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confession: trust the promise

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Gracious and steadfast God,
you come to us with news of hope, freedom, and restoration.
We confess that we have not believed your word
or trusted your promise.
We have been silent when we could have spoken your mercy,
selfish when we could have shared our time and gifts,
and timid when we could have shined your light into the world.
God of compassion, hold us gently.
Forgive what we have done or failed to do.
Free us from the shadow of death,
and guide our feet into the way of peace,
through Jesus Christ.

Submitted by Rev. Nathan Williams, Echo Hill Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA

confession: in the wilderness

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Call to Confession
Like John the Baptist and like the Israelites,
we often find ourselves in wildernesses.
Sometimes, the toughest wildernesses are the ones we build ourselves.
Join me in confessing the wild sin that so often takes over our lives.

 

Prayer of Confession
Forgiving God,
in this season of Advent,
we welcome the coming of your light
in a world filled with darkness.
We confess to you the ways in which we have added to that darkness
rather than obeyed our call to live as children of the light.
We ask your forgiveness:
for times when we worship violence and belittle peace,
for times when we fight amongst ourselves,
for times when we forget that we are all children of God,
for times when we do not stand up for the helpless among us.
By your tender mercy,
may the dawn from on high break upon us,
and give light to those of us that sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace. Amen.

 

Assurance of Forgiveness
By the mercy and grace of our Good God,
we may live in peace with one another
for we have been forgiven
and Christ welcomes us
as a parent welcomes home a long-lost child.
Alleluia! Amen!

 

Submitted by Rev. Stephen M. Fearing, Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, NY

CTW: lift up

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Lift up your hearts, people of God,
for the Lord has looked favorably upon us
and is sending us his beloved son.
He is raising up for us a mighty savior
in the house of his servant David.
God is showing the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our ancestors Abraham and Sarah,
that we might serve him without fear.
We go before the Lord, following John the Baptist,
to prepare the way of the Lord.
Come, let us worship God
and listen to the voice crying out in the wilderness.

 

Submitted by Rev. Stephen M. Fearing, Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, NY