Prayer of Praise: –  

(Uniting in Worship 1, p564, 565, 613 & 614) 

  God the Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth, gracious LORD of all, whose glory knows no bounds and whose mercy is limitless, we worship and adore you.  Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, eternal Word of God, by whose act of sacrifice you demonstrated your love for us and have set us free from our bondage to sin, we worship and adore you.  Spirit of truth and peace, source of power and life, who leads us in the way of truth and peace, we worship and adore you.

  Almighty God, we meet to celebrate your greatness, to sing you our praise and adoration.  You created the Earth by your power, you save the Human race by your mercy and renew by your grace.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we offer you our grateful worship.

  Blessed God, we thank you for the splendour of your Creation, for the beauty of this World of ours, for the wonder of life, and the mystery of love.  We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, for those things that delight and amaze us, for your guidance in the ways to use those gifts and talents with which you have endowed us, for your warm embrace during our times of disappointment and failure.

Prayer of Confession 

(Uniting in Worship 1 p 579 to 583) 

Merciful God, we come before you in penitence, knowing that we are sinful in thought, word and deed. 

We profess to be your obedient children, but in our pride, listen only to our own desires and wants.  Forgive us.

We profess to love our neighbours as we love ourselves,

but, in effect, only love ourselves.  Forgive us.

We are callous towards the needs of others, and indifferent to their sufferings. 

We are blind to our faults, we are attracted to greed and evil, evasive in listening to our conscience when temptation comes near.  Forgive us.

We find ourselves treating those who are different to us with prejudice and distrust,

we are quick to blame and hesitant to forgive.  Forgive us.

Merciful God, we have sinned through ignorance, we have sinned in times of weakness, and we have sinned through deliberate acts. 

We have sinned by what we have not done to demonstrate the love and the care you show to all people, by leaving undone those acts that would have shown kindness and consideration to the weak and powerless. 

We have sinned by making it too easy for others to do wrong and for not showing them the true path of obedience to your will and purpose in their life. 

We confess the harm we have done and which we cannot undo.

Merciful God, we are truly sorry and earnestly repent of our sins.  In humbleness we seek your forgiveness. 

In your mercy please cleanse and heal our broken hearts and minds, that we may delight in your will and walk in your way, to your glory and honour alone.  Amen. 

Assurance of Forgiveness 

(from Ezekiel 33: 12 to 20) 

God tells the Prophet Ezekiel that what He seeks in a person is their stopping their sinning and their turning to a life of doing what is right and good.  It is then, says God, that He will save that person.  We have repented of our sins and have stated our intent to walk in God’s way from now on.  Upon that expression of our faith in the grace and mercy of God, we have the confidence that God has heard our prayer, that God has seen the intent of our hearts, and that God has forgiven us and cleansed us in His sight.

Prayers for Others

Almighty God, knowing of your love for all of Humanity, especially of your compassion for the needy, we come to you with our cares and our concerns.

We bring to you our prayers for the World around us and for people individually.

We pray for an end to violence in our cities and neighbourhoods,

that you will touch people’s hearts so that they will value the dignity of each person and seek ways to help one another fulfill one’s potential.

We pray for all who are recovering from recent hurricanes and storms, from wildfires and droughts,

that you will heal their pain, strengthen them with hope, and give them resourcefulness to rebuild what has been lost.

We pray for those who experience injustice in their workplace,

that you will free them from abuse, bring an end to dehumanizing practices, and bring about an unveiling of the unjust activities.

We pray for all who are struggling with addictions,

that you will open the path to freedom for them and guide them to appropriate resources to aid and guide them.

We pray for emergency and relief workers,

that you will protect them from harm, give them the strength to fulfill their duties, and help them offer support and hope to those in crisis.

We pray for reconciliation amongst nations,

that you will inspire and guide World leaders to speak the truth to one another and find ways to resolve differences through dialogue and cooperation.

We pray for your Church,

that we may be a community that continues Christ’s mission of evangelizing and reconciling those who are estranged from others.

We pray for Christian Unity,

that all who follow Christ may form a bond of dedication as we work to bring hope and healing to the World.

We pray for the gift of listening,

that the Holy Spirit will open our minds and hearts to hear what others say and to be attentive to your word spoken deep within our hearts.

Copyright © 2020. Joe Milner. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal or parish use. – https://liturgy.slu.edu/23OrdA090620/ideas_other.html

We pray for Kylie Conomos in her role as chaplain at Bald Hills State School.  May she be inspired to undertake her responsibilities and tasks.  Please give to her the energy and endurance to share the struggles of families and children.  But may she also see the joy of lives restored and renewed.

We pray for the volunteers who lead Religious Instruction classes at Bald Hills State.  May they enthuse the children in their classes to seek to learn and understand more about the message of your love and grace for them.  May the Holy spirit work in the hearts and minds of the children so that they will become the fertile ground for the good seed to grow and bear fruit.

Lord God, we bring these prayers to you, trusting in your lovingkindness.  To your glory we pray.

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.