Prayers of Adoration & Confession

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Holy One, creator and designer God.

This tiny blue planet, spinning around the Sun is a miracle of your Creation.
You have created oceans, mountains, grasslands, glaciers, deserts and forests, in infinite variety.
From majestic whales to fragile butterflies, from polar icepacks to tropical seas.
And because we are an island, and isolated, our animals, and plants are unique on this Earth.
We are all part of your continuing creation.

So God of great imaginings, I am speechless at your generosity
and overwhelmed by the knowledge that we have not valued your great gift as we should.

We have destroyed great Aboriginal sites for the sake of profit.  Forgive us Lord

We have destroyed the habitat of our animals, clearing land that now becomes prone to bushfires. Forgive us Lord.

We have not learned from the wisdom and knowledge of our First Peoples or treated them with the respect they deserve. Forgive us Lord.

We are filling the skies with smoke from fossil fuels and some are still denying climate change. Forgive us Lord.

We have not treated the animals which provide our food with the care and dignity they deserve. Forgive us Lord.

Forgive and inspire us, for ours are the hands that do your work in the world.

Amen

Helen Burnham, offered for worship 04/10/2020

Prayers of the people

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Let us carry into this time of prayer all the concerns of our hearts.
Lost loved ones and grieving friends.
Our families, communities and our church.
Our nation and the world.
Animals and plants and the very earth itself.

As I pray, we will see images of animals who are much in need of our prayers – creatures facing extinction from here in Victoria.

Let us pray.

Creator God, continue to uphold us amidst this pandemic. And help us to stay energised and focused on our work with you for climate justice, equality amongst the diversity of humanity, and dignity for your non-human creation.

We pray for people who are currently suffering from the effects of climate change, particularly communities who are still rebuilding after the bushfires and people in the Pacific. As we move closer towards the end of our isolation and long for normalcy again, we acknowledge those whose lives will never be the same, whether it be because of lost homes or lost loved ones.

We pray for the animals who are threatened by our lifestyles. Give us hearts to care and the will to act to preserve their habitat.

We thank you that birds continue to sing, mountains continue to stand, and rivers continue to run. We eagerly await a time when we can return to wild spaces and reconnect with your presence in the non-human world.

In the name of Jesus, healer, renewer and reconciler. Amen

Beth Shelton, offered for worship Season of Creation 3, 04/10/2020