Prayer of Confession, P+9C

Call to Confession 

God said, "I will return again to my place
    until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.
    In their distress they will beg my favor: ..." (Hosea 5:15)
Let us acknowledge our guilt and seek God's face:

Prayer of Confession 

Hear our prayers for mercy, O God.
We acknowledge that we engage in empty rituals 
and tired habits
that we need to lay down --
not to earn your approval,
but to encounter you more fully.
We walk alone, proud of our independence,
exalting in our self-sufficiency,
but without you beside us,
without your voice in our ear ...
your Word in our hearts,
we fail to walk with holy purpose.
and our choices and our actions reveal it.
We have forgotten the ways in which you have rescued us,
the blessings by which we are sustained,
the grace you pour over us,
the unconditional love that claims and calls us.
And because we have forgotten, 
we betray you by our failure to extend support for those
who are drowning in chaos,
or to bless those who are struggling,
or to show grace those who have also made mistakes
or to love our neighbors.
Have mercy on us, we pray.
Deliver us from our egocentricity
and lead us forward 
with hearts so filled with gratitude
that they overflow in worship
and in communal life.

Assurance of God's Grace 

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the holy place, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12) 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.