PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP January 1, 2017
Greeting
In Psalm 31, The Holy Troubadour sings,
“You are my God,
my time is secure in Your hands.”
We have come to acknowledge, in one voice:
“You are the God of us all.
Our time is secure in Your hands.”
Our time belongs to God.
Our New Year, 2017, belongs to God.
Penitential Prayer
Heavenly Father, we confess
that we have usurped Your time;
that we have used Your time for our own selfish purposes;
that we have wasted Your time in idle
pursuits.
Therefore, Heavenly Father, in asking Your forgiveness we hasten
to reaffirm
that our time belongs to You:
that our time is insecure in our weak hands;
that we come and go in time according to Your Divine Plan;
that our time is secure only in Your hands;
that because Your gift of time is lovingly tendered to us, we must give lovingly of our time to You Father, and to all our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Blessing
As the tree trunk supports its branches.
your faith supports you.
As the rain sustains the rivers,
your hope sustains you.
As the Lord God lovingly fulfills His creation,
your love for one another fulfills you.
Happy New Year!
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP January 8, 2017
Greeting
On the first Epiphany
the three kings found Jesus in the manger
and paid Him homage,
opening up their treasures to Him.
They had traveled in the right direction.
Penitential Prayer
Father, forgive us for traveling on life’s road heading in the wrong direction.
We make our way towards
status
pride
narrow-mindedness
and self-centeredness;
and move away from Your Kingdom of
service
truth
peace
love
and brotherhood.
Forgive us, Lord, for our misguided journey.
Forgive us for being a Wrong Way People.
Blessing
Kneeling on crumpled straw
on a dirt floor
in a humble stable
three great Kings became greater still — for they had served the Lord.
Go now, wherever Christ’s ministry takes you and you shall become great — in your service to the Lord.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP January 15, 2017
Greeting
We have come to praise the Lord to the fullest
We have come to thank the Lord to the fullest
We have come to pay attention to the Lord to the fullest
We have come to listen to the Word of the Lord
Penitential Prayer
Jesus came to tell us about the unique value of God’s Grace, of God’s Presence, of God’s Love, of God’s Power.
Forgive us Lord for not listening.
Jesus came to tell us that this Presence of God is that unique something we should seek first in our lives.
Forgive us Lord for not listening.
Jesus came to tell us that this Loving Presence of God is like a pearl of great price or a treasure hidden in the field — so valuable that we should be willing to give up everything we have in order to possess it.
Forgive us Lord for not listening.
Jesus came to tell us that this Loving Presence of God is the one thing needful in our ongoing, day-to-day efforts to experience wholeness of life.
Forgive us Lord for not listening.
Jesus came to tell us that, the experience of God’s Loving Presence in our lives becomes most real to us when we reflect it, in and through our acts of loving service to other persons — when we love other persons as He has loved us.
Forgive us Lord for not listening.
Blessing
Go forth now with open minds and hearts.
Go forth now listening to the Word
of the Lord as it resonates in our souls.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP January 22, 2017
Greeting
Welcome to this circle of love,
this community of acceptance,
this fellowship of concern,
this Church of Jesus Christ.
Penitential Prayer
We acknowledge Jesus as the Lamb of God, and in so doing we confess that we are among those who have made necessary the sacrifices of that Lamb.
We acknowledge that Jesus takes away the sins of the world, and in so doing we confess that those sins of the world include our own.
We acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, and in so doing we confess that we are among those who need to follow Him.
Blessing
Be imitators of Christ:
serving,
saving,
sacrificing,
until His Kingdom has fully come.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP January 29, 2017
Greeting
We gather here this morning,
to set higher goals,
to seek new challenges,
to choose better priorities,
to envision loftier ideals.
Let us accomplish this by looking to Christ,
who calls us to follow Him.
Penitential Prayer
O God, forgive us for being less than we
could be;
for being satisfied with low goals,
for being afraid of new challenges,
for choosing the path of least resistance,
for accepting our failures as inevitable.
Too quickly we have been willing to declare defeat.
Too often we have believed it couldn’t be done.
Too easily we have said, “It’s no use trying.”
We have counted our resources without including those You make available to us.
Enable us, Lord, to catch a vision of Your great plan for our lives. Then may we march forward saying with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Blessing
Go out, now, to change your world,
upbuilding your homes with love,
your business with integrity,
your communities with concern.
