speaks.
People: We gather to listen and respond.
Leader: To the King of the ages, immortal and invisible,
People: we give honor and glory, now and always. Amen.
Welcome Your Neighbor
Paul writes, “I’m an example for those who are going to believe in him.” That sentence changes what witness means. Paul’s witness isn’t his expertise. It’s his story. Mercy came first, and the telling came after.
Think of someone in your life who needs to hear that mercy can find a person before they feel ready. Could you tell them a piece of your story, and invite them to worship next Sunday?
Please stand, welcome your neighbor, and remain standing as we join together in song.
Opening Prayer
We’ve lifted our voices in song. Now we still our hearts to pray together, using the words on display.
All: Calling God, you speak our name before we feel ready. Open our hearts to the mercy that meets us here and sends us out. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastoral and Lord’s Prayer
We enter a time of prayer together. During our prayer, there will be a couple of moments of silence. Use them however feels right. Prayers is one of the five practices through which God works in us. Text PRAY to 620-241-3626 anytime to submit a prayer request. Will you pray with me?
God of every calling, you appointed Paul to ministry while he was still speaking against you. We pause in your presence.
(pause)
We praise you because before we ever thought ourselves worthy, you had already spoken our names. You chose Paul not because he had earned the honor but because you wanted to show endless patience through his life. We thank you for this congregation and for the faithfulness that carries this church week after week.
We confess the ways we disqualify ourselves. We shrink back from opportunities we feel unprepared for. We compare our stories to others’ and decide our testimony isn’t enough. We forget that you call people while they are still becoming.
We offer our prayers of confession to God in this time of quiet.
(pause)
We give thanks for the people who invited us here, the teachers who shaped our faith, the friends who prayed us through hard seasons. We thank you for every ordinary disciple whose witness made you real to us.
Merciful God, we pray for those who feel called and afraid, those standing at the edge of a decision, those who sense you nudging them and don’t know how to answer. We pray for this church as we close a series of stories, and we pray for all who will hear you calling them through the witness of others. Send us out as examples of your endless patience.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the mercy who found us before we were ready, joining our voices in the prayer he taught us:
All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Invitation to Give and Check-In
Paul says Christ Jesus gave him strength and appointed him to ministry. Ministry in this church runs on the same pattern: people respond to a call, and the community supplies what the call requires. When we give, we practice gifts, funding the ministries that reach the ones who haven’t yet heard they’re wanted.
Thank you to those who give faithfully, month after month, quietly and steadily. You are the partners who carry this ministry through every season. If today is your first time giving, thank you for taking that step.
You can give through the offering plate, online at mcphersonfirst.org/give, or through the Church Center app, the easiest way to give from your phone.
I also invite you to check in through the Church Center app, at mcphersonfirst.org/next, or using the attendance pad in your row. Checking in is how we practice presence, showing up and being counted among the body of Christ.
Ushers, please come forward to receive this morning’s offering.
Doxology (8:30 only)
Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow. UMH #94 in E♭. Chorus.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
We’ve given our gifts and offered our prayers. Now we are sent to practice service, to be God’s hands and feet in our community. Will you pray with me?
Generous God, we give thanks for the gifts shared in this place today. Multiply what we offer to reach those who feel unqualified, unready, and unseen. Send us out as examples of your endless patience, telling the story of the mercy that found us. In Christ’s name. Amen.
Benediction
Go now, called before you’re ready. Love boldly, serve joyfully, lead courageously.
And may the God who appoints, the Christ whose mercy finds us, and the Spirit who sends us as witnesses go with you always. And all God’s people said, Amen.