Prayer of Praise    

Father God, in all things, we give thanks to you for the abundant blessings you bestow upon us.  From the smallest moments of grace to the biggest triumphs, we are grateful for all that you provide and all that you are.  May this day and every day be filled with a spirit of gratitude and praise. Amen

Prayer of Confession 

Our Lord Jesus said:  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. You are truly my friends if you do what I command you.”

Let us make our confession.

Most holy God, most of the time we see ourselves as nice people,

who are trying to do the loving thing in a difficult world.

We try not to lie, cheat, malign, abuse or injure others.

We try to serve you through the church and within the community.

We pray for peace and justice, and we attempt to forgive those who sin against us.

By the standards of love in the wider community we have not done so badly.

Yet deep within we know how far we fall short of the love-standard set by Jesus,

and we even fall beneath the level that our own ideals have set us.

We feel compromised and mislead by this hustling world with its glitter.

We become frustrated and undermined by a negativity within ourselves

which diverts us and leads us into withholding love.

Loving God, we certainly need your pardoning grace and humbly we ask for it.

But also we need much more.

We seek the grace of self honesty, and a sharper awareness of our own hearts.

We need your illuminating Light, helping us to see through the humbug of society.

We need to allow ourselves to become saturated with your love.

We ask for the spur of your Spirit to make us more eager for the art of true loving,

and more determined to practice what we preach. Grant us these graces we pray, for without you we are as nothing. Hear our prayer, through Christ our Saviour.

Amen!

Assurance of Forgiveness   

Sisters and brothers in the family of God, listen well for it is written of old:

   “You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

What was thus written was in the fullness of time made gloriously visible and accessible in Jesus of Nazareth. In God name, please welcome into your minds this living truth, and accept into your hearts the saving grace of Christ Jesus.

Our sins are forgiven.

Thanks be to God.

Prayers for Others

(Responsive)

God our Saviour, may these prayers which we offer you be also a renewing of our contract to love one another even as Jesus has loved us.

We pray for the end of bitterness and violence in its many forms. Bless all peacemakers: those who negotiate between nations, or arbitrate within commerce and industry, adjudicate in family courts, defuse tensions in school grounds, and counsel conflicting parties within church denominations.

We pray for the effective, compassionate care of all who are diseased, maimed, or severely handicapped, including ailing members of this congregation. Bless all who work in clinics and hospitals: surgeons, physiotherapists, nurses, physicians, oncologists, psychiatrists, dieticians, social workers, dentists, pharmacists and the staff of hospices for the dying.

 We pray for the feeding of the hungry, the clothing of the destitute, the housing of the homeless, the reformation of prisoners, and the rehabilitation of those who have been addicted to drugs. Bless every agency, church or government, which is dedicated to the care of our disadvantaged sisters and brothers

We pray for the provision of systems of justice that that are truly fair. Whether they are within our homeland, in other nations, or international courts of justice, may those who are brought to court find equality before the law. Bless with insight and integrity each barrister and judge, work in the mind and soul of every juror, that the innocent may be exonerated and the hearts of those sentenced turned towards repentance and regeneration.

We pray for the church, for all denominations large or small, that we may love one another in practice as well as in prayer.  Bless all joint initiatives in worship, fellowship and service to the community.

May the world know that there is a grace at work in us which is not our doing but a gift from a Lover who outstrips all other. Through Christ Jesus our humble Lord.

            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.