Worship Elements: The Life That Really Is Life

1 Timothy 6:6-19 (CEB) · Passing the Flame · Series Launch

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. I’m [NAME], [CONNECTION to McPherson First]. Whether you’ve been part of this community for years or this is your first time, whether you’re in the sanctuary or joining us online, we are glad you’re with us. You belong here.

Today we begin a new series called Passing the Flame, walking through Paul’s letters to a young pastor named Timothy. Paul writes to someone he calls his child in the faith, asking Timothy to take hold of what matters most and to carry it forward. The series is an invitation to think about what has been passed to us and what we are being asked to pass to others.

Our first message sits with one question: what is actually worth holding onto? Paul tells the Ephesian church that godliness combined with contentment is a great source of profit, and he invites them to take hold of the life that really is life.

As followers of Jesus, we make five promises to God and to one another: prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Today the promise we will sit with most closely is gifts, our offering of money and self to God’s purposes. Before you decide whether you can afford to give, Paul would want you to hear that God has already given you enough.

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: We didn’t bring anything into the world.
People: And we can’t take anything out of it.
Leader: Yet God has provided food, clothing, and far more.
People: God richly provides everything for our enjoyment.
Leader: Come, not to earn what you already have.
People: Come to receive the life that really is life.
Leader: Lay down the scorekeeping at the door.
People: We come with open hands and grateful hearts.

Welcome Your Neighbor

We’re about to turn and greet each other. That simple act is part of witness, one of the five promises we make to God and one another, because witness starts with actually seeing the people around us. The way we treat the person in the next seat is already part of how we share good news.

Think of someone in your life still chasing what cannot be carried home, who needs to glimpse the life that really is life. Could you invite them to worship next Sunday?

Please stand and welcome your neighbor. If you’re worshiping with us online, know that you’re part of this greeting too. Then remain standing as we join together in song.

Opening Prayer

We’ve been singing together. Now let’s pray. Join me in the words on the screen, asking God to quiet our calculations and steady our grip.

All: God of enough, quiet the calculations we carried in this morning. Thank you for breath, bread, and belonging. Loosen our grip on what is uncertain, and help us take hold of the life you have already extended. In the name of Jesus Christ, who is the life that really is life. Amen.

Pastoral and Lord’s Prayer

Whether you’re here in the sanctuary or worshiping with us online, this is our time to pray together as one church. I’ll leave a little silence along the way; use it however feels right.

Prayers is one of the five promises we make to God and one another. You can share a prayer request on the card in your pew rack and drop it in the offering plate, or anytime through the Church Center app. Will you pray with me?

God who richly provides, you have given us everything we need for this day: breath, bread, belonging. We pause in your presence.

(pause)

Thank you for the life that really is life, the one we keep missing while we measure something else. Thank you for the quiet generosity of people who give when no one is counting, and for being the source of what we cannot earn.

We confess the calculations we keep without realizing, the way our hearts wander toward what we cannot take with us, the scorekeeping we have called normal.

We sit with what God has placed in our hands, and we listen for what God is asking us to release.

(pause)

We pray for those who are ill or recovering, those grieving losses fresh and old, those wondering whether faith is worth holding, and those facing decisions heavier than they should be. We pray for those carrying a burden they have named to no one. And we pray for a world that keeps telling us real life is somewhere other than where we live.

Bless this congregation as we begin this series. Teach us to receive what has been passed to us and to pass it on. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, who gives us the life that really is life, 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

Giving is one of the ways we worship. Gifts is one of the five promises we make to God and one another, and today Paul places the invitation right in front of us: be rich in good works, be generous, share.

To everyone who gives month after month, thank you; that steady faithfulness is its own kind of witness. And if today is your first gift, thank you for taking the 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. Checking in is how we practice presence.

As the offering is received, consider what God has placed in your hands this week, and what God may be inviting you to release.

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 offered back a piece of what God first gave us. Now we’re sent to practice service, taking hold of the life that really is life. Will you pray with me?

God who has already given everything, thank you for the gifts received this morning, visible and invisible. Bless the giver and the giving. Multiply these offerings to serve the hungry, the lonely, the seeking, and the suffering. Make our hands quick to share, our tables wide, our lives rich in the good things you invite us to do. In the name of Jesus Christ, who poured out his life for ours. Amen.

Will you stand, or remain standing, as we sing together?

Benediction

Take hold of the life that really is life. Love boldly, serve joyfully, lead courageously.

The God who provides goes before you, Christ walks beside you, and the Spirit steadies your open hands. And all God’s people said, Amen.