Sunday 22nd October 2017 – Pentecost 20A

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Singing old and new songs,

we settle in Your presence,

Maker of the heavens and the earth

and Giver of salvation.

You alone are to be worshipped and adored,

for You have shaped

the day and night

with colour and light.

You shape human life

with the story of hope and justice

proclaimed and told

in the the good news of Your Son,

Jesus,

and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit

who continues to encircle

our lives,

leading us into the places

and towards the people

who are to be restored to You.

Worshipping You in all Your splendour,

we come to rejoice

at the moments of wonder and awe

that have rumbled through

the ordinary

and focussed our attention

upon the world You are creating.

 

In a world full of images,

our attention is easily caught on celebrity

and powerful,

all offering competing messages

of where to place our trust

and dedicate our attention.

We confess the flighty nature of our gaze.

Forgive us for us willingness to put convenience first,

and ignore the need to conserve;

for our belittling of difference,

and failing to celebrate diversity;

for our belief that we are right,

and failing to value the views of others.

 

Silence

 

Loving Lord,

before we opened our mouths

and lifted our hands,

You were whispering words of forgiveness,

reminding all to live as those who belong to You.

With Your presence in all we do,

may we live as those who bear Your image

and give glory to You

in all we do and say.

Sunday 8th October 2017 – Pentecost 18A

Let’s sing songs to the One we love,

songs of vineyards, and grapes,

of fertility and growth.

Standing within this watchtower

we are drawn

to the Creator who clears the stones

and prepares the ground,

so that the vines planted and tended

produce a fruitful crop of grace.

 

Dwelling in the land around

we find our branches

twisted and caught.

Our roots take hold in the wasteland,

and so we come

ready for pruning and shaping,

and the promise of refreshment.

 

Let us sing songs to the One we love,

as we are drawn to the light

of hope and justice.

 

Opening Prayer

Shepherd of our hearts,

You awaken your flock

to the promise if each day.

Your hand has lead Your people

from deep valleys of despair

and deserted wilderness,

to sumptuous plains of restoration.

With manna from heaven

and vineyard fruit,

You offer the best of creation

ensuring that hunger and thirst are met.

In the tenderness of Your hand

as the human vine of faith is shaped

by trimming,

uprooting,

replanting,

and feeding,

You call the best of the fruits

humanity bears

to be shared.

 

It is greed that haunts us

as we keep the best we have

for ourselves

and only offer meagre portions

of our talents, wealth and time.

When others struggle,

we turn aside,

afraid of what commitment might expect of us.

When others cry,

we keep our arms tight closed,

for fear that the pain of another

may weight to heavy on our hearts.

 

Restore us,

O Lord,

and make Your face to shine upon us.

Open our eyes, hands and hearts,

to make space for others

and remind us that our growth is fruitful

when encouraged

by the presence of Christ

met in others.

Amen.

 

Offertory Prayer

Generous God,

in the fruits of our lives You are generous,

reminding all of the abundance of our gifts.

May we be lavish with who we are

and all we have,

as we share Your generosity

for a world to celebrate.

Amen.