Morning Prayer Tuesday 13th June 2017

Opening Responses The world belongs to God, the earth and all its people. How good it is, how wonderful, to live together in unity. Love and faith come together, justice and peace hold hands.

Opening Responses If Christ’s disciples kept silent, these stones would shout aloud. Open our lips, O God, and your mouths shall proclaim your praise.

Jesus calls us here to meet him as, through word and song and prayer, we affirm God’s promised presence where his people live and care. Praise the God who keeps his promise; praise the Son who calls us friends; praise the Spirit who, among us, to our hopes and fears attends.

Jesus calls us to confess him Word of life and Lord of all, sharer of our flesh and frailness, serving all who fail or fall. Tell his holy human story; tell his tales that all may hear; tell the world the Christ in glory came to earth to meet us here.

Jesus calls us to each other, vastly different though we are; creed and colour, class and gender neither limit nor debar. Join the hand of friend and stranger; join the hands of age and youth; join the faithful and the doubter in their common search for truth.

Jesus calls us to his table rooted firm in time and space, where the Church in earth and heaven finds a common meeting place. Share the bread and wine, his body; share the love of which we sing; share the feast for saints and sinners hosted by our Lord and King Words John L Bell (b 1949) & Graham Maule (b1958) ; music Lewis Folk Melody

Call to prayer (remain standing) Move among us, God; give us life; let your people rejoice in you. Give us again the joy of your help; with your spirit of freedom, sustain us. God, make our hearts clean; restore us in body, mind and spirit. Let us pray…

Prayer of confession (sit or kneel) Trusting in God’s forgiveness, let us in silence confess our failings and acknowledge our part in the pain of the world.

Prayer of confession (sit or kneel) Before God, with the people of God, I confess to turning away from God in the ways I wound my life, the lives of others and the life of the world. May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love. Amen.

Prayer of confession (sit or kneel) Before God, with the people of God, We confess to turning away from God in the ways we wound our lives, the lives of others and the life of the world. May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (sit or kneel) So now, as Jesus taught us, we say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.

The Lord’s Prayer (sit or kneel) Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us in the time of trial and deliver us from evil; for the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

Response of faith (stand) With the whole church we affirm that we are made in God’s image, befriended by Christ, empowered by the Spirit. With people everywhere we affirm God’s goodness at the heart of humanity planted more deeply than all that is wrong

Response of faith (stand) With all creation we celebrate the miracle and wonder of life, the unfolding purposes of God for ever at work in ourselves and the world.

Psalm 8 (sit) God, our God, how glorious is your name in all the earth; your majesty is praised above the heavens. The praise on the lips of babies and children silences those who oppose you.

Psalm 8 (sit) When I look at the sky which your fingers made, at the moon and stars you set in place, what are humans that you should remember them, mere mortals that you make time for them?

Psalm 8 (sit) Yet you have made us in your own image, and crowned us with glory and honour. You have appointed us guardians of creation, and put all things under our care:

Psalm 8 (sit) all of them – sheep and cattle, the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish in the waters. God, our God, how glorious is your name in all the earth.

Scripture Listen now in the reading of scripture for the word and wisdom of God. (... followed by a silence, at the end of which the leader says:) For the Word of God in scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the Word of God within us, thanks be to God.

The love of God comes close Where stands an open door; (All) The love of God comes close Where stands an open door; To let the stranger in, To mingle rich and poor; The love of God is here to stay Embracing those who walk his way.

The peace of God comes close To those caught in the storm, (Upper Voices) The peace of God comes close To those caught in the storm, Forgoing lives of ease To ease the lives forlorn: The peace of God is here to stay Embracing those who walk his way.

The joy of God comes close Where faith encounters fears, (All) The joy of God comes close Where faith encounters fears, Where heights and depths of life Are found through smiles and tears: The joy of God is here to stay Embracing those who walk his way.

The grace of God comes close To those whose grace is spent, (Lower Voices) The grace of God comes close To those whose grace is spent, When hearts are tired and sore And hope is bruised and bent: The grace of God is here to stay Embracing those who walk his way.

The Son of God comes close Where people praise his name, (All) The Son of God comes close Where people praise his name, Where bread and wine are blest And shared, as when he came: The Son of God is here to stay Embracing those who walk his way. © Wild Goose Resource Group Songs Vol 2

Prayers of Gratitude and Concern

Prayers for the day (sit or kneel) O Christ, the Master Carpenter, you at the last, through wood and nails, crafted our whole salvation. Wield well your tools in the workshop of your world, so that we who come rough-hewn to your bench may here be fashioned to a truer beauty of your hand. Amen.

Closing responses (standing) This is the day that God has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. We will not offer to God offerings that cost us nothing. Go in peace to love and to serve; we will seek peace and pursue it. In the name of the Trinity of Love, God in community, holy and one.

We remain standing to leave, our worship continuing in our work and all we do today