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8/17/2018 0 Comments Prayers of the People, OT20B Hearts ache in agony.
Grief overwhelms to the point of despair. Losing our beloved is painful. Hear our cries, O God! Hear our cries for those who have led us to places of joy and celebration, to moments of victory, to faithful service. Hear our cries for those who have walked beside us in times of trial and of challenge, and who have loved us unconditionally, who have held our stories and have shown us how to live them valiantly regardless of the circumstances around us ... and maybe in spite of them. We are drowning in fear, O God! We are terrified of the consequences of leaders without experience, leaders lacking even temperament and a strong moral compass. Hear our prayers for wisdom and discernment, but also for a heart that is open to guidance and for a community of support that can offer what is lacking with courage and with integrity. Be present with your people, Lord, as we transition to new roles, seeking to live our your claim on our lives in new and exciting ways. Open our ears to your voice. Open our eyes to your activity among us. Open our hearts to your Spirit, that we may bring compassion to those who are hurting and justice to the marginalized and hope to the hopeless and reassurance to those who are suffering under the abuse of power. In the name of Christ we pray, Amen
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8/15/2018 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, OT20B Call to Confession
" ... the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Romans 8:26-27) Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy. Prayer of Confession, OT20B We sit before shrines that we have built and call upon your name, but we do not expect you to save us, God. Instead, we rely on the gods around us -- the gods we really worship -- to guide our steps ... to govern our ways. Forgive us, God, and grant us wisdom and discernment, that we might hear your voice above the din of voices in our heads: the voices of greed and lust and fear. Transform our thinking that our devotion to you becomes ever more clear in our sacrifices of thanksgiving and of praise. Assurance of God's Grace And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15) 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 everyone you encounter this day. 8/14/2018 0 Comments Call to Worship, OT20B Come as a child
before the great King ... King above all kings ... Ruler of the world. Come with an open heart and a reverent spirit to worship and to give thanks. Come with a humble heart before the throne of grace and listen for the voice of God to speak. 8/8/2018 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, OT19B Call to Confession
In our stubbornness, we refused to listen to God's voice or to submit to God's ways, following our own counsel instead. Look where it has gotten us. Let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy. Prayer of Confession, OT19B Day after day, go into battle. Sometimes, we fight wars for peace and justice, but often the conflicts in which we engage are motivated by greed. We know these by the conditions we set for the troops: "Do not tell," "Be careful that so and so doesn't get hurt," "Protect (this) above (that)." Tragically, the choices we make result in loss of life or of quality of life, of peace or of hope, of community or of wholeness for others. We do not deserve the mercy we seek, yet in the name of Christ, we may approach the throne of God boldly and claim the forgiveness granted in Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, we ask for that which we do not deserve. Transform our greedy hearts, we pray, and lead us into humility grace, and love. Assurance of God's Grace And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. (Luke 18:7-8) In the name of Jesus Christ, justice has been served in the name of unconditional love. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift! 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. 8/7/2018 0 Comments Call to Worship, OT19B Come from your places of fear and hopelessness
for the Lord our God delivers. Come from your places of striving and embattlement for the Lord our God delivers. Come from your places of anxiety and distress for the Lord our God delivers. Come from your place of grief and pain for the Lord our God delivers. Let us worship God! 8/3/2018 0 Comments Prayers of the People, OT18B Where greed and selfishness
and power-mongering are accepted as normal and those who have make all the rules for those who haven't, send your prophets to speak words of truth. Bring justice to your people, Lord, everywhere that injustice reigns. Where grief and devastation and powerlessness bring the voiceless to their knees and the innocent are rendered helpless at the hands of those in power, send your Spirit to comfort your people. Show mercy toward your people, Lord, everywhere that oppression is prevalent. Where poverty is rampant and your children cry out in hunger, and those who hoard their resources refuse to share with those who have none, send your church with bread both physical and spiritual. Feed your people, Lord, offering nourishment and strength. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers. 8/1/2018 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, OT18B Call to Confession
God has set our iniquities before us, our secret sins in the light of God's presence. Let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy. Prayer of Confession, OT18B Our selfishness and our greed, our lust and our abuse of power, our deception and our manipulation are ever before us. Daily, we are reminded of the many ways we have failed to live out your claim on our lives. Forgive us, we pray, though we know we do not deserve it. Hear our cries for mercy. Wash the guilt from our hands, and restore us to right relationship with you, O God, and with one another, that our lives might reflect your grace. Assurance of God's Grace {God} who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? (Romans 8:32) 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 ... 7/31/2018 0 Comments Call to Worship, OT18B Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is good!
God's steadfast love endures forever! The Lord blesses the poor and restores justice. God's steadfast love endures forever! The Lord redeems the repentant and shows them mercy. God's steadfast love endures forever! 7/27/2018 0 Comments Prayers of the People, OT17B The soldier goes to battle, Lord,
to serve and to protect, on battlefields and city streets, sacrificing much that all will be safe. Encircle the troops with protection, we pray, and keep them in your care, while teaching the leaders of nations the art of making peace. Those in positions of power stand in lofty places and look down upon the voiceless, summoning them, using them, and abusing them, attempting to manipulate circumstances and shattering their world. Draw them in and comfort them, we pray, emboldening them to share their stories and granting them the courage and strength to speak their truth. The innocent die as war is raged with nations and with nature, and much is lost in the fight. Be present with the grieving, Lord, and be our Rock, sustaining us in times of trial, and redeeming your world and restoring our hope. God of mercy and compassion, hear our prayers. 7/25/2018 0 Comments Prayer of Confession, OT17B Call to Confession
"But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; 15 then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:14-15) Let us confess our sin before God, and seek God's mercy. Prayer of Confession Covetousnessness, Lust, Pride, Fear, Deceit, and Manipulation. We are all guilty, every last one, of placing our own desires over our commitments to others, over our covenant with God. We do not deserve forgiveness, but we beg for it. Hear our prayers for mercy, Lord. Transform our hearts and renew a right spirit within us that we may live abundantly in your holy name. Assurance of God's Grace "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) 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~ |
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