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The Rev. Sandra Nuernberg, Pastor
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The Charge Year A Go in anticipation of God’s grace and mercy. Go in anticipation of Jesus’ love and forgiveness. Go in anticipation of the Holy Spirit’s presence in comfort and hope. Go in peace. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 15:5-6) Go and tell what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, the deaf hear, and the poor receive good news. Blessed are you who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Go forth as children of the light. Shine forth in the darkness. Let the gospel become flesh in you. And let the love, peace, and joy of Christ radiate from your life. Go and speak as God has spoken to you. Go and forgive as God has forgiven you. Go and love as God has loved you. Go and become as God has directed you. Go and live as Christ has commanded you. Go now into this cold world, warmed by the very presence of God. Go in safety, for there is no place that God has not already been. Go in joy, for Jesus has already gone ahead of us, and we gladly follow. Go in confidence, for we are kept in God’s care. Go as God’s children. Remember the words spoken here, review the hymns sung here, recall the prayers prayed here, rely on the fellowship known here, reverence the Savior worshiped here. Recollect the blessings found here, respond to the Spirit met here until, by God’s grace, we return here. As God sent Jesus to be the light of the world, so now the Spirit of Jesus sends us out to the world around us. May God unlock the doors of our fears, that we might freely stand among the world’s people, that we might share the touch of Jesus, that we might speak his words, “Peace be with you.” Go from here, as God’s chosen race, as God’s royal priesthood, as God’s holy nation, as God’s very own people. Go, proclaiming the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who gave new hope for life here and hereafter. As you go from here know that “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). We have listened to the Word of God. We have renewed our hope in God. We have remembered our covenant with God. Go forth, into the week, now, in the light of God’s grace and love. The Charge Year B As you go, know that Christ goes with you. Know the bond of fellowship you have in Christ. Know the communion of the Holy Spirit. Know that God’s Word is truth. And it shall not pass away. May the God of peace sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and will do this. We came this morning cold; but the Lord warmed us. We came this morning poor; but the Lord enriched us. We came this morning undeserving, but the Lord showed us mercy. Now, as we go, may the fullness and mercy of the Lord flow through us filling the hungry and warming the hopeless. Go from this place warmed by the Spirit’s fire! Go forth in the name of Jesus. Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. Go out into the world in peace; have courage; hold on to what is good; return no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak, and help the suffering; honor all people; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Go out into the world in peace. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him. Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous and strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Go forth in the name of the Lord. This is God’s charge: to give our allegiance to Jesus Christ and to love one another as he commanded. As God’s own, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, and patience, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, and crown all these things with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. You came to worship together; go now to serve. You have been given light; go now to let it shine. You have been blessed with God’s love; go now to share that love. You are Christ’s disciples. Go now to witness to all, in Christ’s name. As you have come into Christ’s healing presence, go forth to heal, to bless, to serve in the name of Jesus. Live in the grace of the Lord Jesus. As Christ has called you to follow him so he sends you forth. Go, as his true disciples. Go, and Christ will go with you. As you depart from this place of worship, go in the consciousness of Christ’s presence within you, through the Holy Spirit. Go, with the consciousness that the life of the Lord Jesus is made visible through you. By God’s grace you have been saved. By God’s grace you have been healed. By God’s grace you have been made alive. By God’s grace you have been raised with Christ Jesus. Go now with the assurance of God’s grace upon your life – at home, at school, at work, at play. Go forth in the forgiveness that is yours in Christ. Go forth in the assurance of cleansing from all sin. Go forth in claiming victory of Christ and the peace of Christ shall go with you. Go forth from here as trees – strong and healthy! Rooted and grounded in God’s Word, nurtured by God’s grace, watered and enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit, blown and bent by enough distress to make you strong. Here we have been in the presence of God. We have heard a word from the Lord. And the Lord is saying, “Whom shall I send?” So go from this place, having been changed. Go from this place, ready to serve. Go with the words on your lips, “Here am I, send me.” God is at work in the world. Even in the most barren places, God watches over us and walks with us. And so as Jesus faced temptation with the Word of God, let us also face the challenges of our own lives with God’s Word. Go out with the conviction that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God. Worship and serve the Lord, and go in peace. Go from here strengthened in your inner being. Be established in love so that everyone you meet may be touched by Christ’s love as you serve one another in the humility and grace of Jesus Christ. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. Go now to serve in God’s kingdom through the strength, the love, and the enduring presence of Jesus Christ our Lord. |
