a community creating for the relentless return of Sunday
Bringer of peace, we confess we call holy places of sterile stone and dead wood instead of being built into a temple of living hearts and helping hands. Forgive us for dividing humanity when you have joined all together with the cross. May we build on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone. Hear us as we move our hearts so they may be your home…
One: You give us grace upon grace,
All: but we often hold tightly to other things instead.
One: You make your home among us,
All: but we often fill our lives with other things instead.
One: You call us to friendship,
All: but we are so busy, we don’t have time.
One: Forgive us, God,
All: for our out of order priorities,
our too-full homes and calendars,
our self-importance.
One: Come again and dwell with us,
speak to us, show us your love,
and orient our lives around You, our true center.
All: Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.
Call to Reconciliation
We know the words we have spoken which have
broken a relationship; we know the deeds we have
done which separate us from friends and families.
We know how we have failed to be faithful followers
of Jesus. Let us confess our sins, trusting that God
will touch us with the healing power of grace.
Unison Prayer of Confession
All too often, God of Excellence, it is the hem of
sin we cling to, letting it drag us through the mud of
fear and failures. You offer us that love which will
always be with us, but we find it difficult to share it
with those who need it most. You fill us with an
abundance of gifts, but we think we need them all
for ourselves.
Forgive us, God of Gentle Hope. You do not
keep a list of all that we have done wrong, but erase
our failings and foolishness, writing a new ending for
our lives. You touch us with your grace, you lift us to
our feet, you strengthen us so we may follow our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, in service to all your children.
Silence is kept
Assurance of Pardon
L: This is the good news, dear friends: God’s love
has no ending; God’s hope rests upon us each day;
God’s forgiveness restores us to new life.
P: Our God listens to us – to our cries, and to our joys;
to our hopes and to our hearts. Thanks be to God,
we are forgiven. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Thom Shuman, author of Lectionary Liturgies.
God, we admit we have not had the serenity to accept the things that cannot be changed, we have been afraid to change the things which should be changed, and we have not had the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. We attempt to plan our entire lives before we’re eighteen, we do not live in the moment. We distrust that You will make all things right, because of this, we do not surrender to Your will. For this we ask your forgiveness and your mercy.
Silent Prayers
Our lives are in your hands, O God. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Shannon Meacham, Ashland Presbyterian Church.
God, you call to us, but often we do not listen.
We are so busy speaking, we forget that conversations go two ways.
We are so busy looking for what we want, we forget to look for what you want.
Quiet our fear, our greed, and even our uncertainty,
that we may seek you, and hear you, and know you.
Forgive us our one-way conversations, our short-sighted solutions, our narrow fields of vision.
When we look only for answers, sit beside us as a friend in the questions.
When we look only for our desires, walk with us through your beautiful yet broken world.
When we look only for our own ways, open our eyes to your way,
and bring us to true life with you, today and every day.
We pray in the name of the One who lives and breathes among and within us. Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.
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