09C*
A Call to Worship
Epiphany 1C 2010
Psalm 29

We worship our glorious and Holy God.
All honour, majesty and power belong to God.
God’s people sing their praises of God’s great glory!

God voice is heard and honoured throughout creation,
and God’s glory is praised throughout the heavens!
God’s voice empowers people with new life and joy.

The Lord our God gives peace to all God’s people.
They are strengthened and blessed by God.
Our God is worthy of reverence and praise, and
so we gather to glorify and worship our holy God. Amen.



Prayers of Praise and Exaltation
Epiphany 1C 2010
Psalm 29

With reverent awe, we approach the Holy God,
as together with all the heavenly hosts, we bring our
praise and thankfulness for all God great mercies.

We give honour to the Lord our God, because we can
see in nature, God’s power in ways we can appreciate.
In humble awe, we see and experience the power of God
In the stormy wild winds; and in the strength of the sea
with its tumbling mighty waves and swirling currents.
We give praise for God’s command and control of creation,
and for that infinite balance that monitors the forces of chaos
and disunity, and the energies of peace and harmony in this world.

We give praise and thanks for the way God’s voice
and presence comes to us in so many ways—
through the birthing-pains of new life in its season;
through the vulnerability and playfulness of young creatures;
through the thundering noise and brilliance of storms;
through the power of the waters as they crash and roar;
through the strength of earthquakes and desert storms;
through the blinding flashes of new insights, new understandings—
all these are signs of God’s presence with us and amongst us,
and for all these things and more, we give our thanks and praise.

O Lord, our King, and our supreme and glorious God,
in addition to all these our offerings of praises and thankfulness,
we come to reverently bow before you to thank you for your
great gift of peace to your people - that special blessing of a
quiet mind and heart, as we securely rest in God’s presence
within and around us. We thank you too, for the strength and
courage God gives us each day to keep on trusting and believing
in our faithful God – regardless of our circumstances. AMEN.


A Personal Meditation
Epiphany 1C 2010
Psalm 29

The hosts of angels in the heavenly places sing their
praises to the glory and honour of their majestic God—
and I add my humble voice to those heavenly choirs.
From my limited understanding of the Lord of the universe,
I too, sing and praise my God - the Holy One, the Lord of all.

Creative pause: I join with the angels to honour God’s glory.


Each day, I experience God’s presence with me, through
the signs and symbols of God’s involvement in our world—
but especially through the unexpected upheavals of daily life,
which can be storm-like in their variations, and in their capacity
to overpower me; and to make me feel so vulnerable. And yet,
through all this – our God – my God - is there with me.

Creative pause: Each day God’s powers are revealed.


Yet these upheavals also speak to me of God’s capacity
to overcome and to deal with conflicting powers and forces;
and to give me an awareness – even a sense of confidence—
in God’s presence with me, to bless me in my struggles.
I am assured that even through the storms of life,
that the Holy God is there with me, blessing me with peace.

Creative pause: Peace through and after the storms of life.


These upheavals and storms are also symbols of the struggle
of birthing, of new life with its writhing pressures, and its struggles
to bring forth something new and beautiful that will immeasurably
enrich me. Following these storms, the landscape has changed,
and familiar places are charged with a freshness and new vitality—
all of which are new beginnings of life in, with, and through God.

Creative pause: New experiences bring changes.



Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and Meditations are from
‘The New Revised Standard Version’ Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union'); as it offers an easy sequential numbering
for the Revised Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.

If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2010 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

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