Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Watch or 6:06

Look into your heart …

Creator and lover of us all, you have written your word of love on our hearts with divine artistry:

written in the pattern of life blood flowing;

written like the sun writes the day,
and the stars punctuate the night;

written in the smile on a baby’s face;

written along the path of a falling tear;

written with a touch as gentle as a dove’s wingbeat,
as graceful as a flame dancing, as vital as a seed sprouting,
as powerful as a womb contracting.

So our hearts are moved to love you, and to love one another as you have loved us in Christ Jesus.

And yet we are also moved to confess that your heart-written love has not always been reflected in our words, nor has it shaped all our actions; it has not been the sole motivating force in the relationships of humanity with you, with one another and with the earth.

Our hearts cry with repentant sorrow as we see and hear the discord between what you have written and what we have done.

Heal us we pray, recreate us as the children of your love. Amen.

Word of Grace

This is the best of all:
when we are empty, God fills us;
when we are disheartened, God is compassionate;
when we are wounded, God brings healing;
when we confess our failure to love, God forgives.

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

Ian Ferguson, offered for worship 16/09/2022, Pentecost 19C

Prayers of the people

Watch or 47:00

Creator God, we come before you today with hearts that are aching. Aching at the suffering of the world. We look around us at all that is occurring, and cry out in frustration: when will the hardships  end? It is enough to make one feel helpless and discontented.

Yet we know that even in the depths of despair, You are present with us. Help us to see Your light even when there appears to be none. Help us to move beyond our discontent, to see the ways we can love one another through action… and so brighten up our corner of the community, and therefore, the world.

God, hear the cry of our hearts at the conflicts of the world. For the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, now in its eighth active month. We pray for a just resolution that prioritises peace and safety for the communities affected.

We also continue to pray for the ongoing situation in Iran, which is being felt deeply by Persian communities across the globe, including in our own church. May the veil of silence be lifted, and the oppressive regime be brought low. We pray for woman, life, freedom in Iran.

Life-giving God we pray for our natural world. We pray for communities in the grip of flood and severe weather conditions across the east coast of Australia. May they find the assistance needed to recover swiftly, and may we do what we can to support one another.

These recent weather events are yet another heartfelt reminder of the urgency of action on climate change. In the lead up to COP27, let us pray that our leaders and governments around the world come together and commit to strong action. And let us pray that we can hold them and their commitments to account – for it is one thing to make grand statements, and another thing to act on them.

Finally, we pray for our church community. During these challenging times, may we love one another as Christ commanded us. May we see those who are in particular need of Christ’s compassionate care and draw the circle of community around them.

We also pray for the children of BUC and those called to support them, as we continue our process to call a new Children, Youth and Young Adults Pastor.

We pray all these things, as well as the secret prayers of our hearts, in Jesus’s name.

Amen.

Reprise: Lord listen to your children praying (ATFG575)

Lord, listen to Your children praying,
Lord, send Your spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to Your children praying,
Send us love, send us pow’r, send us grace.

Clare Keogh, offered for worship by Saide Cameron, 16/10/2022, Pentecost 19C

SONG: Lord listen to your children praying (ATFG575), Words  and Music by Ken Medema. ©  1973 Hope Publishing Company.
Reproduced with permission under ONE LICENCE # 604502