Sunday Prayers April

 "The Church of the Warm Heart and the Open Mind"


 

A MEMBER CHURCH OF THE CONGREGATIONAL FEDERATION


A MEMBER CHURCH OF CHURCHES TOGETHER IN WALKDEN 


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PRAYERS FOR SUNDAY APRIL 3RD 2022

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT


Prayers of Approach


Eternal and wonderful God,                                                we come together in Your presence now,
bringing to You our united praise and adoration.
You are a great God beyond all measure
and we bow in awe before the dazzling brightness

of Your being and glory.


We join our heart and voice with the seraphs
in Your presence who call to one another,
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of His glory.

We worship You, God of creation
and stand in awe before the myriad ways
in which the vast universe

and the world of nature around us
display the wonder of Your wisdom and love,

generosity and beauty.


Open our eyes to the signs of Your presence everywhere.
Fill us with delight and gratitude

as we remember how in love
You gave to each of us our being
and the ways You have enriched our lives

from our earliest years.


King of salvation,
we praise You that You have not kept at a distance

from our human predicament,
but in Jesus You have come into our fallen,

broken world fully
to share our humanity and to bring us redemption.
We marvel again at Jesus' willingness in love

to identify in this way with us,
to share our sorrows and to walk the long and painful road
to a new exodus in the achievement of the cross,
gaining for us freedom from sin and pain and death.


Prayers of Confession


At this time, when we are called to reflect on our own path of discipleship,
help us in Your presence to face the truth about ourselves with honesty and openness.
We confess that we have all come far short of Your glory,
that too often we have compromised

rather than confessed our faith.

Forgive us
that we have been narrow in our vision

and self-centred in our concerns
and have not loved You and others

as You have called us to do.
Look on us, gracious Father,
not in ourselves but as found in the Christ

who loved us and gave Himself for us.


As we focus in these coming days
on the wonder of what Jesus Christ,

Your suffering Servant, achieved for us,
give us a new heart to follow Him more fully,
to take up our cross and in serving Jesus our Lord,
humbly to serve others,

especially those most in need around us,
with the same self-emptying mind

which Jesus displayed.                                                   These prayers we offer in the Name

and in the Spirit of Jesus.                                                  Amen.


The Lord`s Prayer

 

Prayers of Intercession


Lord Jesus Christ,
as we think of the testing to which

You were subjected in the wilderness
and throughout Your ministry to its very end,
we bring to You all who today are struggling

with life's trials and pressures.

We remember those who are facing tough choices

and hard situations;
those enduring physical or mental pain;
those striving to come to terms with painful loss                  of a loved one, of employment, of cherished hopes;
those facing challenges

for which they feel hopelessly inadequate.
Hold them in Your love and let them know Your peace
and the sufficient strength of Your grace
which is able to turn even calamity into a blessing.

 

We pray for all who find themselves wrestling with powerful temptation:
those who struggle with things that are destructive,
those tempted to give up on God

in light of life's harsh realities;
those who wonder whether life is worth living at all

in face of the bleakness of their prospects.


Lord Jesus Christ,
You are familiar with the wilderness of life.
Through that wilderness, in all its desolation,
You have made a way and You are leading Your people

by a new exodus to a new creation,

a perfect world of peace, justice and love.

Help all who today are worn down

by the trials and temptations of life
to turn their face to Jesus, the suffering servant.


Let us all find in Jesus the joy of liberation,
the assurance of unfailing companionship

on the journey home from exile
and the sure hope of a new heavens and a new earth,

in a future more glorious than we can begin to imagine.

We offer these our prayers in Jesus' name.                          Amen.

 

The Grace



PRAYERS FOR SUNDAY APRIL 10TH 2022

PALM SUNDAY


Call to Worship based on Psalm 118

   

Open to me the gates of righteousness,                            that I may enter, and give thanks to the Lord.                    We will give You thanks, for You have answered us;            You have become our salvation.                                        The stone that the builders rejected

has become the chief cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s doing

and it is marvelous in our eyes.               

This is the day that the Lord has made;                            We will rejoice and be glad in it.

 


Prayers of Thanksgiving and Confession                


We give You thanks,                                                        for the crowds who greeted Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem,    singing glad songs of victory.                                            We give You thanks because, for our salvation                    Christ was obedient even to death on the cross.                The tree of shame was made the tree of glory;                  and where life was lost,                                                    there life has been restored.                                           


We give You thanks for Your steadfast love                        and abundant goodness to all who wait upon the Lord.


We confess to You our selfishness and lack of love:            fill us with Your Spirit.

Lord, have mercy.                                                           


We confess to You our fear and failure in sharing our faith:  fill us with Your Spirit.

Christ, have mercy.                                                       


We confess to You our stubbornness and lack of trust:        fill us with Your Spirit.

Lord, have mercy.                                                            Amen.

 

The Lord`s Prayer

 

Prayers of Intercession


Let us bring to the Father our prayers of intercession          through Christ who gave Himself for the life of the world.   


For forgiveness for the many times we have denied Jesus,  let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.                           


For grace to seek out those habits of sin which mean spiritual death, and by prayer and self-discipline to overcome them,                                                              let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.  


For Christian people, that through the suffering of disunity there may grow a rich union in Christ,                              let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.    


For those who make laws, interpret them,

and administer them, that our common life

may be ordered in justice and mercy,

let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.                                              


For those who still make Jerusalem a battleground,            let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.                                    


For those who have the courage and honesty

to work openly for justice and peace,                                let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.                                                                                              

For those in the darkness and agony of isolation,                that they may find support and encouragement,                let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.                                               


For those who, weighed down with hardship,

failure, or sorrow,                                                            feel that God is far from them,                                          let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy. 


For those who are tempted to give up the way of the cross, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.                                                           


That we, with those who have died in faith,                        may find mercy in the day of Christ,                                  let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy.                           

Holy God, holy and strong,

holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.                          Amen.

 

The Blessing                                                       


May the Father, who so loved the world

that He gave His only Son,                                              bring you by faith to His eternal life.                               


May Christ, who accepted the cup of sacrifice

in obedience to the Father’s will,

keep you steadfast as you walk with Him

the way of his cross.                                                                                       May the Spirit, who strengthens us to suffer with Christ that we may share His glory,

set your minds on life and peace.                                                                                       

And the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit          Be with you and remain with you,                                    and with those you love,                                                  now and always.                                                              Amen.



PRAYERS FOR SUNDAY APRIL 17TH 2022

EASTER DAY


Prayers of Adoration and Confession


Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!
May our declaration of faith resound

not only within these walls,
but touch the hearts of those we love,                                as the truth of those words lives in our lives.


Your love, once sown within the beauty of a garden,          nurtured for the good of your own people
neglected and ultimately rejected,

now spreads its sweet perfume throughout this world


Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!

We thank you,
that Easter is not about a people,
but all people,
that your love, and your Salvation are for all who confess
with voices, hearts and lives that the tomb is empty
because Jesus is risen,
that we might know forgiveness,
that lives might be reborn,
and that your name is glorified
both now and for eternity.


When our faith stands at the grave,
grieving at a stone that’s rolled away, forgive us.

When our faith is short of understanding,
though the truth is there to see, forgive us.

When our faith is beset by doubting
at an empty tomb today, forgive us.

Bring to mind the cry of Mary,
‘I have seen the Lord!’
and grant us faith to believe!
Amen.


The Lord`s Prayer


Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession


God of the bright and morning star,

God of the rising sun,

God of darkness banished,

we praise and worship you!                                             


For empty tombs: thank you!                                            For disciples running with good news: thank you!              For your presence, alive, powerful, resurrected:

thank you! 

We celebrate your victory over death,

over all the powers that would defeat us.                          Help us to grasp resurrection;

to understand its power,

to see its force at work in our world,

overturning evil empires,

changing the hatred within us,

moving the world slowly,

forcefully,

bending us towards love and truth.


On this day of great gladness

empower us to be your ambassadors,

proclaiming good news.


Good news in our kitchens and living rooms,

good news in the offices and workshops,

good news in the fields and factories.

Help us to be that good news,

walking softly on this good earth

caring gently for all people,

living hopefully into your kingdom.                                     

Today we think of all who are grieving,

especially… (name those who are grieving)

and for the sick and dying…. (name those who are ill)

for places in the world that are torn by war and bloodshed… (name countries at war)


In this world of broken hopes and dreams,

we catch sight of your kingdom come,

in the person of Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns in us forever.                                    Amen.


An Easter Collect

 

O God, who for our redemption

gave your only begotten Son to the death of the cross,

and by his glorious resurrection delivered us

from the power of our enemy:

Grant us so to die daily to sin,

that we may evermore live with him

in the joy of his resurrection;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,

now and for ever.                                                           

Amen.

 

The Grace



 

 






Minister ~ Rev Alan Kennedy 07733153203 01612703296 alanrk1690@gmail.com