Holy Love, first and last, you offer yourself to us completely and call us to your life. Yet we are afraid, for your Way demands much of us. We confess that we are often quick to judge and slow to forgive. We confess that we choose that which does not satisfy, even as you offer us abundant life. When our fear overrides your call, forgive us. When we act from our own limited love rather than your expansive grace, forgive us. Reach down to us again, lift us up as a mother lifts a child to her cheek. Cast out our fear and fill us with the breath of your Spirit, that we may live the love we see in your Son, Jesus the Christ, in whose perfect name we pray. Amen.
confession
confession: other kings
Call to Confession
Come, people of God, let us confess our sins.
Let us confess how we have fallen short of God’s plans for us.
Come, to the font to be redeemed.
Let us come to the waters of our baptism to be cleansed.
Prayer of Confession
You, God, are our one and only King.
We beg your forgiveness for the other “kings” that we kneel before:
money…
power…
gossip…
self righteousness…
racial privilege…
We beg your forgiveness, we who are broken and torn apart
by our own doings and un-doings.
Guide us to be your servants.
Lead us to trust in you as the only king we need.
Direct our faith in your sovereign power
as we strive to follow your Son,
through the power of your Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
We have done wrong to God our king
but the good news of the gospel is this:
God has chosen mercy over vengeance.
Together, through the waters of our baptism,
we have been cleansed of our sin
and are redeemed as beloved servants of a merciful King.
Alleluia! Amen!
Submitted by Rev. Stephen M. Fearing, Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, NY
confession: love, promise, call
God we thank you that you love, you promise, you call—in that order. We confess that we often see you in reverse, believing we must earn your regard. When we see you only as a rule-enforcer, forgetting that obedience to your way is true freedom, forgive us. When we see you as doling out rewards we think we have earned, forgive us. When we are so consumed with the letter of your law that we miss your Spirit, forgive us. Guide us again into your path and lead us in your truth—the truth of unending love. Amen. ~silence~
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, the Presbyterian Church of Palatine, IL
confession: hard to pin down
All: O God, you are hard to pin down. We want to be able to name you and speak of you with certainty, but you are always bigger than our words and faster than our thoughts. Forgive our attempts to control you, and our desire to speak our words on your behalf. Forgive our halfhearted ‘yes’ and our excuses for saying ‘no’ to your call. Help us to truly listen to your living word, so that we may fully love as you love and humbly serve as you serve. Amen. ~silence~
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, The Presbyterian Church of Palatine, IL
confession–co-creators?
Invitation to Tell the Truth About Ourselves
One: God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and God’s mercy endures to all generations. When we confess our brokenness, God’s grace offers us a glimpse of healing. Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, let us confess with open and honest hearts our failure to live up to God’s call. Let us pray.
Prayer of Confession (we tell the truth)
All: God our creator, you asked man and woman to tend this garden of your creating, to care for the creatures of your making, to speak and so join you in creating your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We confess that we have sinned: we have used your creation rather than cherished it, we have lived greedily rather than gratefully, we have spoken words of destruction rather than love. We acknowledge the damage our heavy footprints, our hard hearts, and our rash tongues have done, and we pray for your forgiveness. Take the dust of our lives and re-form us into your image, and then breathe into us the grace to live for you. Amen. ~silence~
Assurance of Forgiveness
One: In the beginning, God breathed life into being, and every morning God’s mercies are new. Know that you, child of God, made in God’s image, are forgiven, loved and free. Believe and live the good news:
All: God’s goodness is planted more deeply than all that is wrong. Thanks be to God!
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, The Presbyterian Church of Palatine, IL
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