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Hymns
Hymn GTG #309, “Come, Great God of All the Ages”
Hymn GTG #754, “Help Us Accept Each Other”
Hymn GTG #754, “Help Us Accept Each Other”
Hymn GTG #311, “Here, O Lord, Your Servants Gather”
Leader: We call upon the Lord’s spirit to dwell with us here and now:
People: A spirit of wisdom and understanding,
Leader: A spirit of counsel and strength,
People: A spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.
Leader: We humbly ask God to create a community from these gathered individuals,
People: So that in our holy diversity, we might better worship the Lord of love.
Call to Confession (based on Isaiah 11:5)
Leader: Let us gird ourselves with the righteousness and faithfulness of Christ as we prepare to confess our sins to God.
Prayer of Confession (based on Isaiah 11:2-3)
You are invited to speak a word or short phrase that describes a personal or collective sin of which you repent and seek forgiveness. When the gathered community is finished sharing, we pray together:
People: God of the peaceable kingdom, we claim to be followers of Jesus, but we do not always share his spirit – a spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and reverence of the Lord. We fear that which is different, closing our hearts and minds to it. We allow our eyes and ears to judge hastily, even as Christ implores our hearts to judge with patience and compassion. We stand in the way of your kindom, O God, and we repent of our actions. Forgive us, and in your mercy, hear our prayers…
(Silent prayers of personal confession)
Declaration of Forgiveness (based on Isaiah 11:3)
Leader: God does not judge by appearances, nor decide by hearsay. We are judged according to God’s righteousness and our sentence decided according to God’s grace. Therefore, I declare to you now that in Christ’s holy name, we are forgiven!
People: Thanks be to God!
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