Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Let us pray… Gaze at the fire.  Gaze and invite God’s Presence into your being.
Breath in deeply, breath out slowly, watch and feel the power of God.

We praise you O God, for the fire of faith in us.
Fire is your creation, but it can bring its trials, pain and heartache.
And it has the power to transform our lives with light, life, warmth and newness, as in nature.
We feel fire’s passion and receive it from you, our God.

We praise you for providing for us, in surprising, unexpected and even contradictory ways.
Just as father Abraham said, ‘here I am’, to his son Isaac, you say, ‘here I am’, to each of us,
no matter the uncertainty, the trials and the anguish of our inhumanity to one another.
You say and we say, ‘Here I am’.   

Gaze at the fire again.  Gaze and invite God’s Presence into your being.
Breath in deeply, breath out slowly, watch and feel the power of God.

We confess, O God, that we become confused when your sacred text raises challenges,
doesn’t answer our questions, or brings us uncertainty.
We confess we question our faith in despair, in hopelessness and helplessness,
the engulfing flames drawing closer and closer.

We see fires destroying people and homes, illness destroying lives,
racism that our society continues to perpetuate and benefit from, destroying future hope.
God, please forgive us.

Abraham was willing to offer his son in the fire, trusting that you would provide.
We confess that we forget to have faith in your provision.

Give us hope in your purpose, offering us life even in the flames.
It is hard and we are frail humans so please forgive us God,
through your love and compassion in all our doubts, fears and confusion.
Strengthen us to say, ‘Here I am’, and to step forth to walk side-by-side
with those racially oppressed, fuelled by our passion for justice.
Help us to trust that you will provide, in the challenging flames of racism,
the perplexities of disease, and nature’s fires.
We step into your promise claiming the forgiveness you offer
through the faithful fiery giving of your only Son, who transforms us all anew and forever.
Thanks be to God. Amen

God will provide.
So now let us declare and claim God’s renewing, transforming love for us.
Know that in the name of Christ, our risen Saviour, our sin is forgiven.
Thanks be God.  Amen

Jenne Perlstein, offered for worship 28/06/2020, Pentecost 4A

Prayers of the people

It has been quite a week. Many us live in the local government areas which are hot spots and Covid has become our focus again.  Many of us will have been tested in our own ways as restrictions were tightened, plans have been cancelled or postponed, and uncertainty as to what the next weeks will bring has returned. This is what has been on my heart this week as I prepared the prayers of the people.

Let us pray:

Faithful God,
In this time of pandemic we pray for the world.
For the poorer nations where people have to choose between getting sick because they are out and about, or having no food to eat.
For countries where leaders put their own self interest before the needs of the people they are meant to be governing for.
May we find a way to show the world that all lives are equal and precious, as they are to you.

Risen Christ,
We pray for your church as we speak out for justice
For people who face discrimination because of their race, sexuality or gender.
May we be your voice, speaking up for justice for the outsider and the shunned.

Life giving Spirit,
We pray for each other.
For those of us who are ill, or recovering from illness,
For those of us who have lost our jobs and don’t know what the future holds,
For those of us who are feeling isolated and apart from our community.
May we reach out to each other, sharing your life and hope.

In these testing times,
may we know God’s steadfast love, and
celebrate the life and love that is around us.  Amen.

Kirsty Bennett, offered for worship 28/06/2020, Pentecost 4A