Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Watch or 8:39

Let us pray:
Earth Mother, Heavenly Father
Child of God and Giver of life.

You are present in the night,
When all is calm and we see the stars of the Milky Way and the moon,
when we see the lights of the city against the backdrop of the night sky
and remember the Boonwurrung stories of the eel and the Birrarung under the night sky.

We know you at dawn, as the sun peeks through the trees,
bringing warmth and light to a new day
and we hear creation wake.

You speak to us in the clouds that promise rain
and under the grey expanse of an overcast day.
In the dappled blue sky over our houses
and as we look at blossom buds ready to burst forth.

We hear you as the sun sets in the city streets
on the river bank
and over the ocean.

In light and in darkness,
In our lives under city and country skies,
In places we have built and in places we where we tread lightly,
From our birth to our death,
You are with us. We adore you.

Source, Word and Breath of life
Forgive us when we do not recognise you in creation,
When we do not hear you speaking to us.
When we see the heavens as distant rather than an integral part of our lives,
When we look for you somewhere else, rather than among us,
When in the midst of our grief and dismay, we feel that you have forsaken us and lose hope,
When we do not stand with you.

Amen

As we prepare to hear the Word of Grace, let us remember the death of Jesus under a dark sky, knowing that on the third day he rose and gives us life.

Were you there? (TIS 345)

1.  Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

4.  Were you there when the sun refused to shine? . . .

5.  Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? . . .

Word of Grace

Jesus Christ, Son of God,
You are with us as we journey through life
When the sun does not shine and all seems dark
And in our times of great joy.
You know these moments too.
And so we can say with confidence:
Our sin is forgiven:
Thanks be to God.

Kirsty Bennett, offered for worship 19/09/2021, Season of Creation 3B

SONG:  Were you there?, based on an African-American spiritual,
from Together in Song, Harper Collins Religious, PUBLIC DOMAIN

Prayers of the people

Watch or 46:09

During the Prayers of the People, I invite you to add your own prayers when I pause to put a flower in the water.

Here we are Lord

Maybe sitting in front of the TV screen, or still in bed, with a cup of tea, and we give thanks for the people and the technology that allows us, to worship together. We pray for all the things we do as a community. The Olive Way, Olive Arts, and all the groups that have gone online because we are in Lockdown. Draw us together to support each other, so that no one is left alone. We pray for Churches and groups throughout the world that are doing their best to care for the communities we all live in.

Just for the moment I would like everyone, to see through your eyes, Creator God. High above the earth, above my home, my city, my country. See a world with no borders or countries. See just how fragile our earth is, as it spins in space. See how we are all connected. Understand that what we do, and how we live, effects life all over this planet. We pray as we walk the earth, feel the wind, breathe the air, see the birds, animals and insects, that we understand we do not own this land, but are privileged to be here, to share and care for your creation.

We aren’t sure where to start in praying for our world. We pray for all of us living in fear of COVID. We pray for Doctors, nurses, paramedics, cleaners, and all the people who work to keep us fed and to keep us healthy. We pray for countries with poor medical services. We pray for richer countries to share vaccines, because we are only safe from this, if we are all safe.

Even in this time there is still fighting and wars. We pray for the men, women and children of Afghanistan, and pray that those who must now make a new life find peace, security and a welcome.

God of all things great and small.

We pray, not only with words, but life is a living prayer. We breathe, our very breath takes in part of your creation, and we celebrate the glory of God.

We pray these things, spoken and unspoken, in the name of Jesus, who walks with us.

Amen

Helen Burnham, offered for worship, 19/09/2021, Season of Creation 3B