Psalm 23 prayer of praise and confession

Lord, you are our shepherd.
    We have everything we need.
You give us rest in green pastures.
    You lead us to calm water.
 You give us new strength.

For the good of your name,
    You lead us on paths that are right.
Even if we walk
    through the darkest, prickliest, most overgrown valley,
We will not be afraid
    because you are with us.
Your rod and your shepherd’s staff comfort us.

Even when we forget you

Even when we wander off and go our own way

Even when we don’t act like people who know and love you

Even if we did these things intentionally

Even then you would still be our shepherd

You always watch over us

You never give up on us

 No, instead you prepare a meal for us
    in front of our enemies.
You pour oil of blessing on our heads.
    You give us more than we can hold.
Surely your goodness and love will be with us
    all the days of our lives.
And we will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Amen

(Heavily borrowing from Psalm 23)

Shepherd call to worship

Come, all you people who know the beautiful and familiar voice of the shepherd,

The voice of the one who knows us, loves us and wants the best for us -

The voice of coming home.

Come, all you who don’t yet know the shepherd’s voice,

but are intrigued by what it might sound like.

Come, whoever you are.

We set aside this time and this space

To draw near and listen.

Show us, loving God, what is it you want us to understand about you today.

Show us, loving God, what is it you want us to understand about ourselves today.

Your people are gathered in your presence.

Amen

Lent prayer

Jesus

Lamb of God

Son of Mary

It’s lent - 

And we make the slow journey with you towards Holy week

We who know who you are

We remember what happened

What you chose to leave behind

What you did for us

Who you enable us now to be

You are our way

You are our truth

You are our life.

You turned your face towards us

You keep your face turned towards us

Help us to keep our eyes on you

  

Help us to keep our eyes on you

When Mad March is here

And we are dazzled by bright lights

And a smorgasbord of distractions

Help us to keep our eyes on you

When we are juggling our priorities

family and study

work life and friendship

our decisions and our ambitions

We long for the world to know who you are

Yet we find ourselves gathering together only with people who know you

We hope that the people in our streets who are isolated and long for connection find community

Yet we spend our time bingeing on Netflix

We yearn for a time when everyone has food to eat and clean water to drink

Yet we fritter our resources away on things we don’t need at all

So easy to leave the building of your kingdom to somebody else.

So easy to close our eyes

Or turn our faces away

Thank you that you never do.

Jesus, who gave everything away for the least of us

We’re sorry.

Thank you that you forgive us,

Welcome us,

Share your plans with us again.

You are our faithful teacher, saviour and friend.

We want to be your faithful people.

Show us your ways.

Amen

Creator of our hearts and minds and hands and feet

Creator of sea and sky

God who spread out the stars in the heavens and whose presence fills every inch of this earth

From the heights of the Himalayas to the depths of the Tonga trench

You formed us, the intricacies of our brains, the complicated structures of our hands and feet, the mechanisms as well as the depths of hearts.

You gifted us our bodies, our abilities, and then you gave us freedom to choose what to do with our lives.

We praise you for your handiwork

We wonder at the mystery of who you are - so like us and yet so different from us

We are grateful for your ever present hopefulness and trust.

And with all that you have given us, we as humankind have done so many beautiful and awe inspiring things …

Some of us have circumnavigated the globe or found ways to travel to the moon

Some have discovered anti biotics or invented cochlear implants or found ways to make paralyzed limbs move

So that the sick might be healed, the deaf might hear and the lame might walk again.

We thank you for the passion and brilliance of those in our world to forge onwards and make progress for the greater good.

Thank you too that though not all of us can do ground breaking things, you have created each of us for community, for love and for purpose.

There has been so much progress in our generations in recent times for great good and for great ill -  and sometimes it’s hard to know which is which…

Ways to make our domestic lives easier

ways to communicate across a city or a country or across the globe

weapons technology to defend or to destroy.

Father, forgive us, for we don’t know what we do.

Forgive us when we use our time for things or ideas that aren’t much good for us or for anybody else

Forgive us for when we saturate our lives with so many images and games and stories and messages that we no longer have space or energy

for rest or simplicity,

for creativity or productivity

or for compassion for those surrounding us…

"To you, O Lord, we lift up our souls.
² O our God, in you we trust;
⁴ Make us to know your ways, O Lord;
    teach us your paths.
⁵ Lead us in your truth, and teach us,
    for you are the God of our salvation."*

Amen

 
*adapted from Psalm 25