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11/30/2017 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, Advent 1B Call to Confession
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. Let us confess our sin before God, and seek God's mercy. Prayer of Confession The madness is upon us, O God. Before the turkey was even roasting this year, we were racing to the stores, focused on things instead of gratitude, Our badge of honor is in being "done" with Christmas before Christmas even arrives. Forgive us, we pray. In this waiting space, remind us to wait ... to call on your name ... to reach out and take hold of you, in the hand of a stranger ... in the embrace of a child ... in the cup of coffee with a friend. Deliver us from our impatience, O God, and restore to us the joy of anticipation this Advent season. Assurance of God's Grace We are all God's people, and God will not remember our iniquity forever. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us also forgive one another. The peace of Christ be with you. Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter today.
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11/28/2017 0 Comments Call to Worship, Advent 1 B In this waiting space,
the righteous and the unrighteous gather together, waiting for hope to be birthed on the earth. In this waiting space, the unexpected is anticipated, the nations tremble at the awesomeness of God. In this waiting space we will worship. 11/24/2017 0 Comments Prayers of the People, CKSA Good Shepherd,
We cry out to you this day, naming those who need your healing touch, your comforting presence, your reassuring word. Hear our prayers, we pray, and make us agents of healing in your name. You yourself are the Shepherd, God, looking for your sheep ... going after them ... rescuing them. Rescue your people from the places where they have been scattered by the storms of life, we pray. From poverty and piousness, from addiction and idol worship, from hopelessness and fear, Good Shepherd, bring them home to the security of your grace. You yourself are the Shepherd, God, leading your people along streams and feeding them in lush pastures. Lead your people now, we pray, away from the chaos and tyranny of our over-scheduled lives, from the insanity we have imposed upon ourselves in our day to day lives and especially over the holidays, and from our despair in the midst of the pain that surrounds and infiltrates our beings. Feed us in the pastures of calm, and restore to us the joy of your salvation. You yourself are the Shepherd, God, doctoring the injured, building up the weak, and overseeing the strong. Be present with those who are hurting, we pray. Place your healing hand upon those who are in physical, emotional, and spiritual pain, restoring them to complete wholeness and health, body, mind, and spirit. Hear also our prayers for those whom we name below ... those whose names are in our hearts and on our minds. In addition, hear our prayers for those whose names we do not know. Surround them with your steadfast love. Touch them with your infinite mercy. Fill them with a peace that passes all understanding. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 11/22/2017 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, CKSA Call to Confession
If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Let us confess our sin before God, and seek God's mercy. Prayer of Confession Great Shepherd, King of Kings, Prince of Peace, we come before you ashamed of the ways in which we have failed you: for running from you and from your community and from our responsibilities to your people in times of challenge and difficulty; for hiding from you in our distress; for a lack of courage in the face of injustice, and for going our own way instead of following your lead. Forgive us, we pray, and lead us back to the fold, where we can be restored to right relationships, strengthened in the faith and support for others. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Assurance of God's Grace In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Since we have been forgiven in Christ, let us also forgive one another. The peace of Christ be with you. Please extend the peace of Christ to ALL whom you encounter this day and throughout the holiday weekend. 11/21/2017 0 Comments Call to Worship, CKSA The shepherd calls
and the sheep recognize his voice ... the voice of the Lord calling God's sheep from distant places, to their own land ... from other flocks to their own pastures ... from darkness to light. The shepherd calls and the sheep follow to places of rest and nourishment and healing. Let us worship God. 11/17/2017 0 Comments Prayers of the People, OT 33A Liberator, Deliverer, Wisdom,
We come before you this day, lifting those who need your healing touch, your comforting presence, your reassuring word. Hear our prayers, we pray, and make us agents of healing in your name. Your people are oppressed, God! People with power are abusing their power through discriminatory practices, boundary-crossing behaviors, prejudicial violence, and fear-mongering. Those who have been silenced for too long are crying out in hashtags and kneeling postures, and yet the victims continue to be victimized by those who refuse to acknowledge their perpetuation of such injustices. Hear our cries, Liberator, and come to the rescue of your people! Embolden the voiceless to speak truth. Empower your leaders to dispense justice. Marshall your Church to serve with love and compassion all who are hurting and afraid. Your people are oppressing, God! People who call upon YOUR name are using that name to claim superiority. People with power are abusing their power through discriminatory practices, boundary-crossing behaviors, prejudicial violence, and fear-mongering. Your people are silencing the powerless and demanding that everyone subscribes to strict piousness they themselves to do not follow. Enter the hearts of your people, Deliverer! Speak to us of the grace we have received and teach us how to love one another the way we have been loved. Prophecy to your Church, O God, and open our eyes to see the effects of our own alienating exclusiveness. Your people are lost, God! Lost in the wildernesses of illness and injury, of fear and frustration, of hopelessness and despair, we long for your presence and cannot find it. Move among us, Spirit of Wisdom, and inspire in us a new understanding, a new insight, a new way of living, that our lives might glorify you. 11/15/2017 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, OT 33A Call to Confession
If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Let us confess our sin before God, and seek God's merciful forgiveness. Prayer of Confession Over and over and over and over and over and over and over we fail you, God, doing what is evil in your sight. Forgetting your commandment to serve only you, we serve many gods. Our hearts are divided. Rebelling against your commandment to love our neighbor, we speak and behave out of anger and hatred born of fear. Forgive us, we pray, though we do not deserve it, and free us from the enslavement we have brought upon ourselves as a result. Assurance of God's Grace God has promised that when we confess our sin, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sin, removing it as far as the east is from the west and remembering it no more. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God! Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us also forgive one another. The peace of Christ be with you. Please extend the peace of Christ to all whom you encounter this day. 11/14/2017 0 Comments Call to Worship, OT 33A Come, you who have fallen into old, destructive habits,
and you who have enabled it. Come, you who are weary under the weight of oppression and you who have perpetuated it. Come, you who seek wisdom and discernment, and you who offer it. Come. Listen to the Word of the Lord, and prepare your hearts for God's deliverance once again. 11/10/2017 0 Comments Prayers of the People, OT 32A Covenant-Keeping God,
We come before you this day, lifting those who need your healing touch, your comforting presence, your reassuring word. Hear our prayers, we pray, and make us agents of healing in your name. We pray for the leaders of the people, Lord --those who have been in leadership for some time, and those newly called -- and we seek your wisdom and discernment, your compassion and your mercy, that they might serve you and serve your people with the same love. We pray for your people everywhere who worship idols that cannot save them -- those who pledge their allegiance to celebrity and fame, to money and power, to objects and ideas that neither serve them nor serve you. Open their eyes to the life-giving covenant you have offered your people that all who are enslaved by idol worship might be released for new life in Christ. We pray for families, Lord, that they might commit themselves to your service, setting an example to a thousand generations. We pray that grace and peace may one day be the norm instead of the exception and that the hearts of your people will seek to live according to your plan. Hear also our prayers for those whom we name below ... those whose names are in our hearts and on our minds. In addition, hear our prayers for those whose names we do not know. Surround them with your steadfast love. Touch them with your infinite mercy. Fill them with a peace that passes all understanding. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 11/8/2017 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, OT 32A Call to Confession
God has covenanted to be our God and has commanded that we walk in God's ways, keeping God's statutes, following God's ordinances and obeying the God of our ancestors. Yet we have turned away, forsaking the One who has claimed us and called us, and turning to our own devices. Let us confess our sin before God and seek God's forgiveness. Prayer of Confession Merciful God, we are a unfaithful people. We accept and even participate in societal norms that place secular activity and business transactions ahead of opportunities for worship, while we remain stiff-necked about where and when and how worship should be conducted. Our checkbooks betray our priorities, with more of our resources being devoted to things that neither support nor sustain our lives and less being offered to you. We demand that our rights be valued over the lives of human beings giving our rights more importance than life itself. It is always about us, though we justify our actions with pious tones and selected Scriptures taken out of context. Forgive our lack of faithfulness, we pray, and turn our hearts to you for a re-ordering of our priorities and a renewed sense of belonging that redirects our devotion to you who are faithful always. Assurance of God's Grace The Lord our God has heard the words which we have spoken, and in unfailing faithfulness, has restored us to relationship through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Friend. People of God, we are forgiven! Thanks be to God! Let us live as forgiven people. Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us also forgive one another. The peace of Christ be with you. Please actively reorder your lives for the work of peace in the world this day and every day, extending the peace of Christ not just to the neighbor on the street, but also to stranger across the country and on the other side of the world .... |
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