Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Watch or 8:08

Let’s pray:

Oh Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise,
Open my eyes, and let me see the wonder of your creation.
We honour you, our Lord, for the work of your hands,
Forged in the stream of love,
Birthed by the Circle of love,
Dancing, loving and creating.

In love we are formed,
From the dust of the earth,
From the elements that give us life,
From the breath of your Holy Spirit.
May we breathe deeply at this moment,
Drawing in that same creative and loving power that gives life to our world.

We acknowledge that our eyes have not always been open,
We have failed creation,
We have failed each other.
We have broken covenant with you,
And with each other.
Lord have mercy on us.

In the same way, our eyes have not always been open to each other,
Our hearts have been closed,
Hardened by prejudices, hatreds, pride, and our own sin.
We have created and reinforced divisions between us.
Lord have mercy on us.

Help us to break down the barriers that we have created,
intentionally and unintentionally.
Our God, in you we live, move and have our being;
You have made us for yourself, O Lord,
and our heart is restless until it rests in you.
We are within you and you are within us.
You have welcomed us, you have held us in love,
And for this we thank you.

In creation we are held in hospitality,
We are held in love,
We are held in your embrace.
May our eyes be open to your welcoming embrace.

Forgive us O God, that our relationship with creation
has not reflected the same love in which it was created,
Forgive us O God that our relationship with one another
has not reflected the love that we are held in.
Heal us, forgive us, reconcile us, to one another and to the earth.

In Christ, through Christ and because of Christ,
our sin is forgiven.
Thanks be to God!

Peter Blair, Olive Way Pastor, offered for worship 12/09/2021, Season of Creation 2B

Prayers of the people

Watch or 41:24

Dear God,

It’s been a rough week, in a rough month, in what is turning out to be a very rough year.

I’m sure you’ve seen the news. It’s all bad.

Climate predictions are dire
There’s so much violence and suffering in Afghanistan
Our lockdowns seem endless
Will these four walls be my only companion?

It’s all too much God.
I can’t hold it all.
I give it to you to hold. Please, take it from me.

We care so much.
Our hearts break when we hear about the suffering in Afghanistan
When we hear of how we are destroying our home, this beautiful earth
When we wake up every day to rising case numbers
When we see more angry posts and read more sensationalised news reports.

Mother God, please hold these hurts for us.
Help us to be the small piece of this big puzzle.
Help us to find the small plot that we can till to make a difference.

We’re thankful for churches and other faith groups who help others
Making food
Caring for country
Sending out messages of love
Please walk with them
And give them strength as they help to make things better.

Your breath runs like a thread through all of us
We are knitted together as one
Lockdown has shown us that.
Help us to remain compassionate with one another
Whatever our beliefs and actions

Love is the only way we’ll get through
And you will hold the hard things for us
So that we can keep turning up.

Amen

Simone Alesich, offered for worship 12/09/2021, Season of Creation 2B