OPENING
PRAYER
God
of grace, God of life, God of love,
you
have called us together for worship.
AS
we gather in this place,
we
bring our hopes and fears, our celebrations and cares.
In
this time of prayer and song and listening,
we
take a pause from the busy-ness of life,
we
remind ourselves that taking a break is healthy,
we
open ourselves to your wisdom, that will lead and guide us in the
week to come.
We
gather, we pray, we live, as followers of Jesus, who taught his
friends to pray together saying...
PRAYER
FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE
God,
you give us rules, guidelines to follow as we seek health and
abundant life.
And
there is a part of us which chafes at the idea that we are not in
control.
God
you challenge us to know when it is time to follow the letter of the
rule and when to bend it.
And
there are voices which insist on strict adherence no matter what the
circumstances.
God,
in your grace,
grant
us the wisdom to know how best to use the rules and traditions of our
faith to build healthy lives for ourselves and our neighbours.
God
of grace, in our failure to follow
the rules, and in our failure to suspend the rules when necessary,
we
miss the mark, we are unwise. Forgive us, teach us, that next time we
would find the path.
God
of grace and mercy, God who forgives, we live and grow through your
grace.
Thanks
be to God. Amen.
COMMISSIONING:
As
a community of faith,
we
have sung, we have prayed, we have kept time with God and each other.
As
a community that serves,
we
go back out to our varied communities where we live and serve and
love.
As
a community of love,
we
go out seeking to know when the rules need to be strict, and when
they need to be bent.
As
a community of hope,
we
go secure in the knowledge that we are not alone. God is with us.
Thanks be to God.
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