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Leader: What is the greatest commandment?
People: We must love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.
Leader: And the second is like it:
People: We must love our neighbor as ourselves.
Leader: All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
People: Let us worship the Lord!
Call to Confession (based on 2 Peter 2:20)
Leader: If we escape the corruption of the world through Christ, but we become tangled up in it again and are overcome, they’re worse off than we were before. Therefore, let us turn away from our sinful ways and return to the Lord, trusting in God’s ready forgiveness and abundant mercy.
Unison Prayer of Confession
People: Gracious Lord, we confess that we have neglected Christ’s second greatest command: to love our neighbor as ourselves. We think in terms of “us” and “them”. We criticize, we make excuses, we point fingers, we do anything and everything but love. We assume the worst of others, and resist practicing forgiveness even as we readily accept your forgiveness for ourselves. Forgive us, O God. Help us to better understand and care for our neighbor, instead of rushing to self-righteous judgement. In your mercy, hear our prayer…
(Silent prayers of personal forgiveness)
Declaration of Forgiveness (based on 2 Peter 2:22)
Leader: A washed sow may return to wallow in the mud, but she is never so dirty that she cannot become clean again. So it is with God’s forgiveness: no matter how often we return to our sin, Christ stands ready to wash us anew. Hear the good news: we are all forgiven!
People: Thanks be to God!
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