God of Welcome

Creator God,

You are great and powerful,

Yet so aware of our frailty and our needs each day.

The God who daily provided manna in the desert

Still provides for us

Still calls each of us by name

Still knows the yearnings of our hearts;

Listens to us as we lie in bed praying a worried prayer at night -

Joins us at the breakfast table as we make hopeful plans by day. Pause

 

Holy Spirit, you hovered over the waters in the beginning,

Were witnessed as wind and tongues of fire by the first Christians

And you still blow through our church

sending us in new directions.

You still sweep in like a draught under the door

Or drift in like the smell of Spring through an open window at home

Giving us a hunch about someone to think about

Someone to offer a lift to

someone to bless.  Pause

 

Jesus, in the beginning was the Word

And then you came and lived among us so long ago. 

And you laid yourself down.

Yet you still walk beside us

Interceding for us

Being with us

Teaching us,

And accepting us just as we are. Pause

 

Threefold God of welcome,

We thank you for the abundance of your provision for us

We revel in your presence with us

We stand amazed at your love for us.  Pause

 

We confess, though, that your welcome to us

Doesn’t always flow on in the way we welcome others.

 

Some people are easier to be with than others

Some people demand less of us than others

Giving of ourselves to some people feels more satisfying than giving of ourselves to others

And there is only so much time and energy and resources .

 

Forgive us when we miss the window of opportunity.

Help us to be wise with who we are and what we have and what we do.

Open our eyes to who you want us to see

 

May we be your people

May your welcome be in us

Help us to be the voice and face and hands of your welcoming presence in the world.

 

Amen

God of connection

God we think again about who you are and how great that is.
We think about how you made the moon, which revolves around the earth
and how you made the earth to revolve around the sun.
We think about the complexity of it all
to the far reaches of the Universe, which are so far away
and yet you're there
observing it all,
maybe even smiling at your spectacular handiwork.

And also you are right beside us now, surrounding us, within us, loving us,
maybe even smiling at your spectacular handiwork.

Today is Mothers Day and we thank you for mothers
and also for people who couldn't be mothers,
but who have in different ways mothered us or the ones we love.
We remember today comfort given, messes cleaned up, bandaids applied.
We remember meals prepared whether we were there to enjoy them or not
and late night thoughts of whether we are okay.
We remember sacrifices made, wisdom shared, forgiveness offered.
We thank you for this love lavished on us
and recognise that the source of all love is you.

As we remember these things
We see again that you are a God who loves connection.
We see it time and again in your creation.
The moon with the earth, the earth with the sun.
You love to be connected with us,
and you love us to be connected with each other.

We confess God, that our commitment to good connection doesn't match yours.
We don't always  recognise the importance of good connection and good balance in nature
and we damage creation.
We're sorry God. Help us to find a new way.

We do things and say things that break down our bonds with each other.
We can be rude, selfish, ungrateful
We're sorry, God. Help us to find a new way.

We cut ourselves off from you.
We immerse ourselves so much in our own plans for the good things you've given us
that we forget that if we offer ourselves and our good things to you
you can do amazing things in us and in our world.
We're sorry God. Help us to find a new way.

And here you are again, forgiving us because our connection with you is so important
that you don't want anything to get in its way.
Thank you, God. We praise you because of who you are and how great that is.
Amen.

A prayer of thanks

I sat on the lawn under a tree and listened to my suburb
Thank you for peace
Thank you for community
Thank you for trees and grasses and tomato plants and rhubarb.

I saw a grandfather leaning into the pram of a small baby
and they spent minutes just looking into each other's eyes.
Thank you for family
Thank you for communication
Thank you for love.

I read a really good book
Thank you for thinking
Thank you for gifts of creativity
Thank you for the way we never stop growing and changing.

I met someone who's sick
Thank you for compassion
Thank you for church
Thank you for people who never stop cooking and visiting

I sat with someone who thought they'd never get it right
Thank you for forgiving
and forgiving
and forgiving
and never giving up on us.

In Jesus' name.
Amen

Call to worship - come and learn a new dance!

Come and be reminded of who God is and what God has done for us!
Come and be assured of forgiveness for the way we have failed our God,
failed each other, failed ourselves.
Come and find a new way forward, a new sense of who we are and a new sense of who we can be.
Come and learn a new dance!

Space for confession

Loving, forgiving God
How often do we pause to confess to you?
It's far less frightening to spend time praising you
or praying for other people we know.

If we paused to confess, our failure might be too overwhelming for us
Or we might not be able to think of anything
or we might have to do something about changing what we are doing.

Give us the strength we need to be vulnerable with you, Lord,
so that we can be the people you want us to be.

Show us what we need to bring to you now,
in this time of silence,
so that you can shine your light on us
and make us new .....
 ....
....

Holy God,
most merciful friend,
Forgive us.
Thank you that only you can set us free and change us
and you delight in our transformation.
May your blinding light bounce off us
and be seen in our lives
today and every day.

In Jesus' name,
Amen

Call to worship - nowhere without God

There is nowhere we can go where the light of God can't reach us
There is nowhere we can live where the love of God can't touch us
There is nowhere we can be where the power of God can't move us

Praise be to our God!

Big God

We praise you God
God of our church and God of all creation.
We praise you for who you are.

You span wider than the most all embracing love we can imagine.
You dwell deeper than our sorrows
And reach higher than our highest aspirations.

And you are big!
Bigger than our biggest problems
Far bigger than our biggest plans.

We fix our eyes on you God,
source of all love, source of all joy.
In you is all that we need.

Amen