God of grace,
we know you want justice rolling down like water.
Accept these gifts from our hands,
which we cast upon the waters of your love,
a generous ever-flowing stream
feeding the hungry and
helping those in need.
Accept these gifts for the work of your church. Amen.
Micah 6:8 and
It is good to be together, God,
in this place, with these people, at this time,
together listening for your voice.
In this hour of worship
tell us about your kingdom of kindness
so that we can seek it.
Show us your justice.
We want to walk with you,
humbly, closely, daily. Amen.
God our Creator, Ancient of Days,
even as we give thanks for Jesus’ birth,
you behold it happening.
You are beyond time.
You are always sending an angel to Mary,
to Joseph, to the shepherds,
you are always coming again to us,
with good news of great joy
which shall be to all people.
Hear our prayer of thanks
for all you have done, are doing, will do
to save us from our sins.
Thank you for hope that shines out
in the eyes of every newborn child,
God of sea and sky,
God of this great earth laid out under the sun,
we come with thanks on our lips and praise in our hearts.
Thank you for life and breath,
and senses to experience the beauty all around us.
Thank you for the dear ones we love, those around us, those far away,
and those who we will only see again in heaven, by your mercy.
We ask for your comfort for those who grieve
and those who are sick, especially…
Today, we come with prayers for this earth,
and help for humankind as we live upon it.
Show us the way to live responsibly, not wastefully.
Open a curiosity in us to learn about the fish in streams and lakes nearest to us,
curiosity about the birds that fly over us,
God, you see our world.
The girl baby told she is sweet and lovely,
the boy baby praised for strength and power.
The little girl told to be quiet and sit still,
the boy allowed to run and play because boys will be boys.
The adolescent girl not giving the answer in school,
because the boys make fun if she stands out.
The teenage girl crossing her arms over her breasts,
after the boys comment and reach out to touch.
The young woman watching where she walks,
noticing in every room if there is a threat,
Gracious God,
we confess before you our complicity in the sins of this world,
sins which Jesus felt in his own body and soul.
Our hands are not clean.
We confess that we have desired power and status,
and have neglected our duty as your servants.
We have allowed ourselves to become preoccupied
with things we own or want to own,
freely putting on the chains of consumerism.
Open our eyes to the way our lifestyles
affect and shape the suffering of those here and far away.
Consider the clothes of our congregation,
how they glow!
Clothes of every color, light and dark, bright and muted,
a rainbow of raiment as varied as the lilies of the field.
Thank you, Lord, for clothing us;
we all have something to wear.
This despite the fact
that some of us have stood at our closets
lamenting, “I have nothing to wear.”
We come to worship with expensive Italian shoes
and twenty-year-old Birkenstocks
Open our eyes, Lord, to the modern yoke;
the burden of our consumer culture,
the debt that holds people fast,
the myth of success which has us by the throat.
We confess that we are trapped.
You offer the possibility of release;
you loose the shackles of greed,
freeing us from the urge to acquire at any cost,
relieving us from the treadmill of busyness….
Jesus, you know the 35,000 people in jail in Canada
by name, not number.
You know each holding cell, each regional detention centre,
each provincial institution and federal prison.
You were a captive, you too wore chains.
No one falls through the cracks in your kingdom,
you witness every tear shed in the night.
Where there is loneliness, bring companionship.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is fear, courage.
Where there is confinement, your freedom.
We pray for every imprisoned person who misses their family,
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
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