PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP July 6, 2008
Greeting
Only those who have open hands can receive.
Only those who have open minds can learn.
Only those who have open souls can be filled.
Penitential Prayer
We admit this morning to the sin of pride.
We have difficulty in admitting we are wrong.
We find it so hard to say, ìIím sorry.î
We are eager to think of excuses for our mistakes.
We tend to criticize others in order to make ourselves
look better.
We often close our minds to the opinions of others.
We pretend to know, when we really donít.
Forgive us, Lord, and remove our conceit.
Humble us, and give us a healthy sense of
awe before You.
Blessing
Speak the truth,
but do so in love.
Proclaim the faith,
but do so in humility.
Contend for the right,
but do so in gentleness.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP July 13, 2008
Greeting
Quiet your minds!
Let Christ Speak.
Open your hearts!
Let Christ enter.
Penitential Prayer
Father, we confess our stubborn, ìknow-it-allî ways!
Though we followers of Christ are called to make a
difference in this troubled world, we remain
committedto the status quo.
We havenít been listening to the Word of God.
Though we followers of Christ are called to equip
ourselves for serving others in a ministry of love,
we remain indifferent to their needs.
We havenít been listening to the Word of God.
Father, forgive us for not listening to Your Word!
Blessing
Go in peace — the peace of heart and mind and soul
that comes from listening to the Word of God.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP July 20, 2008
Greeting
We come to this place
not to hear the opinions of a human person,
the advice of a counselor,
the theories of a theologian,
or the philosophy of a sage.
We come, rather,
to hear the Word of the Lord.
Penitential Prayer
Forgive us, if Father, we have closed our ears to Your prophetic word:
If we have reasoned that we were too busy to read
the Bible;
If we have allowed minor inconveniences to keep us
from Church;
If we have Your warnings and admonitions mentally
applied sto others instead of ourselves;
Forgive us, Father, if we have closed our ears to Your prophetic Word.
Blessing
You who have heard,
go forth now to speak.
You who have received,
go forth now to give.
You who have been shown the way,
go forth now to lead.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP July 27, 2008
Greeting
What is …
the hidden treasure?
the pearl of great price?
the meaning of life?
We gather before the God who gives us answers,
the God who reveals His Plan for our fulfillment.
Penitential Prayer
Father,
there is no hidden treasure,
no elusive pearl of great price,
no secret truth about the meaning of life.
All these things You have revealed to us in and through
the Lord, Jesus Christ.
You are the answer!
You are the answer to our human quest
for fulfillment.
For our repeated failure to make this the guiding
principle of our lives,
we ask Your forgiveness, Father.
Blessing
In and through you, others can discover
the hidden treasure,
the pearl of great price,
the meaning of life.
In and through you, others can learn to
trust in God.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP August 3, 2008
Greeting
We are here today for nourishment.
We are here today to receive Godís gift of the
Bread of Life.
We are here today because we trust absolutely that Jesus
will not send us away hungry.
Penitential Prayer
Lord, day by day we encounter persons who are
hungry for God, hungry for the Word of God,
hungry for the compassion of a Shepherd of the Lord
to guide him or her to the Bread of Life.
Forgive us, Lord, for our day-by-day failures to feed those who hunger for spiritual nourishment.
Blessing
Go forth now in complete fidelity to Jesusí command:
Feed My lambs . . .
tend My sheep . . .
feed My sheep!
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP August 10, 2008
Greeting
We gather in this House of Healing.
For all of you who are
paralyzed by fear,
crippled by self-doubt,
blinded by prejudice,
made deaf by insensitivity,
come in and be touched by the Son of God.
Penitential Prayer
Forgive us, Father, for not remembering,
that we followers of Christ are supposed to make a difference in the dark and troubled world;
that we followers of Christ are supposed to equip
ourselves to go out to serve others, in a ministry of love;
that we followers of Christ are supposed to share in the priesthood of Christ.;
Forgive us, Father, for not remembering.
Blessing
Will there be a time this coming week when the presence of Godís Grace in your life convinces someone else that the Son of God is in control?
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP August 17, 2008
Greeting
Let us come this morning to Jesus,
for the power that healed the sick
and raised the dead
is alive and well in this present hour.
Penitential Prayer
Lord, we are often reminded of how weak our faith is.
We have said ìitís hopelessî much more easily than we
have said, ìWith God all things are possible.î
We have allowed human faithlessness to cast doubt on
Your Divine faithfulness.
Restore in us, O Lord, a true belief in miracles and a willingness to expect marvelous surprises from Your hand.
Blessing
Go in peace.
Expect the unexpected.
Anticipate miracles.
For nothing is impossible to God.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP August 24, 2008
Greeting
Jesus, the Messiah, comes to us in the ìgatheringî
of the Church.
To know the joy of His coming, to experience His
Presence,our expectation is necessary.
Our expectation is, in a sense, like our praise.
Expectation is part of the bridge of faith that
makes it possible for Jesusí Presence to become
real in our lives.
Penitential Prayer
Father, we realize that no amount of bowing and
scraping can, in truth, acclaim Jesus as Messiah
until it signifies deep down life-commitment to
follow the way of the Lord: to bear His message
of peace, justice, forgiveness, New Life and hope
into all the nooks and corners of our lifeís journey.
For our failure to be Christís messenger,
Father forgive us.
Blessing
We accept Jesus as Messiah in terms of commitment.
This means following in His footsteps in a ministry of
peacemaking,
forgiving,
healing,
loving.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP August 31, 2008
Greeting
This is the time of fulfillment!
The reign of God is at hand!
Reform your lives!
Take up your cross and follow Jesus!
Penitential Prayer
God, our Father,
We admit that we have failed to be the followers of Jesus
You want us to be.
When duty has called we have shirked it.
We regret our failures.
We regret those mistakes which cannot be changed.
Save us from being tortured by them. Release us from their yoke, so that we can move forward into the future unafraid, knowing that even if we fail, Your help which comes to us through Jesus Christ, is never out of reach.
Blessing
Each of us is called to follow Jesus in his or her own unique, individual way. Jesus knows our limitations and our capabilities and guides us accordingly. Jesus knows where He is leading us, but we must follow.
Take up Your Cross
and follow Him!
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP September 7, 2008
Greeting
Honor the Lord with your gifts!
Honor the Lord with your deeds!
Honor the Lord with your voices!
Honor the Lord with your very presence!
Penitential Prayer
Father, we confess that we so often make a mess of our
relationships with other people.
We may condemn unfairly by judging others before
we know all the facts.
We may be far too sensitive about insults and criticisms.
We may have harbored a grudge against a rival, a
relative, or a neighbor.
We may be refusing to speak to someone who was
once a friend.
We may be carrying a secret distaste for a father or
mother, brother or sister, husband or wife.
We may be bitter against someone who cheated us.
We may have said we have forgiven, while in reality
we have not.
Blessing
May you be:
slow to speak
and quick to hear;
slow to judge
and quick to approve;
slow to criticize
and quick to compliment;
slow to condemn
and quick to forgive.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP September 14, 2008
Greeting
God sent His Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through Him
the world might be saved!
God sent His Son into the world
not to condemn us
but to save us.
Praise God for this Good News!
Penitential Prayer
Father, we confess the inadequacy of our love:
Scripture tells us You so loved the world
that You sent Your only Son,
not to condemn
but to save!
Father, truly Your love is vast
but mankindís love is frequently preempted
by thoughtless condemnations,
by vengeful acts, by hateful
exploitations.
Father, forgive us!
Blessing
Go out into the world in love:
hold fast to what is good,
return no person evil for evil,
strengthen the weak,
support the poor,
honor all your brothers and sisters,
Go out into the world in love
and live as men and women in Christ.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP September 21, 2008
Greeting
Happy is the person
whose God is Lord,
whose way is right,
and whose destiny is sure.
Penitential Prayer
Lord, we know that many times in this past week and
even in this past hour we have sinned against You.
We have done those things that we knew were wrong,
and we have failed to do those things that we knew
were right.
Sometimes we have hurt other people, and at other times
we have simply failed to help them.
Sometimes we have taken that which was not ours, and
at other times we have failed to share what is ours.
Sometimes we have been actively unjust,
and at other times we have simply said nothing in the
midst of injustice.
For both the sins of commission and the sins of omission,
Father, forgive us.
Blessing
May you be
pure in thought,
courageous in deed,
steadfast in loyalty,
and warm in affection.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP September 28, 2008
Greeting
All you who labor in the Fatherís vineyard, come,
and receive your work orders for the week ahead.
Penitential Prayer
Father,
for our false promises,
for our constant complaints,
for taking ìcoffee-breaksî in the vineyard when
there was work to be done,
for failing to carry out Your instructions,
Father, we humbly beg Your merciful pardon.
Blessing
Go now, there is a work to be done.
Lord, what a work!
And the laborers — the faithful laborers –are few!