Sunday Evening Prayers at 7pm

As we join in our time together lets draw together with God in a short call to prayer

Call to prayer

Come to the Lord whose love is better than life,
to the One who satisfies, sustains and supports.

Come to worship, to think, to spend these moments when,
together, we honour God, who is over all.

Approach to God

Looking, only because of the promise of finding,
calling out, only because we are sure we are heard,
we meet in one another’s company in person and online
so that we may meet with You,
God of love which is richer than life.

We look only because we were first sought out,
we tell You we are here only because You first came to us.

Help us, by Your Spirit, to seek you more,
even as we have been fully found.

Adoration

Everlasting, ever-gracious, ever-seeking and ever-calling God,
Yours is the offer of life
because the gift of life itself is Yours.

You call the universe into being and, through myriad interactions
space and time come to be,
stars and galaxies form,
their dust gives potential for life –
and we find ourselves here, alive, praising You.
We are awe-struck not only at the grandeur of Creation
but the miracle of incarnation.

You choose, in Jesus the Christ

to be born as one of us,
living among us, showing Your grace and telling Your love,

to be excluded from us, shunned and hated,
dying among us, still showing grace and declaring love,

to meet us risen,
inviting us to listen that we may live.

God of endless goodness, we praise You.
Amen

Psalm 63

Comfort and Assurance in God’s Presence

A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
   my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
   I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
   and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
when I think of you on my bed,
   and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
   and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
   your right hand upholds me.

Intercession

In a world of uncertainty we pray for those who deal with risk –

those in the insurance industry,
protecting individual loss through grouping contributions from many.

Those concerned for issues of health and safety,
anticipating and addressing issues to protect from harm.

Those working in healthcare settings,
diagnosing and treating while the risk of infection remains.

Those directing national life,
balancing many factors, may they add integrity to insight and they instruct.

In a world largely unknown we pray for those who are discovering.

Explorers and botanists, uncovering and describing a still unexplored, wonderful world,
researchers in life sciences, addressing illness and responding to ever-varying viruses,
engineers and technologists, developing sustainable sources of energy for all,
astronomers and physicists, looking back to time’s beginnings.
Inspire discoveries of more of Your wonderful Creation, Lord God.

In a world of forced migration, persecution and distress we pray for those who suffer –
over forty million people who are in immediate danger of starvation,
through conflict, COVID-19 and climate change.
Lord Jesus, may the fruit of faith
lead to greater sharing of the harvest of the Earth.

Where more than six in ten of the total human population
has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine,
but only one in ten of those in poorest countries has had one jab,
where infection results in unemployment, missed schooling,
poverty, risk of abuse and untreatable illness –
Lord Jesus, may the fruit of faith
bring the benefit of scientific progress to all.

More than 22 million people in Afghanistan suffer starvation now
as a result of poverty, conflict, pandemic and drought,
and are unable to flee and find little support where they are.
Lord Jesus, may the fruit of faith
bring food, warmth, shelter and work.

For Your Church in Your world at this time we pray,
may Your people be enthused to proclaim the Good News of the kingdom,
may new believers be welcomed, taught, baptised and nurtured,
may loving service be our ready response to human need,
may Your people work to transform unjust structures of society,
to challenge violence of every kind, to pursue peace and reconciliation,
may we, as Your children, strive to safeguard the integrity of creation,
and sustain and renew the life of the earth which You have entrusted to us.

AMEN

Blessing

As we have met, so we part –
yet the glory of God which we gathered to praise
does not cease,

and the grace of Christ we recognise among us
remains always,

and the Spirit’s leading we discern in our fellowship
continues to guide us.

So [we] go to live as the people of God,
and the blessing of God the Source, the Son and the Spirit
be with each of you/us
this day,
this season,
and always. Amen