Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Wondrous God, maker of life,
Your love is a bird on the wing, it is heavy air that smells of rain.
Your love is our knowing that green shoots will spring from blackened ground.
Forgive us for causing damage that can not be restored.
Let us find new ways to bring healing to the land and allow your new life to flourish.

Jesus, our brother and our teacher,
We know your love in the trust of a friend and in kindness from a stranger.
Your love is help when we feel helpless.
Forgive us for not loving others as you love us.
Encourage us to support all of our companions on this earth,
sharing what you have given us and living together in peace.

Holy Spirit, bringer of life,
Your love reaches to us through the hand of the artist and the voice of the prophet.
Your love is a hope of new life in our hearts.
Forgive us for ignoring your call to choose life,
Give us courage to seek you with our whole selves.
Allow us to recognise the power of love and to find the direction in which it leads.
Amen

God calls us to choose life by following the way of powerful love
Do not be afraid. Remember that we love because God first loved us.
In Christ, through Christ and because of Christ, our sin is forgiven.
Thanks be to God.

Amelia Ware, offered for worship 16/09/2020, Epiphany 6A

Prayers of the people

God of the descendants of Abraham, Rebecca and Jacob,
Jesus who lived among us all,
Spirit of hope,
You invite us to choose life, life in the fullest sense, and call us to love you and our neighbours.

As we pray for the world, let us pause to pray in silence for the places that need this life, that need love.
Silence
We pray for the places where free speech and speaking the truth is not valued,
Where health care is a privilege for those with money, not a human right,
Where the earth is treated as a resource and not a gift to be nurtured and tended.

Let us be positive voices in the world
Let us celebrate where life is lived in its fullness and tell this story
As we love God and our neighbours.

As we pray for the church, let us pause to pray in silence for the places within our church, and the whole church, that are in need of life and love.
Silence
We pray for the churches where people are discriminated against on the basis of gender or their sexuality,
Where the focus is on the institution rather than on the small voices,
We pray for the churches where people are persecuted because of their Christian faith.

Let us show a different way of being church
A way that is focussed on love and justice
A way where kindness reigns
As we love God and our neighbours.

As we pray for our community, let us pause to pray in silence for the people that need this life, that need love.
Silence
We pray for those of us who are sick, who grieve, who struggle to live,
We pray for those of us who are troubled, are tired, are lonely,
We pray for those of us who feel excluded or overlooked.

Let us live out your love in our lives
Let us tend to the relationships we have with one another
Let us reach out to the people we don’t know, or don’t know well.
And as we do this, let us show that we choose life.
We accept God’s invitation. We say yes.
We choose life and love, knowing that you are the source of life, and that we are always held in your love.

Amen

Kirsty Bennett, offered for worship 16/02/2020, Epiphany 6A