Worship Elements: Worth Searching For
Luke 15:1-10 (CEB) · The Gospel on Stage and Screen · Communion Sunday
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 decades or this is your first Sunday, in person or online, you belong here.
Today’s scripture tells two stories about people who refused to stop searching for one lost thing. The promise we lean on most today is presence, showing up to be counted among the ones God has searched for and brought home.
We gather around Christ’s table for Holy Communion, an open table where all are welcome, because God’s grace reaches us before we reach for God. If you’re worshiping online, have a little bread and juice ready.
A new appointive year begins today. Pastor Chantel and I are grateful to serve this congregation another year, and card baskets are in the lobby if you’d like to leave either of us a word.
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 searches for what is lost and does not give up.
People: We come to worship the God who finds us.
Leader: One sheep out of a hundred. One coin out of ten.
People: Every single one matters to God.
Leader: When what was lost is found, heaven celebrates.
People: We celebrate the God whose love never stops seeking.
Leader: God has found us and sets a table in our midst.
People: We come to Christ’s table with gratitude and joy.
Welcome Your Neighbor
In today’s parables, the shepherd searches until he finds the sheep and then calls his neighbors to celebrate. The woman tears her house apart for one coin and gathers her friends to rejoice. Joy in this story is never private. It always spills over into community. That’s what witness looks like: sharing the good news that you’ve been found.
Picture someone in your life who feels overlooked or forgotten, who needs to hear they are worth searching for. Could you let them know, and invite them to worship next Sunday?
Please stand, welcome your neighbor, and then remain standing as we join together in song.
Opening Prayer
We’ve lifted our voices in song. Now we quiet our hearts to pray together, using the words on display.
All: Seeking God, you found us before we knew we were lost. Open our eyes to your pursuing love, and our hearts to the joy of being found. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastoral 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?
Seeking God, you are the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find the one. You are the woman who lights the lamp and sweeps every corner until what was lost is recovered. We pause in your presence.
(pause)
We praise you because before we ever thought to look for you, you were already looking for us. We thank you for this community that gathers week after week, for the faithfulness of those who show up, who pray, who serve, who invite. On this morning when a new appointive year begins, we give thanks for the pastors who serve this congregation and for the ministry we share in this place. We also pray for colleagues across our conference who are beginning new appointments today. Settle them and their families into new homes and unfamiliar communities. Open the hearts of every congregation receiving a new pastor. Steady every pastor stepping into ground they do not yet know. Bless every appointment as the work of your Spirit in your Church.
We confess that sometimes we stop searching. We give up on relationships that feel too difficult. We write off people who seem too far gone. We forget that you never calculate the cost of pursuit. You simply go.
We offer our prayers of confession to God in this time of quiet.
(pause)
We give thanks for every person in this room who makes this church a place where people can be found. For the ones who keep the lamp lit. For the ones who sweep every corner of welcome. For the ones who carry someone home on their shoulders.
God of relentless love, we pray for those in our community who feel lost today, lost in grief, in addiction, in loneliness, in doubt. We pray for families navigating hard seasons. We pray for the person who almost came to church this morning but didn’t. Search for them still. And use us as part of the search party. Strengthen this congregation to be a people who never stop looking, never stop welcoming, never stop celebrating when someone comes home.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the good shepherd who comes after every lost one. Amen.
(On Communion Sundays the Lord’s Prayer is prayed within the Great Thanksgiving below, so it is not repeated here.)
Invitation to Give and Check-In
The shepherd in today’s parable put everything on the line for one sheep. That’s the math of the kingdom: every person is worth the full effort. When we give, we practice gifts, joining God’s search by funding the ministries that find people.
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.
Holy Communion: Invitation, Confession, and Pardon
We come now to the Lord’s table. If you are worshiping online, please have bread and juice ready. Together we’ll share Christ’s invitation, confess where we’ve fallen short, and receive God’s grace. Join in the words on screen.
Jesus told stories of a shepherd who searched for one lost sheep and a woman who swept every corner of her house to find one lost coin. Jesus himself is the seeker who comes after us, and at this table he meets us with bread and cup. We don’t come because we have earned our way in. We come because God has already searched for us and brought us home.
This is God’s table, and all are invited. Whether you’ve been following Jesus your whole life or you’re still figuring out what you believe, whether you feel found today or still a little lost, you belong at this table. We prepare our hearts to receive. Pray with me the confession before you:
All: Merciful God, we confess that we have stopped searching for the ones you still pursue. We have written off people as too far gone. We have kept our distance from neighbors who needed to be welcomed. We have forgotten that we, too, were once lost and have been found by your grace. Forgive us. Give us the shepherd’s heart, the sweeper’s persistence, and the father’s welcome, so we can be part of your search party in the world. Amen.
Take a moment for your own silent prayer.
(All pray in silence)
Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven! Glory to God. Amen.
Holy Communion: The Great Thanksgiving
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth.
You made us in your image and called us good. When we wandered away, you did not give up on us. You came looking. You sent prophets who spoke your name in the wilderness. You called your people home again and again. And when the time was right, you sent your Son, the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
In Jesus, you revealed a God who refuses to count the cost of the search. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He welcomed children and outsiders. He told stories of lost sheep, lost coins, and lost sons, each one found and celebrated by a love that would not be deterred.
And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
People: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. Through his suffering, death, and resurrection you gave birth to your Church, set us free from sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
And so, remembering all you have done for us in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves to you: our praise, our thanks, our lives. United with Christ, we proclaim the mystery of faith:
People: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and juice. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever.
With the confidence of children of God, we pray together:
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.
Holy Communion: Receiving
(Lift the bread and break it)
The bread we break is the body of Christ, given for us.
(Lift the cup)
The cup we share is Christ’s life, poured out for us. The shepherd has found his sheep. The woman has found her coin. The celebration the parables describe begins here, at this table set for the found.
Friends, this is the table set for the found, and all are welcome. You don’t have to be a member of this church or even a United Methodist. Come with an open heart to receive God’s love.
When you come forward, you’ll receive a piece of bread. Hold it carefully and reverently. It represents the body of Christ. Then you’ll be offered a small cup of unfermented wine or grape juice. Eat the bread and drink the cup. After receiving, you’re welcome to kneel at the rail to pray. Place your empty cup in the holders along the rail, and return to your seat using the side aisles.
If you’re worshiping online, receive the bread and cup now, knowing you are part of this body.
Friends, the table is ready. As the ushers direct your row, come and receive.
Prayer after Holy Communion
We’ve been found at Christ’s table. Now we’re sent to practice service, joining the search party for everyone still being looked for. Will you pray with me?
Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. You have searched for us and found us, welcomed us and fed us, named us and claimed us as your own. Send us into the world in the strength of your Spirit to search for others with the same relentless love, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Benediction
Go now, worth searching for. Love boldly, serve joyfully, lead courageously.
And may the God who leaves the ninety-nine, the Christ who finds the one, and the Spirit who throws the welcome home party go with you always. And all God’s people said, Amen.