You grace our lives

A prayer after singing For the Beauty of the Earth and partly based on 1 Peter 3: 13 -22.

Lord of all, to you we raise our songs of praise.
You grace our lives
with your presence and love.
You summon us to good and holy work
in the company of your people. 

You grace our lives
and set us on the road to life in all its fullness.
You pick us up when we fall;
you search us out and find us when we get lost;
you turn us around
and forgive our sin
and surprise us with new beginnings.

We bring before you now those times
when we lived out of our fears
instead out of your promises.
There are times when the bad news looms so large
and there seems no way forward.

There are times when the cost of loving like you love
seems too high.

Speak Your life-giving Word to us, we pray.
Teach us to trust your promises more deeply,
to see your Way more clearly,
to love You more fully.
We ask in the name of Jesus,
the one who willingly suffered
so that we might live in hope.  Amen.

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You Have the Power to Set Us Free

(scripture for the day:  1 Peter 1: 3-9)

Hymn: Sing Your Joy (#253VU)

Prayers of Adoration and Confession

We sing our joy,
we proclaim your glory, O God,
for you raised Jesus from the dead,
and your Spirit is making your new creation in our midst.

You come to us now
meeting us in the turmoil of our days,
speaking words that forgive and heal and transform us.

We bring to you 
the fears and sorrows and wounds
that have kept us from perceiving your presence with us.
We bring to you 
the ways we resist 
following where you would lead us,
the ways we cling to what we know,
the ways we trust lesser gods to keep us safe.

We bring all this to you
for you have the power to set us free,
to heal us
to give us life in all its fullness.

We submit our lives to you
so that you may do your Easter work
in our lives,
in this congregation,
in this community.

We ask in the name of Jesus
whose Spirit makes all things new.  Amen.

Assurance of God’s Grace

This is the promise of God: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you”.  The Holy Spirit works within us and gives us a heart that lives by the rhythms of God’s grace. Lean into this promise and live open to the world-transforming love of Christ.

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We bring our praise to you

We bring our praise to you, God.
We bring our praise 
in the words we say,
in the songs we sing,
in the silences we keep.

We bring our praise
for those moments
when we have been awed by the beauty of creation,
for those moments when we have caught a glimpse
of the greatness of your steadfast love and faithfulness.

We bring our praise
for those moments
when we have sensed your Holy Spirit
hovering over this world
unsettling us
pushing us into new life
opening us to new possibilities.

Turn us toward you 
in those times
when praise gives way to 
sorrow
or anxious fear
or horror at the world’s pain and violence.

Teach us
that deep trust which 
makes even those troubling times
moments when we know that you are
moving us deeper into your love and grace.

We bring our praise, O God,
in the name of Jesus
and in the power of your Holy Spirit
for it is your goodness that holds us and keeps us
through all that life brings us.  Amen.

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Your Music Sounds in our Lives

A prayer for Trinity Sunday, with Isaiah 6: 1-13

Angels and archangels,
cherubim and seraphim,
your children who have gone before us,
all creatures great and small —
all are gathered around your throne,
praising you.

Now we get to join the chorus,
“Holy, holy, holy Lord!
You are love and mercy and wisdom and power,
You are God-in-community, Three-in-One”.

Your music sounds in our lives
day by day
night by night.

We confess that, so often, 
too often, we do not hear it.
We wander through our days,
missing your life-giving Word
— your Word that would feed our souls
and guide us on your Way.

Neither do we see you:
the ways Your Holy Spirit is moving our lives
deeper and deeper into your love and freedom and joy;
the ways you are creating new life 
where we see only loss and death;
the ways you are healing our brokenness,
forgiving our guilt,
reconciling us to you.

Yet, you still have summoned us into your presence;
you have gathered us into your community of love;
you summon us to serve you
amongst those who are broken
or lost
or looking for a reason to hope.

Unstop our ears
Open our eyes
Tune our hearts to sing your praise
day by day
and night by night
in this time in which you have placed us. 

Make our lives holy,
a reflection of your Son, Jesus.
It is in his name we pray,
through the power of your Holy Spirit —
your gift to us for the living of these days to your glory. Amen.

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Keep haunting us, God

A prayer for Ascension Sunday, reflecting Acts 1: 1-11

What a difficult time you have placed us in, God!

So many endings

So much that is unsettled

Such fragile signs of new beginnings.

You call us together again

to turn towards you

to listen for your Word to us —

a word that gives direction,

a word that gives hope

a word that gives us our place in your story.

We are so often looking in the wrong direction

holding on to what we know

fearful of letting go

wanting comfort

while you are sending us into risky unknowns

wanting assurance

when what you are offering is courage.

We are grateful that you do not give up on us.

We are grateful that you keep tugging us toward

your dream for us

We are grateful that you keep haunting us 

with your dream for the poor, the homeless,

the broken, the lost,

your dream for all people

your dream for all creation.

Haunt us beyond ourselves,

beyond our fears,

beyond our anxious worry.

Haunt us 

till our lives are filled with your Spirit

till our lives witness to the power of your resurrection

at work among us still.

We pray in the name of Jesus

whose Word gives us a life that makes sense.

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You are the God who makes all things new

A Prayer of Adoration based on Mark 1: 21 -28 (Epiphany 4) 

You are the God who makes all things new.
You open new possibilities where we see no way forward.
You bring new life where we have run out of power and strength.
For those times when we have experienced your creativity in our lives, we give you joyful praise.

There are times, though, when your silence
and your hiddenness
make it hard to praise,
to trust,
to keep on in faith.

Sometimes, all we can do is to 
bring those times with us into worship.
So here we are.

We wait
We listen
We yearn to hear your promise renewed. 

At the heart of our faith
is the mystery that you are a God 
who comes to us in weakness:
you enter the deepest wounds
with healing mercy and grace;
your suffering brings our salvation.

So, we dare to bring you
the weakness that overtakes our best intentions,
the wounds that will not heal,
the suffering that cries to you for help.

Speak your Word again, we pray,
so that our lives may give witness
to your life-giving purpose for all creation.

Holy God, we have signed on to follow your Son,
as he feeds the hungry,
and defends the most vulnerable among us,
speaks for those who have been silenced.

Where we have grown weary,|
where we have grown afraid of the risks
that such following entails,
renew us,
give us fresh courage,
give us your life and energy and strength.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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You Have Called Us Here

You have called us here, God,
tugging at our hearts
in our loneliness
and weakness
and brokenness.

You have called us here
to hear messages from angels
that calm our fears
and waken our hope
and tell of your great love.

You have called us here
and we have come
wondering
waiting
yearning for you to save us.

Gathered as your children,
we dare to pray that you will 
take us deeper into the story of Jesus,
your Son
your promise fulfilled
your grace and truth. 

You have called us here.
Speak your Word
that clears away the barriers 
we have placed between us.

Speak your Word
that shapes us more like Jesus.

Speak your Word, Lord,
for your servants are listening. Amen.

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You rule this world

A prayer for All Saints Day, based on Revelation 7: 9-17

Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
to you, Lord Jesus.

You rule this world
with love and grace.

There are days when we have a hard time seeing it
but you have promised that 
you are moving all creation toward that time
when God will get what God wants — 
a creation where peace and goodness and compassion
shape all of life.

And you give us good work to do
in the time that is ours:
prayer and praise and hope and truth.

We are not always sure how what we do is serving your holy purposes
but we submit our lives to you.
We trust you, our crucified and risen Lord,
to take what we offer and transform it
so that it glorifies you. Amen

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We Lean into Your Steadfast Love and Faithfulness

A prayer offered on June 14 2020 during the worship service of Shiloh Inwood United Church.

(sung) The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
God’s mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning, new every morning
Great is your faithfulness, O God,
Great is your faithfulness.

Words: Lamentation 3: 22 -23.

God, our God,
we lean into your steadfast love and faithfulness.

We lean into your steadfast love and faithfulness
for we live in a time
where old certainties are being shattered,
new possibilities are opening up,
old scripts are being re-written
and it is a messy time.

It is your steadfast love that anchors us.
It is your great faithfulness that
keeps pulling us toward
your reign of justice and peace.

God, our God,
this day, every day,
we count on your steadfast love and faithfulness.

(sung) The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
God’s mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning, new every morning
Great is your faithfulness, O God,
Great is your faithfulness.

God, our God,
we bring to you
our fears and our doubts.
They have held us captive;
they have kept us from daring
to live the risky love
into which you have baptized us.

Now, as we hear the voices
of our neighbours in new ways,
we ask you take take those fears and doubts;
speak your freeing love into them.

We pray for wisdom to hear your call to us.
We pray for courage
to be the people you have summoned us to be
in this time
and in this place
for the sake of Jesus
whose death and resurrection
has pulled us into your
good and holy purposes.

(sung) The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
God’s mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning, new every morning
Great is your faithfulness, O God,
Great is your faithfulness.

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What a Beautiful Thing

What a beautiful thing, Lord Jesus,
to be part of the company of your people
giving you thanks,
singing your praises,
announcing your love each day.

What a beautiful thing, Lord Jesus,
to follow where you lead us:
for you take us with you into the heart of God,
the heart that breaks for the broken-hearted,
the heart that seeks us when we are lost
however far we may roam
the heart that moves in all our endings
and speaks your new beginnings into our lives.

What a beautiful thing, Lord Jesus,
to be included in your story
to be given a part to play in your holy purposes
to be offered strength and courage and hope
for the life you have called us to live.

We bring to you those times that,
in the midst of trouble
we lost sight of that beauty;
those times that,
in the midst of worry
we sensed only the brokenness,
not your healing presence;
those times that,
in the midst of weariness,
we forgot to rest in your strength
that holds and sustains us.

Trusting in your power
to speak new life
new hope
new joy
into our lives,
we submit our stories to you.
Do your holy work in us,
that we may begin again
to love
to hope
to risk great things for you.

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