Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Watch or 10:29

God of all justice,

In you, a new day is forever dawning. You turn our tears into dancing. You turn night into day, emptiness into fullness, longing into joy, and sorrow to delight.

Help us to walk the Lenten path with you. We know that sometimes that path will take us over uneven ground. It wanders through the sorrow of Gethsemane, and past Peter’s lonely fire. It passes through the dungeons of the emperor, before the recriminations of the angry crowd, and up to the dark hill of Calvary.

We know that to walk with you is sometimes to offer hospitality when we do not feel hospitable.
To forgive when we do not feel merciful.
To listen when we do not want to understand.
It requires us to dispose of our wealth, submit our pride, and love those who hate us.

Forgive us that the city of God which you call us to build is still laid only in its foundations.
For too many prison doors remain closed. Too many children cry out for justice. Too many hunger and thirst. Forgive us when we remain trapped in our own perspective. When we put distant disasters out of mind, and forget what we owe to our neighbour and to the good earth that you have made.

Keep us on the path, God of justice, as we seek for the Kingdom.
Give us strength for the work, joy in the Holy Spirit, delight in goodness, and love of kindness.
These things we pray in the name of Christ,
Amen.

Word of Grace
Friends, there is much more for us to do.
But here, as we rest ourselves on the journey, be of good heart.
For here is the good news: in Christ, through Christ, and because of Christ, our sin is forgiven.

Daniel Broadstock, offered for worship 26/03/2023, Lent 5A

Prayers of the people

Watch or 1:06:01

Before we offer our prayers, I ask each person here to take a deep slow breath, centre, feel your body, breath and soul here in this place. We are in God’s greatness and awe, creation, love and wisdom. Feel the ancestors of this land walking & being.

As we move though this prayer I will ask you to think of a situation to bring before God. You may want to use what you placed on the path to the Cross, expand or add to it or something else. Then we will have some silent time.

Let us pray.

God we come to pray for the world, the church and community.
God. We resonate, in helplessness and hopelessness about this world through the tragedy, injustice, the mindless crowds & lack of right leadership, we hear in the Gospel today.
In your presence, O God, each of us here silently brings a situation in this earthly world to You in prayer, where the push of the popular, the crowd, social media is huge & seemingly impossible to overcome.  Where innocents pay the price & responsibility handed over to the mob.  God awaken our listening, soften our hearts, to have humans turn up in love and justice . Let us pause for a moment as we each do this and beseech our God.

Pause

Now think of the church, mosques, synagogues, temples, spiritual communities where God’s strength, challenge & healing is needed, where your Spirit is moving but institutions are oppressive & marred by abuse of power, ego or rigid dogma.  Where voices cry out but go unheard. Let us pause for a moment as we each do this.

Pause

Now for the community praying for friends/family who are unwell, alone, knowing what they need but not always heard … their intuitions not listened to. Where they suffer in dignified silence. Think and pray for the defenseless, innocent, suffering and persecuted. Those whose dreams and visions of justice are not heard, shouted out by mob rule. Let us pause for a moment as we each do this.

Pause

Oh God, show us where we and all humanity need to respond in regal silence when questioned by power, not participating in injustice. Help us to be courageous, like the woman married to   power & from another faith, who listened to God’s justice through her dreams & souls message of good by pleading for the innocent, against the inevitable.

Oh God send us heart prompting to show us the way, to quiet the mob’s voice and listen to & act in your truth.
In Jesus name we pray.   Amen.

Jenne Perlstein, offered for worship 26/03/2023, Lent 5A