Prayer of Confession, P+6A

Call to Confession

Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8) Let us confess our failure to love before God, and seek God's mercy:

Prayer of Confession

In our haste to prove our patriotism, Lord,
we have put country before God.
We have dedicated ourselves only to the pursuit 
of our own liberty,
our own happiness,
our own prosperity,
and failed to consider our citizenship
in the kin-dom of Heaven,
which you have called us to remember first
above all else.
In our desire to be independent, 
we have forgotten what it means to be communal, 
and have changed our habits,
so that we no longer join the joyful procession
into your courts,
but oh, how quickly we will join the throngs 
of angry mobs who post scathing political comments
from our Facebook feeds!
Forgive us, God.
Remind us again who we are
and whose we are.
Return us to the scriptures we spout out of context
to teach us again to love our neighbors as ourselves
and to love our enemies and welcome the stranger among us
and care for the poor
for in doing so, we show our love for you
whom we are called to love first and foremost
above all else.

Assurance of God's Grace

So if anyone is in Christ, there[a] is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Hear the Good News: In 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 those whom you encounter this week.