Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Breathe…listen deep…

Beloved Divine,
our beginning and our end,
you speak creation into being
with a breath of love.
Help us to listen and to hear you.

And when we close our ears and our hearts
to your creative word:
have mercy on us.

Breathe…listen deep…

Jesus Christ, Word made Flesh,
you are the heartbeat of love
breathed into humanity.
Help us to listen and to hear you.

And when we close our ears and our hearts
to your saving healing presence:
have mercy on us.

Breathe…listen deep…

Holy Spirit of the living God,
you are the breath of love in us
resounding with vitality and joy.
Help us to listen and to hear you.

And when we close our ears and our hearts
to the rush of your renewing breeze:
have mercy on us.

Breathe…listen deep…

Amen

Ian Ferguson, offered for worship, 6/8

Prayers of the People

Faithful God,
We come today,
listening for your presence in a world that is troubled.
We come with Jacob and Jesus to listen for you …
In Syria, where people have been displaced, people have been killed, where families and friendships have been destroyed by the conflict, where hopes have been lost
and dreams have been shattered.
In this place of struggle, as with Jacob,
may people hear you and trust you are with them.

We come with Jacob and Jesus to listen for you …
In the USA, where people are divided and are more and more choosing one side or another, where what is truth seems to be dependent on who is speaking, where the gap between the people who have work and homes and healthcare and those who do not seems to be growing ever wider.
In this place of struggle,
may everyone keep wrestling to find the truth

Reconciling God,
We come today, looking for your presence in the church.
We come with Jacob and Jesus to look for you

In the wider church, with its different denominations
and its presence in so many places
We pray for an institution which often seems
to have a life of its own,
That is reluctant to face its shortfalls,
That at times does not speak and live your truth.
May the church embrace the struggle to be faithful rather than deny its weaknesses and failings
May the church seek reconciliation
among the people it has hurt or failed.

We look for you in the Uniting Church in Australia
We pray for our leaders,
Nationally, in our State in our presbytery,
in our community of BUC
We pray for our members,
That we may all stand for justice, truth and reconciliation.

We come today, listening for your presence in our community.
We come with Jacob and Jesus to know you …

In the community of Brunswick,
In the people who are live in rooming houses,
In our friends at Stewart Lodge,
In the people who are sleeping rough
on these cold nights and days,

We pray for the community of Brunswick Uniting,
for those of us who are vulnerable and uncertain,
for those of us who like Jacob are alone and afraid,
for those of us who like Jesus are grieving and tired
and feel we have little more to give.
May we receive strength to continue on our paths.

Faithful God,
May we see your compassionate love
even when we are vulnerable and uncertain.
Jesus who feeds us,
May we know that you are with us when we struggle and grieve,
And may we feel the Spirit’s healing
and life giving power move in us.

Amen

Kirsty Bennett, offered for worship 6/8