CALL TO WORSHIP
The
world is, as always, a tumultuous place.
We
take a pause, we create a quiet space in the tumult to pray and
listen and be with God.
Seeking
to be refreshed and renewed so we can continue to live and love.
Come,
let us worship...
Opening PRAYER
God
of Community, we gather in our own spaces, separated and yet united
with our family of faith.
As
we pause to listen and pray and reflect, move in our hearts and
souls.
Remind
us what it means to be part of a community based on love and care for
each other.
Restore
our hope, re-energize us, fill us with what we need to live and love.
We
pray in the name of Jesus, the one we call Teacher, Redeemer, Healer,
and Christ. Amen.
PRAYER FOR AND ASSURANCE OF GRACE
Source
of Life, you call us to live in community, loving our neighbours as
we love ourselves.
And
we really want to do that. We really try to do that.
And
sometimes we do it well. Other times we could do so much better.
God
of Grace, you call us to live in community, loving our neighbours as
we love ourselves.
Help
us find the balance point between our own wants and what best
supports our neighbours.
In
a culture
that so often tells us
that the individual is king,
reawaken
in us the glory of being part of a community and putting the
community’s needs first.
Push
us to pause and ask how our actions can best support all the members
of the community.
And
in this way live out our call to be people of love.
God
of Grace, where we succeed and where we fail to live out Love
help
us keep living
and loving.
---time
of silent prayer...
God
is Gracious, God is Forgiving, God is Loving.
Where
we succeed God celebrates with us.
Where
we struggle, God gives us the chance and the tools to try again.
And
in all of it God loves us, so that we can love ourselves and each
other.
Thanks
and praise be to God! Amen,
Prayers of the People
God
of community, we open our hearts, our minds, our very beings to your
presence.
Together
with the rest of your global community we come before you in prayer.
We
look at the world around us and see the wonders of creation:
flashing
lightning and rolling thunder,
the
beautiful colours in the sky at sunrise and sunset,
fields
of golden canola in flower,
the
smiles and the twinkling eyes
of the people we meet day by day.
Recognizing
the wonders of the world we share our words of Awe.
Loving
God, on this, as on every day, we join with our neighbours near and
far
to
share our concerns and struggles.
We
pray with and for:
those
who wrestle
with illness of body or mind or spirit;
those
who worry
about next month’s rent, or the power bill, of groceries;
those
who live
with the threat of violence on a regular basis;
those
who are
dealing with the vagaries of weather and natural disasters;
those
who stare
into the reality of death and grief and loss;
those
who feel lost and alone;
all
those who need
a dose of hope to counter the despair that life has brought them.
Remembering
all the reasons people struggle in life we share our prayers for
Help.
Gift-Giver,
with the rest of your beloved children we say
Thanks
for the gifts we have received:
for
family and friends and loved ones who share our lives;
for
food on our tables and a roof over our heads;
for
the
laughter of children and the wisdom of elders;
for
the wisdom of children and the laughter of elders;
for
gifts so innumerable they can barely be listed we share gratitude and
thanksgiving.
These
things we pray in the name of Jesus, our Teacher and Guide, Rock and
Redeemer.
And
we join with Christian across the years and around the globe sharing
words he once taught his closest friends...
BLESSING:
As
worship draws to a close the week and the world await.
Go
out into the world to live and love.
Go
knowing that God: Love, Beloved, and Lover is with you each day.
Be
blessed, and be a blessing. Amen.
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