Here are materials for the 2nd Sunday of Eastertide.
Call to Worship Psalm 16 Adapted
One: Protect us, O God, for in you we take refuge.
All: We say to the Lord, “You are the Lord;
we have no good apart from you.”
One: Those who choose other gods multiply their sorrows;
All: their drink offerings we shall not drink;
One: their names we shall not take upon our lips.
All: The Lord is our chosen portion and our cup;
One: The Lord holds our lot. We have a goodly heritage.
All: We keep the Lord always before us.
One: We shall not be moved.
All: Therefore our hearts are glad, and our souls rejoice,
and our bodies also rest secure.
One: For you, O God, do not give us up to Sheol,
as you do not let your faithful one see the Pit.
All: Like your servant, you show us the path of life.
One: In your presence there is fullness of joy, so it’s true,
which we proclaim in greeting one another,
“The peace of God be with you.”
Prayer of Invocation (in unison)
Mighty God, Wounded Lord, in whom we know the power of redemption, and by whom that power comes into the world to move and to save, to encourage and to inspire: you stand among us in the shadows of our time, which leaves its marks on us as it has on you; and we confess that this isn’t always to our liking.
We prefer to be safe than to be saved. We prefer to be deceived with fantasies of escape or erasure, while you insist upon a grounding, and sometimes grinding, truth, the only gracious way among which is love.
Yet your insistence comes with your persistence: you walk with us through trials and hardship; truly, you lead the way, and you forgive us when we dodge or duck so to get out of what trouble comes our way.
This world that you’ve made is not without trouble.
Forgive us once again our escapist wishes; restore us to your courage, your grace, your love; and fill us with awe that the troubles of this, your created world, are ones you yourself have taken on, born the weight of—as if you have confessed to us as we confess to you.
Grant that we move through every sorrow and trial of this life, then, upheld with knowledge of the final morning when, in the glorious presence of your wounded though risen Son, we will share in his resurrection, redeemed, restored to the fullness of life, and forever freed to be your people made to praise and glorify your name. Amen.