Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Watch or 3:31

God of the wind and the great breath of life,
You move constantly through us and the world of your creation.
Help us to follow the seasons, bending and growing to fill the spaces in between,
And understanding that the flow of life can not always be defined.
Forgive us for expecting instant perfection from others and ourselves,
encourage us to persist and learn from our experiences,
in the hope that what we reflect will gradually move closer to your example.

Jesus, who gave his breath that we may have life,
Through you we know God’s empathy and love for us.
Free us to follow your call to love one another.
Forgive us from the times that, through fear or distraction,
we have not seen or listened to others with the intention of understanding.
Let us remember your breath of peace and forgiveness,
as we endeavour show your kindness to others.

Holy Spirit that is breathed deeply into our beings,
Your presence calms us as the world turns,
enabling us to keep our balance.
Forgive us for thoughtless words and actions
as we allow what matters to be swept away.
Let us seek your quiet centre in the tumult of life, guiding us towards peace.
Amen

Jesus comes bringing us peace and life in abundance,
Do not doubt but believe: In Christ we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God

Amelia Ware, offered for worship 11/04/2021,  Easter 2B

Prayers of the people

Watch or 40:39 

Shalom ……….. Jesus you are miraculously here with us

Breathing your Holy Spirit of life, after death

Feel Gods Spirit Gods breath Neshamah here touching your skin, moving in out of your lungs

Breathe it deeply in                                                                                                                        PAUSE

God, through us send this breath out as your Holy Spirit of peace.

It is in our heart. We trust. We have faith that you are with us.

God send this breath of Spirit to the male leaders of this nation and all men of the World, to see the wounds they inflict on women, acknowledge their sin, turn and see their actions and take responsibility.

God send your breath to the politicians, industries, scientists, the health networks to speedily send the hoped-for vaccine, equitably to the world.  Especially to the poor, less powerful nations such as our neighbor Papua New Guinea and may they know your calm and healing peace, the warmth of your Spirit.

God send your Spirit to the hearts of miners, farmers, and all of us colonists, to feel the Ancestors spirits on the lands of First Nations Peoples to stop, pause and feel the sacredness of the paintings, images, the sacred rocks and caves of the Dreaming, before they destroy. To be truly repentant and in the spirit of Makarratta (olngu language) come together after a struggle, face the facts of wrongs and live again in peace.  Breathe your Spirit so that we as the Church and Community stand beside.   PAUSE

God, please send your Breath of Spirit through to our Government, and community, for all to take action to free the refugees. We see and feel their wounds. Enough. It has been too long.

Spirit breathe life into the silence, the shame, the burial of our racism that lets First Nations peoples die in places of custody……. too many, for too long, with 30 year old reports gathering dust. Breathe life so that recommendations are enacted, and Spirit breathes a storm to waken the politicians and our communities’ heart to make it so.

O God, May your breath stir us all, our governments into knowing we are all part of the land, the sea, the air and to love it and prevent its’ destruction before the majestic live giving ice blocks melt away.

O God we pray, that your breath & Spirit will embolden us as a Church to keep faith that the wounds are real.  That we must keep inhaling, filling ourselves with your loving Spirit to heal ourselves, to keep bringing the healing breath of Spirit to all in our community who are grieving, sad and alone.

For the Church, the Community, the World for all these we pray, O God.  Inhale and breathe out the breath you sent to free the captives from slavery in Egypt, the Spirit through your Son Jesus who you gave to us, to free us from slavery to our shadow, our deaths and gave us life, freedom forgiveness and peace.                                                      PAUSE

Breathe feel Spirit in you, around you, with you, between us all and flowing into the lives of the powerful to move them, the lives of the oppressed to heal them .

Through your Son Jesus.

Amen

Jenne Perlstein, offered for worship 11/04/2021, Easter 2B