Prayer of Confession, P+2C

Call to Confession 

Stretch out your hands to God;
    May  our souls thirst for God like a parched land. Selah
God will answer us quickly, O children of the Lord;
    our spirits fail.
God does not hide God's face from God's children,
    or we shall be like those who go down to the Pit.  (Psalm 143:6-7 with a pov shift)

Let us stretch out our hands to God and seek God's mercy:
Prayer of Confession 

Forgive us, God, 
for we do not thirst for you.
Our souls are parched, 
but we look for refreshment 
in material things.
We assuage our longing
with angry outbursts.
We behold your face in the faces
of our neighbors,
but we do not recognize it.
Instead, we chant for deportation
and for imprisonment
and for war.
How do we lead the procession
into your house 
with glad shouts of thanksgiving
and praise,
kneeling before you on Sunday
and calling on the name of the One
who lived as an unhoused
refugee
and then live as subjects
of an earthly kingdom
Monday through Saturday?
Have mercy on us, we pray!
Sing to us your song of steadfast love
that we may rise above those who taunt us,
asking, "Where is your God?"
Send your Spirit to open our eyes
to the disquiet within us,
and help us to see
what we have refused to see:
that we are the deceitful and unjust.
Send out your light and your truth,
O God,
​and let them lead us.


Assurance of God's Grace

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your[a] life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)
Hear the Good News: 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 week.