Book Description

Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105 NRSV) Coming up with fresh, meaningful worship material each Sunday that illuminates scripture and preaching themes is a pressure-filled responsibility. That's why busy pastors and worship leaders will love this all-new edition of a perennial CSS favorite. It's an easy-to-use reference offering several prayers relating to the assigned scriptural passages for every Sunday and major observance in Cycle B of the Revised Common Lectionary. For each First Lesson, Second Lesson, and Gospel text there's a call to worship, a collect, a prayer of confession, and suggested hymns. Supplemental material includes alternate verses for several familiar hymns, as well as an anointing service, a communion and feetwashing service, and a lamentation service for the anniversary of 9/11. This complete collection offers a wide selection of practical aids for creating sincerely reverent, thematically unified worship experiences in which hymns, prayers, and scripture all work together to dance in and around God's Word. Lord, listen to your people praying. Your faithfulness is evident all around us, in the green of the hill, in the rushing of the rivers, and in the life that surrounds us. The birds who eat the seeds we leave out, and the birds who plunder the fruit we thought we would save for ourselves, are both yours. The bears who forage in the woods and who rummage through our trash are yours, also. Lord, this is your world and not ours, and surely your presence is in this place, whether or not it suits our purposes. We praise you, Lord, for who you are, and not what we would have you be. We love your world for what it is, and not what we would make it do for us. We praise you for your people as you made us, not by whom we would exclude, condemn, or deny. God of glory, your wisdom is sufficient for us this day. Amen. (sample prayer from Proper 10) Frank Ramirez is an author and pastor in the Church of the Brethren who has written numerous books, articles, and short stories. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez has served congregations in Indiana and California, and is currently pastor at Everett Church of the Brethren in Everett, Pennsylvania. His other CSS titles include Partners In Healing, A Call To Worship, He Took A Towel, The Christmas Star, and Coming Home.