PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP March 5, 2017
Greeting
Come,
let us view this day as a day of victory,
for on a Sunday morning
Christ defeated Satan, sin and death.
Come,
let us view this day as a day of celebration,
for we who are Christ’s
share the triumph with Him.
Penitential Prayer
Forgive us, God, when our lives have failed to reflect the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ;
when we have despaired as those who have
no hope;
when we have considered the forces of evil to be too powerful to fight;
when we have viewed our religious practices as a bondage rather than a liberation;
when we have seen our difficulties as obstacles instead of as opportunities.
Blessing
Rejoice in hope.
Live life to the fullest.
Aspire to the highest.
Anticipate the best.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP March 12, 2017
Greeting
Come, let us ascend the mountain.
Let us come by faith;
Let us come with Peter, James, and John;
Let us come with the saints through the ages
To see the glory of God
In the face of Jesus Christ.
Penitential Prayer
Father, we confess today that we have fallen short of the glory of God;
short of the glory of Your perfect righteousness;
short of the glory of Your Image in us;
short of the glory of Your high expectations for us;
short of the glory You displayed on the mountain.
Having fallen short of Your glory, we have only one recourse — to ask You to do for us what we could not do for ourselves; to share Your glory with us, now and for evermore.
Blessing
Since we have seen the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ,
May others see the glory of Jesus
in the faces of you and me.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP March 19, 2017
Greeting
Praise the Lord,
he who is hungry shall hunger no more;
he who is thirsty shall thirst no more.
Praise the Lord,
for the body and the blood of Christ
are the bread and the wine of life everlasting.
Penitential Prayer
Forgive us, Father,
for our failure to feed the hungry,
for our failure to give drink to the thirsty,
for our failure to be the salt of the earth,
and the light of the world.
Blessing
Go into the world as one possessed
with the courage and strength of
the Bread of Life.
Raise the lowly to high places.
Fill the hungry with nourishing things.
Exalt the Name of Jesus, who gave His flesh and blood
for the life of the world.
PRAYERS FOR WORSHIP March 26, 2017
Greeting
Come, let us open our eyes.
Let us see wondrous things in God’s Word,
beautiful things in God’s world,
delightful things in God’s people.
Penitential Prayer
Forgive us, Father, for our failures of sight, for we have often seen only the ugliness around us and have neglected to look at the beautiful.
We have seen only the face, the form, and the figure, and have not seen the beauty of the soul.
We have sought out the rumor and the current report, and we have not bothered to seek out the truth.
We have looked with jealously and dismay at the possessions of others, and have failed to see how much we really have.
We have had our eyes wide open to see the faults of others, and have them half closed when we look at our own.
We have gazed so intently at the material, and have perceived so little of the spiritual.
Blessing
May the God who brought light out of darkness
enlighten your path,
bring you to your destination,
and show beauty all along the way.
