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Leader: O people, raise your voices and shout,
People: “Here is our God!”
Leader: Raise your voices; don’t be afraid –
People: “Here is the Lord God, who comes with strength and a triumphant arm!”
Leader: May the Lord of strength and comfort be with you!
People: And also with you!
Leader: Let us worship the Lord!
Call to Confession (based on Isaiah 55:7)
Leader: Isaiah invites the wicked to abandon their ways, and the sinful their schemes. Let us return to the Lord so that God may have mercy on us; let us return to our Lord, who is generous with forgiveness.
Unison Prayer of Confession (based on Isaiah 40)
People: Eternal God, we come before you in denial of our reliance on you. We live as though nothing and no one else matters, forgetting that our lives are like grass that is dried and faded at day’s end. Our loyalty is like the flowers of the field, blooming brilliantly one moment and withering to nothingness the next. We are fickle and feckless mortals, and we have refused your guidance. Speak compassionately to us, O Lord. Forgive our past and challenge us to a better future. Comfort us without allowing us to become too comfortable. Gather us in, and then send us out: reformed, renewed, restored. In your mercy, hear our prayer…
(Silent prayers of personal forgiveness)
Declaration of Forgiveness (based on Isaiah 53:6, 40:11)
Leader: Like sheep, we all wander away from the fold and go astray. But like a shepherd, God gathers us in God’s arms and gently guides us where we need to go. Friends, hear the good news: through Christ, we have found our way to reconciliation, and through Christ, we are forgiven!
People: Thanks be to God!
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