Author: Bellshill Central

Call to worship

God of creation, You brought life to all that we see.
You set the boundaries of the universe and placed us within its care.
Creator God, breathe life into Your creation

Holy Spirit, You bind Your children together in community.
Your bonds transcend borders created by humankind.
You kindle the fire within us that stirs our passion for faith, justice, and reconciliation.
Spirit God, inspire us to reconcile

Jesus the Christ, You came to teach and to lead. You showed us the cost of discipleship when You stood up against the powers of the world, and they tried to suppress Your truth by sentencing You to death. Your life was more powerful than death and Your truth lives on in us.
Jesus the Christ, help us reflect Your light of truth and peace

People of God,
We are called to know our place in the great cloud of witnesses.
We are called to run with perseverance the race that is set before us.
We are called to worship as those who put their trust in Jesus,
the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Let us pray

Gracious God,
We know You to be generous and full of compassion
but in our anxiety we have stumbled and lost our way.
Called to be a voice for the voiceless we have been silent.
Challenged to fight for justice we have turned away.
Co-opted to the work of breaking down barriers
we have been quick to judge and slow to welcome.

Forgive all the moments when we have neglected
to seek out Your will and to follow it.

Silence

Grant us the courage to be Your faithful people
that Your compassion may flow through us to heal a broken world.
Amen

Psalm 80

¹ Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
   you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
²   before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
   and come to save us!

⁸ You brought a vine out of Egypt;
   you drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹ You cleared the ground for it;
   it took deep root and filled the land.
¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shade,
   the mighty cedars with its branches;
¹¹ it sent out its branches to the sea,
   and its shoots to the River.
¹² Why then have you broken down its walls,
   so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
¹³ The boar from the forest ravages it,
   and all that move in the field feed on it.

¹⁴ Turn again, O God of hosts;
   look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
¹⁵   the stock that your right hand planted.
¹⁶ They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;
   may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
¹⁷ But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
   the one whom you made strong for yourself.
¹⁸ Then we will never turn back from you;
   give us life, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹ Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
   let your face shine, that we may be saved.

Assurance of forgiveness

God would have us be honest in all things.
To cry out when we are in pain
to seek guidance when we are lost
and to trust in God’s strength when we are afraid.

Give thanks that we are reconciled to God
and free to be the people that God would have us be.
Amen

Prayers of intercession

God of the ages,
You have walked with Your people
from the moment that first we walked on the earth.
You heard our cry when we were oppressed,
gave us strength and courage when doubt and despair threatened.

The earth has been divided and brought to destruction
by human fear, greed and the lust for power.
We, Your people, turn to You,
knowing that only in You can we flourish and grow.

Where division has given rise to distrust,
build bridges of understanding.
Where greed pollutes and threatens life,
open hearts to share and build in partnership.

God of the present moment,
Your love does not stop at borders.
Your grace is given freely to those who
are willing to hear and to trust.

The people of Korea have lived too long
divided and fearful for the future.
Grant them the courage to believe
that their cry has been heard.
Where nuclear weapons have been used
to threaten and keep apart,
turn swords into ploughshares
that people North and South may be fed and prosper.

God of all that is to be,
with people across the world
we pray for the end of war
and the dawn of a new age.

Let all that threatens the earth with destruction
be banished for ever.
Let the voice of those opposed to nuclear threat
grow in confidence and strength.

We will work together with partners across the world
until division is overcome and hostility ended.
We will walk together with You, our God,
into a future where the whole created order lives in harmony.

God of the ages, God of the present, God of all that is to be,
alone we may stumble but together we pray Your kingdom come.
Amen

closing prayer

Lord God,
Fill our minds with Your wisdom
Fill our hearts with Your love
And guide our words and actions
that we might become the living presence of Your peace.
Bless our homeland
That we might witness to Your transforming universal call to justice,
And inspire all that we do in and with Your whole human family
to protect and nurture all of Your creation.

Place within us the mind of servants,
that we might build and nurture a world without violence
in the building of your kingdom of love, justice and peace.
Amen