Sunday, January 12, 2025
Baptism of Christ Year C
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22  | "Heaven Opened"

Call to Worship
L:  Come, beloved of God, to remember who you are and whose you are.
P:  God in Christ, has named us all “Beloved.”
L:  Yes, here and now, God’s heaven of love is being poured out anew.
P:  May this motion of the Holy One, shape our hearts and minds.
L:  May it brighten the Epiphany light in us and the whole creation.
P:  And may it shape our words and work into good news for the world!

Invocation (unison recommended)
Holy One, awaken us again to Your outpouring Spirit of Love.  Through this generous gift, stretch our souls wide and form us into channels of your healing grace.  Gift us with an ability to recognize You in each other, all imprinted with Your beloved blessing.  Clarify our intentions, purify our actions, fill our words with grace and our hearts with hope.  Yes, soak our thinking, our praying, our hoping, our everything in You.  Amen.

Prayer for Transformation and New Life
​​Loving God, let me enter again Your baptismal river of grace.  Let it soak every stain attached to the fabric of my life and longings.  Yes, Holy One, submerge me in You again and again and again.  Cleanse every distracting impulse luring me away from You who are my heart’s deepest desire.  Let no urgency be more important than Your forgiving love, always transforming.  Today, help me choose you above every temptation that lures me to worship lesser things.  By this of You, forgive me, renew me, and grant me the grace promised by You in Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Words of Grace
Before we thought to turn to God, God already turned toward us in love.  The saturating grace of God is trustworthy and true.  Our prayers of transformation have been met with God’s outpouring of forgiving love.  In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!  Thanks be to God!

Invitation to Generosity
The outpouring of God’s spirit described in the baptism of Jesus reminds us that God’s very nature is generous, self-giving love.  It is the source of our deepest joy.  When we open our hearts in generous giving, we give space for God’s love and joy to grow in us for the good of others.  May our hearts be stretched wide by this motion of the Holy One, as we joyfully bring our gifts.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
O Gracious God, we thank you for the invitation to grow through giving, made possible by Your outpouring spirit.  May these gifts we bring be used to form ever-new blessings in this congregation and around the world.  And may our lives be the instruments of love and joy you desire.  Amen.

Benediction
Remember that your first name is Beloved, given to you by God before any other name.  Remember also it is the name given to every human being.  May this blessed gift and claim of God grow in your heart and mind.  And may it flow through you as a blessing into the life of the world.  Blessings on you, Beloved!  Amen and Amen.

Heaven Opened: Service Prayers for the Baptism of Christ was written by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins, Conference Minister of the Heartland Conference of the United Church of Christ.