PRAYER
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself,
no longer holding peoples’ misdeeds against them;
and he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.”
Glory and praise be to God the Father –
the Almighty, the Creator, the Lord of the whole Universe.
Glory and praise be to the Son, the Redeemer, who has removed our guilt and our fear.
Glory and praise be to the Spirit, our guide, our hope, and by whom we’re built up
in fellowship, in knowledge and in love.
To the Holy Trinity, One God, the source of life, truth and wholeness,
be all honour, glory, dominion and power,
from the whole of creation and until the end of time.
Lord our God,
your light always exposes the extent of our darkness.
Your faithfulness is the measure of our disloyalty.
The recollection of your forgiving love reveals the ugly hardness of our hearts.
We claim you joyfully as our Father, but we don’t deserve a place within your family;
for we make up the rules to suit ourselves, we trade on your forgiving nature.
For the ways in which our lives have worked against your purpose;
and for the hopes which you’ve had for us – hopes which have not been fulfilled,
we ask you to forgive us, Lord,
forgive us and bring us back again into your love and your presence;
for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord.
in whose words we continue to pray and to say together:
“Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come,
thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever.
AMEN.”