Here’s a contemporary call to worship based on Isaiah 60:1-6 and Psalm 72, two of the suggested readings for Epiphany (January 6). It was written by the Rev. Dr. Ginny Brown Daniel.
Call to Worship
(based on Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14)
In the midst of unemployment, debt, illness, all the hardships of life,
why have you come to worship?
We come because Isaiah reminds us
that no suffering or pain can separate us from God.
I hear the Prophet calling, "Arise, shine for your light has come!"
I'm ready for that bright light from God to light my way.
We see that light in Jesus, God-with-Us,
and we recognize that light in our lives, too:
We are all created in God's image:
God's light was born in us as we breathed our first breath.
We come to worship to connect God's light in us
to God's light in Christ,
and so illumine the world.
and so illumine the world.
What a reason to worship!
How do we recognize that light?
In compassion for all,
in justice for the poor,
in welcome for the stranger
we shine God’s light into the world.
How do we recognize that light?
In compassion for all,
in justice for the poor,
in welcome for the stranger
we shine God’s light into the world.
So come let us bring the joys and hardships of life to worship
and celebrate that God’s light is already with us and within us.
and celebrate that God’s light is already with us and within us.
— written by God's Light Within Us: Prayers for the Festival of Epiphany was written by the Rev. Dr. Ginny Brown Daniel, pastor of Plymouth United Church, UCC, in Spring, Texas, and posted on the United Church of Christ’s Worship Ways website. Visit that site for other good resources for Epiphany worship.
