Prayer of Confession, P+19B

Call to Confession

Against (God), (God) alone, have (we) sinned
    and done what is evil in (God's) sight,
so that (God is) justified in (God's) sentence
    and blameless when (God passes) judgment.  (Psalm 51:4)
Let us confess our sin before God and seek God's mercy:

Prayer of Confession

Forgive us, O God,
for we have sinned.
You speak to us through ancient scriptures
and through the words of our ancestors,
through all of creation
and through parable and story,
and still we refuse to listen.
You remind us how you saved your people
from slavery in Egypt
that your children would no longer be oppressed,
and we participate in systems
that oppress your children today,
through human trafficking
and reinforcing poverty
and rejecting those who cannot pay the price
for an education that would move them forward.
You remind us how you led your people
with pillars of cloud and pillars of fire,
so that they might find shade in the desert sun
and find their path at night,
but we pollute your firmament with smoke,
so that we cannot see you,
and we close our eyes to your direction,
choosing to follow our own way 
instead of yours.
You give us water to drink
and Living Water,
so that we may not thirst,
and we quench our desires
with things that do not satisfy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Open our eyes to the evil we perpetuate.
Open our ears to the evil we speak.
Open our hearts to the evil at the root
of all our actions,
and transform us into the people
you created us to be.

Assurance of God's Grace

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8) 

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 week.