Living in a world that seems to be falling apart,
we come to find hope for the future.
Living in a world where the forces of destruction seem so strong,
we come to hear about the One who Creates and Re-Creates.
Living in a world where old habits and hatreds seem to live forever,
we come to hear God proclaim “Behold, I am doing a new thing”
God who has gathered us together,
open our hearts and minds to see the new creation in our midst.
In this time of worship,
may we be refreshed and renewed as people of Love.
We pray in the name of Jesus, who taught his friends to pray together saying...
PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE
God of the “now and the not yet”,
We admit that it is frustrating living in times of re-creation. We confess that often we would prefer certainty to the “wait and see”. We admit that we get impatient when things don't happen as quickly as we would want.
God of destruction that makes way for re-creation,
We confess that we want to hold on to what is comfortable, or at least familiar. We confess that we sometimes mistake our vision of what the world should be for your vision of what the world will be. Forgive our impatience, our arrogance, our shortsightedness and our self-centeredness. Open our hearts to the reality of your graciousness.
...time of silent prayer...
Over and over God tells us “Behold, I am doing a new thing”. God is re-creating our world and ourselves. This is grace and acceptance and forgiveness.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
COMMISSIONING:
As our time of worship closes,
we go out into world around us to live and to serve.
As those who have eaten at God's table,
we go to share food for body and spirit with God's created and re-created world.
As those who believe God is active in the world,
we go to counter the despair of destruction with the hope of a new world.
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