Call to worship

Loved by God,
inspired by Jesus
and guided by the Holy Spirit,
let us gather
to worship
to pray
to listen
and to respond.

Come, let us worship God.

Prayer of adoration and confession (from Spill the Beans Issue 9)

A “sacrifice of praise” is the way:
praise that is pricey,
not easy words
ritually rhyming love to You,
but costly honouring
of Your being
at the heart of our living;
no mere words on lips,
but convictions in our hearts
that without You we would not be.

And so, as if offering our hearts
on an altar of sacrifice,
the flame of fired-up faith
lifting the fragrance
of our love for You to You,
we say from the deepest depths
of our very being,
praise be to You.

Forgive us for thinking of ourselves
far higher than we should!
Forgive us for thinking of ourselves
far lower than we ought!
Lord, forgive us both ways!

Save us from the sin of pride
and the offence of false modesty.
Save us from being
our own best defenders
and our own worst critics.

Let us be glad simply to be at the banquet:
gathered by You in grace,
ready to be put in our place,
not for our merit but despite our demerit,
not for our status but despite our sin.

Forgive us both ways!
Put us in our place!
Only then can we face
our worldly posture
with heavenly poise.
Amen

Psalm 112 New International Version

Psalm 112^[a]

¹ Praise the Lord.^[b]

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
    who find great delight in his commands.

² Their children will be mighty in the land;
    the generation of the upright will be blessed.
³ Wealth and riches are in their houses,
    and their righteousness endures forever.
⁴ Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
    for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
⁵ Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.

⁶ Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
    they will be remembered forever.
⁷ They will have no fear of bad news;
    their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
⁸ Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
    in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
⁹ They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,
    their righteousness endures forever;
    their horn^[c] will be lifted high in honor.

¹⁰ The wicked will see and be vexed,
    they will gnash their teeth and waste away;
    the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Lord God,
You are a God of hospitality
who invites us all to a banquet
where the last may be first,
and where the humble and the powerful switch seats.

In gratitude,
may we share Your abundance without counting the cost.
In thankfulness,
may we host strangers as angels You have sent!

May Your spirit rest upon us
so that we may find a place at Your table
and welcome others with radical hospitality.

In the name of Jesus,
a guest at all our tables, we pray.
Amen

Prayer of intercession (from Spill the Beans issue 9)

Loving God,
we pray for a world
where too often the loudest people
presume to be heard:
where money and power
turns up the volume,
and gentle wisdom is drowned out;
where greed is too often the creed,
and noise masks folly.

Loving God,
we pray for a world
where small voices remain unheard:
where poverty and powerlessness
mutes their sound,
and harsh folly prevails;
where need is a mantra-like refrain,
and compassion a compromised chorus.

Loving God,
bless them all:
the loud and the silent,
the powerful and the powerless,
but bless them differently!

Bless the loud and proud with humility;
bless the quiet and crushed with esteem;
bless the powerful with silence;
bless the powerless with sound.
Amen

Blessing

May we go
to be the hands, feet, heart and mouth of Christ.
May we offer our time and treasure to those who need it
without stopping to count the cost.
May we ceaselessly seek justice and pursue it.
And may the blessing of God Almighty,
Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer
be with us all,
this day and always.
Amen

Good day everyone. There is no online prayer meeting tonight due to holidays. However, prepared below are prayers, readings, songs and some thoughts, to help guide you through a time of prayer. We ask you to draw together in your homes at 7.30pm and begin the prayer service, thus joining our combined prayers towards God.

If you can’t manage at 7.30pm then anytime suits. Prayer is always heard.

OPENING WORDS

We gather here to worship God
With ears ready to listen
With hearts and minds open to receive
All: With voices ready to sing praise

God knows us
God guides us
God raises us up
All: God is with us now

We gather together to worship God
We come to God who inclines an ear to us
We come to God who gives us words to speak
All: We come to God in reverence and awe

God gives us life
God sets us free
God speaks a better word
All: We gather to worship God

Psalm 103

Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and all that is within me,
   bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and do not forget all his benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
   who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
   who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works vindication
   and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
   his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

You can’t be half-hearted about this passage. It is generous and life-giving and seems to amplify the energy of the other passages.

The first part of the Psalm seems to be the words of an individual, while the second part feels more communal – “all who are oppressed”, “the people of Israel”, etc. Youth is renewed (v5), which contrasts with a common view that people need to hurry up and mature. We have misappropriated the idea of youth – we yearn for the physical aspects of youth as we get older, but young people are desperate to be adult.

What part of youth is being renewed? Is it the energy and excitement of new faith? What aspects of the eagle relate to or represent youth? Flying, freedom, an aerial view – you have a different perspective when you’re younger.

Psalm 71

Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
   let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
   incline your ear to me and save me.
Be to me a rock of refuge,
   a strong fortress, to save me,
   for you are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
   from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
   my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
   it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.

LET US PRAY

In you alone we put our hope, God the Father, Creator and Sustainer, who gives all good things seen and unseen. In you alone we put our hope, God the Son, Saviour and Redeemer, who died for our sins and rose again. In you alone we put our hope, God the Spirit, Teacher and Comforter, who moves us to sing “Our God reigns!” In you alone we put our hope. AMEN

Sunrise, Sunset, Sin

My soul praises you, Lord. You are to us whom you were to Moses–compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love. Your love is so generous it seems to stretch from my back porch to the full moon. If we stand on one side of the globe, you exile our failures to the opposite side. They can no more catch us th an the sunrise can catch the sunset. My soul praises you Lord. AMEN

We continue in prayer

O Lord, you have indeed carried me on your wings. By your mercy, you have delivered me from sin and death. You have set me free from their bondage. Once I was a slave, but now I am free to be your servant. Thank you, Lord. Even as I seek to live faithfully as a child of the new covenant, help me to live each day by grace. May I continue to ride on your wings as you guide and empower me to serve you in every aspect of my life. All praise be to you, gracious Lord, because you carry me on your wings.  Alleluia! Amen.

Prayer of Intercession

God, You are a God of compassion and love. Time after time we have experienced your care and provision. Time after time You’ve answered our prayers and met our needs— often in ways we could never have dreamed possible. We praise You for Your faithful love toward us. Because we have known Your love, we come to You with confidence, offering our prayers for the world that You love.

We see so much pain and suffering; so much anger and frustration and despair. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the needs around us. But we continue to bring our prayers to You in faith, because we know that nothing is impossible for You. You are the God who rained down bread from heaven, and made water flow from a rock in the desert; the God who resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead, and who brings new life and hope to all who believe. For You, all things are possible.

Hear our prayers.

We pray for those suffering the effects of recent  natural disasters….
(insert your own private petitions here)

Because nothing is impossible for You, O God,
hear our prayer, and in Your love, answer.

We pray for the regions of our world caught up in violence and threats of violence: Because nothing is impossible for You, O God, hear our prayer, and in Your love, answer.

We pray for those who live with serious illness,

•    those with chronic pain,
•    those without access to proper medical care,
•    those for whom treatment is no longer an option.

Because nothing is impossible for You, O God,

hear our prayer, and in Your love, answer.

Merciful God, You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to show us a different way to live— the way of deep humility and obedience. You’ve called us to love one another, and to work together with one heart and mind, balancing our needs with the needs of those around us.

Give us courage to follow faithfully, and with integrity— with actions that bear witness to the words we speak, and worship that overflows into our daily tasks and relationships— so that our lives will bring glory and honour to You, our Redeemer and Lord. Amen.

Blessing

Send us out Loving God – our hope and trust from our youth –
that we would not shame, but recognise the dignity of all Your children,
that we would incline our ear and listen for Your call,
that our actions may be just and compassionate.
May our lives be lived in continual praise of You.
Amen