Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Creator God you are our home and dwelling place.
As the summer unfolds before us blessing us with
long days, warmth and sunshine, rain and bird song
we feel our bodies and souls responding to these gifts.

Christ our Saviour you renew and restore us.
Through your teachings we receive the gift of life
Our eyes are opened to new ways of seeing
the beauty and uniqueness of the people that we meet.

Holy Spirit, you are the breath of life within us.
You whisper words of love and hope into our hearts
transforming our ordinariness into something more,
continually reshaping us to give glory to God. Amen

Creator God, Renewer and Transformer we confess
that while we enjoy the blessings of summer
there are many who suffer in body and soul.

We confess our unknowing participation
in the destruction of our environment
and our complicity in creating hardship
for people who have little and receive less.

We confess the despair which causes
our hearts to break when we hear
the stories of people who have been
neglected, tortured, abused and abandoned.

Forgive our lack of action, remind us again and again
that you have searched us and know us
and that your steadfast love sustains us
as we seek to respond to a world in need. Amen

God makes her home in us and calls us to make our home in her.
In this home we are known and loved and treasured.
Trust then these words of grace from Christ our Saviour
‘Your sins are forgiven’. Thanks be to God. Amen

Saide Cameron, offered for worship 14/1/18

Prayers of the People

God you have searched us and you know us.
You know our deepest longings for our world.
We pray for the land, the land that sustains our bodies.
We pray for people whose lands are destroyed
by reckless destruction to satisfy the needs of others.
We pray for nations whose lands are under severe threat
from climate change, rising waters, natural disasters.
We give thanks for the many people throughout the world
who are seeking to restore and renew creation,
seeking new ways to be in relationship with the land.
We give thanks for the bountiful gifts of creation
and pray with longing for the day when everyone
has enough to eat and all things are shared with love.

God you discern our thoughts from far away.
You are with us as we seek to follow you.
We pray for the church locally, nationally and world wide
as we seek to be a voice for love, peace and justice.
We pray for all those who have been abused and neglected
in body, mind and soul within the life of the church.
We give thanks for the opportunity for their voices to be heard
for the acknowledgement of betrayal and suffering
and for the healing and restitution that is gradually emerging.
We give thanks for our president Stuart, our moderator Sharon,
for the leaders in presbytery and our congregation
as they lead us in speaking of love, peace and justice for all.

God you knit us together in our mothers’ wombs.
You know our sorrows, our fears and our joys.
We pray for friends, family, neighbours, colleagues
who are struggling alone and carrying heavy burdens.
We pray for people whose bodies are frail, suffering ill health
for those who live with disabilities and those who care for them,
for people who see their body as a burden instead of God’s temple.
We give thanks for health practitioners and others who minister
to us when are bodies and souls are in need of special care.
We give thanks for communities of acceptance, for healing ministries
for art in all its forms, for compassion, community, hospitality, welcome.
We give thanks for the invitation to glorify God in our bodies. Amen

Saide Cameron, offered for worship 14/1/18