Prayer of Approach: –

Loving Lord, there are many sounds around us,
lots of voices making lots of noise.
Help us to hear your voice:
of encouragement, of challenge,
of peace and comfort and joy,
as you speak into our hearts today.
Lord, we are gathered here safely,
in the presence of the good shepherd.
We feel your arms penning us in,
surrounding us with your love.
We are secure in belonging to you.
You know us, and we rejoice in knowing you.
Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

Jesus, you want us to have life and live it to the full.
You are the good shepherd
who gave his life for his sheep –
and that means us!
As a shepherd knows his sheep by name,
so, Lord, do you know each one of us.
You call us by our name
to come into your divine presence –
We worship you, O Lord.

Lord, we know what we want, and we want it now.
We will follow any new fad to get it; or any stranger.
Forgive us, good shepherd, and bring us back
to where we know and are truly known.

Lord, we know where we want to go.
And sometimes, we don’t mind treading on a few toes to get
there, even trying to get ahead of our leader.
Forgive us, good shepherd, and bring us back
to where we know and are truly known.

We think we know who we are,
but only you, Lord, truly know us.
Forgive us, good shepherd, and bring us back
to where we know and are truly known.

Lord, sometimes we are content with a lesser form of life
than the one you desire for us.
We don’t always try to get to know other people
before we let them influence us.
Forgive us, good shepherd, and bring us back
to where we know and are truly known.
Thank you, O God, that in you we have the safety and security
of your abundant forgiveness. As a woolly jumper can hold us
tight, surrounding us with warmth and well-being, so does your
forgiveness wrap us in security and new hope. Praise be to God.

Lord have mercy.  Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all that separates us from a loving relationship with You.  Empower us as we seek to live a life of reverence for you and with a sincere love for others.  Amen.

Assurance Of Forgiveness 

(from 1Peter 1: 21)

  Our faith and our hope are fixed on God who raised Jesus from death and gave Him glory.  Upon this trust, and having confessed our sins to God, we can be confident that our sins are forgiven, and our lives cleansed in the sight of God.

Thanks be to God.

Prayers of Intercession

Dear Lord, help us to listen to the voice of Jesus:
and follow where he leads.

Dear Lord, as we come together now to pray for the needs of the world, help us to focus on who you are. Help us to choose you to be our great influencer. Help us not to listen to the voices in the world that would turn us away from you but instead to focus on your words and your ways. We pause for a moment to confess, in the silence, times when other voices have had priority over yours this week.

Help us to learn from these experiences so that, when we face the same situations again, we will know how to focus on your guidance and leading instead of going our own way.

We also think now about times this week when we had the courage to follow your lead. Help us to grow in our faith so that it becomes easier and easier to go your way and not ours.

Dear Lord, help us to listen to the voice of Jesus:
and follow where he leads.

God of love and liberty, ANZAC Day is a time of remembrance. We bring our thanks this day for the peace and security we enjoy, which was won for us through the courage and devotion of those who gave their lives in time of war. We pray that their labour and sacrifice may not be in vain, but that their spirit may live on in us and in generations to come. That the liberty, truth and justice which they sought to preserve may be seen and known in all the nations upon earth. 

Dear Lord, help us to listen to the voice of Jesus:
and follow where he leads.

Heavenly Father, we rejoice that this week will bring the coronation of King Charles III. We pray for him as he prepares for this moment. Fill him with your wisdom that he may reign righteously and with integrity. Help him to listen only to you as his guide and influencer so that he will lead our nation with wisdom. Give the king courage and an awareness of your presence as he comes to this auspicious moment. We pray for the ceremony in Westminster Abbey that it might be another opportunity for the world to see who you are through the words, readings, hymns and prayers. We ask for safety during the ceremony and the celebrations . We ask that your blessing will rest on all who are participating in any way. And we remember with joy the service and dedication of Queen Elizabeth II, who followed you all her life.

Dear Lord, help us to listen to the voice of Jesus:
and follow where he leads.

We pray for our world, where so many leaders and rulers do not follow your way, Lord Jesus. We ask that you would show yourself clearly to all those in power so that they choose to follow. We lift particular places of conflict and pain to you this week: Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen, and other places of conflict no longer in the news. Lord, raise up people of courage and peacemakers in these lands whose influence will lead to a cessation of violence and, instead, your reign of peace.

Dear Lord, help us to listen to the voice of Jesus:
and follow where he leads.

We pray for our own government, asking that its minsters will be people of integrity. We pray for those who are decision-makers, that they will be given (and listen to) wisdom. We continue to pray for an end to the strikes and unsettling situations. We pray for all those who just cannot make ends meet anymore and are in despair. We continue to pray for our foodbanks and other support agencies. Help us as individuals, and as a church community, to seek your wisdom on what more we might be able to do to help others in our local communities.

Dear Lord, help us to listen to the voice of Jesus:
and follow where he leads.

Dear Lord, we pray for those who are in particular need of your comfort and sustaining love right now. We pray for those who are ill, in sadness or in confusion. We lift up to you those who are anxious or depressed, asking you to give them a revelation of your joy. Bring peace to those in distress. Especially we remember…

Give us the wisdom to know how to be a help, a comfort and support.

Dear Lord, help us to listen to the voice of Jesus:
and follow where he leads.

As we go into this new week, go before us, Lord, so that we can see where you are leading. Whether life is very normal this week or full of surprises and unexpected moments, help us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on you and our ears tuned to listen to your voice.

All these prayers we ask in the name of Jesus, our Good Shepherd. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil,

For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

Now and forever.  Amen.