Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Watch or 8:56

I ask you now, to again cup your leaf or gum nut in your hands, to breathe in, feel Gods presence and our connection to Gods continuing creation, as we come together in prayer.

Mother, Father, Jesus, Spirit.
Laudato si, Praise be to you.
You who created the galaxy of stars in our sky.
Laudato si, Praise be to you.
You, who cause the sun to shine, the wind to blow, the rain to fall, the plants to grow.
Laudato si, Praise be to you.
You who are the Spirit of the Dreaming in this land.
Laudato si, Praise be to You.
You who created the earth, teaming with myriad animals, birds, fish, insects
and made us in your image, custodians of all this splendor.

Mother, Father, Jesus, Spirit, we hang our heads in shame, for we have failed you.

Forgive our failure Lord. When we do nothing and say “it’s Gods will” or God will “fix it”
Forgive us when we ignore You, and try to do it all ourselves, instead of working with You.

Forgive us for declaring this land “Terra nullius” nobodies land,
when it was inhabited by the earths most ancient culture.
For forcing the people off their country and into Aboriginal Reservations,
nations mixed together.
For ignoring their beliefs and Culture and only now, starting to see and value
their knowledge of how to work with this land, and their contribution to our cultural life.

Forgive us when 20-40% of all food produced in Australia,
never goes to market because it is blemished or misshapen.
Forgive us that one third of food produced in Australia ends up in landfill,
and people in Australia make decisions about paying bills or buying food.
Forgive us that we have lost our contact with the seasons of this land.
We fly peaches, cherries, even oranges from the USA because we want them off season.
Our suburbs stretch out into the countryside covering land
which once had market gardens and orchards, and our animals loose their habitat.
We have filled the oceans with floating islands of plastic.
Covered our lawns with plastic grass because we don’t have time to mow.
We have busy lives so we don’t have time to recycle, re-use
and we certainly don’t want to reduce our lifestyle.

Mother , Father, Jesus, Spirit, forgive us.

Word of Grace
Laudato si, Praise be to you, that in your infinite grace and mercy,
you created a path for us, a light for us in the darkness we have created.
So through the name and sacrifice of Jesus our savior we can say, our sin is forgiven.
Thanks be to God.

Helen Burnham, offered for worship 18/09/2022, Season of Creation 3

Prayers of the people

Watch or 57:44

Loving God of warming Spring ground
We pray for the World. May true leaders soften climate change.
The ground warms in Melbourne but the challenge remains.
May we all find a new strength as the year turns.
We pray for all the victims of war in Ukraine and elsewhere.
May they find sanctuary, and justice.

In your mercy, hear our prayers.
We plant our feet on the ground. We feel the ease of warming ground.
We imagine plants unfurling. We breathe in. We breathe out.

We pray for the Church. We pray for Uniting Church congregations
and other congregations rebuilding after winter and supporting people through Covid.
May the Uniting Church find compassionate, progressive responses to social issues.
May we all find wise ways to support refugees and asylum-seekers.
May leaders find the outer and inner resources to inspire us.

In your mercy, hear our prayers.
We plant our feet on the ground. We feel the ease of warming ground.
We imagine plants unfurling. We breathe in. We breathe out.

We pray for those in need: may we all rebuild, this Spring.
May our colleagues support us. May carers find rest. May counsellors find inspiration.
May health-workers rebuild. May refugees and asylum-seekers find healing.
We pray with those watching at home: may they feel included.
May we all feel able to connect, again.

In your mercy, hear our prayers.
We plant our feet on the ground. We feel the ease of warming ground.
We imagine plants unfurling. We breathe in. We breathe out. 

In the name of Christ, ground of our lives.
Praise, Amen

Jim Kilpatrick, offered for worship 18/09/2022, Season of Creation 3