PRAYERS FOR SUNDAY JUNE 4TH

TRINITY SUNDAY

Call to Worship

Called by our Lord Jesus Christ,

inspired by the Holy Spirit,

blessed by an incomparable Father,

we come to worship one, holy God.

O God, our own God,

how wonderful is your name in all the earth.

Your majesty is the music of the starry skies.

yet even children of dust can sing your praises.

In the name of the Healer, the Provider and the Enabler

let your gratitude and joy be made known.

O God, our own God,

how wonderful is your name in all the earth!

Prayers of Approach, Confession and Assurance of Pardon

Most wonderful God,

forever beyond our grasp

yet by love always within our reach

we approach you with confidence.

Most wonderful Christ,                                                    forever ahead of us in wisdom and love

yet by love always beside us,

we approach you with eagerness.

Most wonderful Spirit,

forever larger than the whole universe

yet by love living in our hearts,

we approach you with delight and joy.

Please enable our worship to rise far higher than our intellect and let our love to go much deeper than our feelings.

To your praise and glory:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God

to be ever loved, adored and served!

Father of the lights of heaven,

loving creator and sustainer of all things,

if we take you for granted or turn our backs on you,

please forgive us and save us

and restore to us the joy of salvation.

Christ Jesus, Child of God and child of humanity,

if we neglect you or follow you timidly from a long way behind,

please forgive and save us

and restore to us the joy of salvation.

Holy Spirit, Source of birth and rebirth,

nurturer of the family of God,

if we reject your friendship

to curry favour with the gods of contemporary fashion,

please forgive and save us

and restore to us the joy of salvation.

Most loving God, origin and goal of communal love,

please gather all your wandering children

back to your side, restore to them their senses,

and forgive their many sins.

Reinforce within us the desire to do your will,

and to participate in both your travail and joy as you bring nearer the fulfilment of your new creation.

Through Christ Jesus our Saviour.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,      I proclaim to you the forgiveness of sins

and the life everlasting!

Thanks be to God!                                                          Amen.

The Lord`s Prayer

Prayers of Intercession

Holy Friend,

for that small community we call our family,   

with its strengths that nurture

or its faults that hurt and inhibit its unity,                          we ask for a special blessing.

Holy Friend,

for that community we call the church universal,                with its many loves and its numerous failures

and even its scandals,                                               

we ask for a special blessing.

Holy Friend,

for that community we call our circle of friends,                  with its times of harmony and mutual joy

and its incidents of misunderstanding or neglect,

we ask a special blessing.

Holy Friend,

for those communities we call health centres and hospitals and hospices for the dying, with their skill and compassion yet also their bureaucracy and frustraions,

we ask a special blessing.

Holy Friend,

for those communities we call schools and universities,      where much knowledge is imparted

but love is not on the syllabus,                                      we ask your special blessing.

Holy Friend,

for that multi-ethnic community called our nation,              with virtues that make us proud to be British,

yet also with its prejudices and hurtful ways,

we ask a special blessing.

Holy Friend,

for that teeming community we call the world,

rich with achievements for the good of all

yet riven by greed, hatred, intolerance, injustice, arrogance, and war,

we ask a special blessing.

Holy Father,

thank you for sending your true Child Jesus

to reconcile all things. By your Holy Spirit incite all people of faith and goodwill to strive untiringly for that communal harmony where the value of no one is denigrated

and where the gifts and successes of each person

are celebrated with unstinted gratitude and joy.

For your name’s sake.

Amen

Sending Out

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

I bless you.

That the rich provisions of the Creator may be gratefully accepted and shared,                      

I bless you.

That the uncalculated love of the Redeemer

may be fully trusted and shared,                       

I bless you.

That the undiluted fellowship of the Counsellor

may be enjoyed and shared,                     

I bless you.

Go out from this church in peace and travel with humility and confidence.

Amen!

PRAYERS FOR SUNDAY JUNE 11TH

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

Call to Worship

This church is a haven for those who,

stressed by tensions or oppressed by dark fears,

seek a place of peace and light.

This church is a temple for those

who are full of gratitude for life’s joys

and who seek a place where they can express thanks w

ith kindred spirits.

This church is a house of hospitality

for those whose faith is small and frail,

yet who want it to grow

towards the fullness of the faith of Jesus.

This church is a holy place,

hallowed by the Spirit and dedicated again and again

by the common people who have come with prayer

and praise to the glory of God.

Prayers of Thanksgiving, Confession

and Assurance of Pardon

We thank you, most wonderful God,

Friend of the world and all that is in it,

because you hide yourself from the proud and powerful

yet reveal yourself to outsiders like Sarah and Abraham

Ruth, Amos and Hosea.

We thank you, most wonderful God,

Friend of ordinary people, because you sent Jesus to us,

our humble, loving Brother who went about doing good

and for his trouble was crucified

yet now is alive for evermore.

We thank you, most wonderful God,

Friend of tax gatherers and sinners,

because you choose to work through churches like ours

with unimportant members who have a patchy record

yet are sustained by profound Love.

We thank you most wonderful God,

Friend of the merciful,

because your Holy Spirit is among us and within us,

never tiring always nurturing, confronting and comforting,

and leading us into all truth.

We thank you, most wonderful God,

Friend and loving Saviour,

because you have unsettled us and put in our hearts

a great longing for the day when the whole world shall rejoice and declare your glory!

If we have lived half-heartedly, brooding over life’s setbacks and our own inadequacies, forgetting that every moment is alive with the energy that raised Jesus from the dead and poured out the remarkable Spirit on unremarkable believers.

Father, forgive.

If we have lived anxiously and fretfully, complaining and fussing, making mountains out of mole hills, forgetting that there is no problem, be it large or minuscule, which is outside the care and love of God.

Father, forgive.

If we have lived selfishly, like misers hoarding time, compassion, ability, and even our faith, forgetting that life is found when we give it away, and that through Christ we are already heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

Father, forgive.

If we have locked ourselves into feelings of guilt and shame, fearing that if we let go of our self disgust and accept forgiveness, we may sin is even worse ways, forgetting that where sin abounds

love much more abounds.

Father, forgive.

Holy God, loving Friend, before we even admit our sins to ourselves, your mercy is waiting for us.

Before we confess to you in words, the love of Christ Jesus on the cross has prepared a new start for us.

Please bypass our reticence and help us to boldly yet humbly accept your loving kindness and take up the challenge of each unfolding moment

with new faith and vigour.

Through Christ Jesus our Redeemer.

Assurance of Pardon 

Family of God, nothing can defeat the mercy of God to those who sincerely call on the name of Christ Jesus. Through him we can know our sins are fully forgiven

and our ultimate liberty form all evil is assured.

The peace of the Lord be with you all.

Amen.

The Lord`s Prayer

Prayers of Intercession

Please save your children, loving God,                              from all that is untrue, unkind or unjust.

Friend of sinners, hear us and save us.

Please save your children, loving God,                              from all cruelty, violence and war.

Friend of sinners, hear us and save us.

Please save you children, loving God,                                from all half truths, deceit and bad government.

Friend of sinners, hear us and save us.

Please save your church, loving God,

from stale worship, exclusive fellowship,

begrudging humanitarian service, and self righteousness.

Friend of sinners, hear us and save us.

Great and holy Friend,

thank you for sharing with us

both the joy and the agony of our human condition.

Today we ask your blessing

on all your healthy and happy children,

that their joy may be complete.

Today we ask your blessing on all your suffering and bewildered children; on the estranged, the dying, the sorrowing, the despairing, and anyone who feels hopelessly trapped in a web of evil.

Friend of sinners, hear us and save us.

For yours is the kingdom of truth, the power of love,

and the glory of incomparable love, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Dismissal and Blessing 

Go forth in to the world in peace

Life with its path before you lies,                                    Christ is your way and Christ your prize.

In the name of the Living God,

I bless you.

That you may have love according to your needs,

I bless you.

That you may have the joy that money cannot buy,

I bless you.

That you may have peace that the world cannot give,

I bless you.

Amen.

PRAYERS FOR SUNDAY JUNE 18TH

FATHERS DAY

Call to Worship for Father’s Day (based on Psalm 103)

Come, bless the Lord with me!

For the Lord is like a father to his children

compassionate and merciful,

filled with endless love.

He forgives our sins,

and heals the sickness inside us;

he surrounds us with love and mercy

and fills our lives with good things!

Let us worship God together!

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Confession

You, O God, love us from the moment of our conception,
You know us and you love us in the womb,
You love us and you call us

from before the moment of our first breath,
and you love us when we first see the light of day.

As a father loves his child before he ever sees it,
and then embraces it gently from the moment of its birth,
so you love us—and we thank you.

You love us, O God from the time of our naming
You love us in our growing and hold us

as we take our first steps.
You love us and walk beside us
as we explore the world with eager hands and eyes
As a father loves his child as he sees it grow and develop
so you love us—and we thank you.

You love us, O God, as we mature and seek our way,
You love as we become aware of the world around us,
You love us as we smile and play,
you even love us when we say no

and when we begin to stray.

As a father loves his child

as he sees it become proud and tall,
so you love us even when we sin and fall.

We thank you God for loving us when we are unloving
for caring for us when we are uncaring,
and for calling to us when we go far away.

Gracious God,
you are the Creator of the ends of the earth,
and yet you call us your children.
You are greater than we can ever begin to imagine,
and yet you invite us to call you “Our Father”.
Always you have loved us:
forgive our feeble response.

You do not keep us at arm’s length,
remote in your holiness,
but you reach out your hands in love,
wanting us to relate to you, one to one.
Always you have loved us:
forgive our feeble response.

Gracious God,
Forgive us that we call you “Our Father”
but fail to live as your children.
We do not trust you as we should,
preferring instead to follow our own inclinations.
We are reluctant to accept your will,
repeatedly disobeying your instructions.
We are slow to ask your guidance,
but swift to forget you and wander from your side.
We all too rarely thank you for what we have,
but all too often complain
when we do not receive what we ask for.
Always you have loved us:
forgive our feeble response.

Gracious God,
We have returned your love by acting as spoilt children,
yet still you have kept faith.
Accept our thanks that, despite our wilfulness,
you refuse to give up on us,
working instead to draw us closer.
You are always there for us,
waiting to welcome us back
and set us on our feet again.
Always you have loved us:
forgive our feeble response.

Gracious God, our Father,
we praise and thank you for your undeserved goodness,
and we resolve today
to live more faithfully as your children.
Always you have loved us:
forgive our feeble response.
In the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
Amen.

The Lord`s Prayer

Prayers of Intercession

For fathers everywhere,                                                  who have given us life                                                    that we may show them respect and love.

Holy God, hear this prayer for our fathers.

For fathers who have lost a child through death,

that their faith may give them hope,

and their family and friends support and console them

Holy God, hear this prayer for our fathers that mourn.

For men, though without children of their own,

acted like a fathers and have nurtured and cared for us.

Holy God, hear this prayer for our father figures.

For step-fathers who have assumed that role

with love and joy,

who have loved the children of another as their own,

and created a new family.

Holy God, hear this prayer for step-fathers.

For adoptive fathers,

who have claimed the orphan and loved the once unwanted as a precious gift from God.

Holy God, hear this prayer for adoptive fathers.

For fathers who have been unable

to be a source of strength,

who have not responded to the needs of their children,

and have not sustained their families.

Holy God, have mercy on absentee fathers.

For fathers who struggle with temptation,

violence, or addiction.

For those who do harm,

and for those whom they have harmed.

Holy God, have mercy on fathers that struggle.

For new fathers, full of hope.

For long-time fathers, full of wisdom.

For the fathers yet to be, and fathers soon to be.

Holy God, hear our prayer for the fathers of your Church.

For those that have shaped our lives

without claim of family or kinship.

For those who have taught us, guided us,

shaped us and molded us into servants of Christ our Lord.

Holy God, hear our prayer for the fathers of our faith.

God our Father, in your wisdom and love

you made all things.

Bless these men,

that they may be strengthened as Christian fathers.

Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.

Grant that we, their sons and daughters,

may honour them always with a spirit of profound respect.

Grant this through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen

The Dismissal

Go forth, as God’s beloved children.
God’s love surrounds you like a father’s love.
Go in the knowledge of God’s comfort and protection.
God’s strength empowers you to be the best you can be.
Go in God’s grace, to share the love of God

with all you meet! 

The Grace

PRAYERS FOR SUNDAY JUNE 25TH 

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

Call to Worship

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. 

And even the hairs of your head are all counted.  

So do not be afraid; you are of more value

than many sparrows.”

We are always in the presence of God

but when we draw near to God,

we find God draws near to us

in the name of Jesus Christ.

Prayers of Approach, Confession and Assurance of Pardon

God of all love, all truth, all mercy

we come to give praise to you for your love,

the love of Creator for the creation;

the love of Saviour for the broken;

the love of Comforter for the overwhelmed.

We come to spend time in your presence

and with your Word.

The Word which is sharper than a two-edged sword,

keen, testing, and trustworthy.

We come to confess to you our failings,

our foibles, our faults.

Forgive us, we pray.

In your mercy make us new,

in your truth give us strength

and in your love set us on your way once again.

Assurance of Pardon

God came to earth in Jesus Christ

to speak words of love, mercy and truth.

He says to us,

"You are a beloved child of God. Be made whole".

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

The Lord`s Prayer

Prayers of Intercession

We pray for those who feels their life is lost in deep water and great darkness.

For victims of natural disaster.

For those trapped in debt or addiction.

We pray for all who love and serve those

in this kind of need.

We pray for those who fear the deep will swallow them up.

For those facing bullying or oppression

For those undergoing medical tests or treatment.

We pray for those who speak out for justice and kindness.

We pray for those whose distres leads them to feel

that God’s face is turned against them.

For those struggling with lack of self-worth.

For those with poor mental health.

We pray for all who support and encourage

vulnerable people.

We pray for those who need to know that you.

Loving God, draw near to them.

For those whose lives have just begun,

or whose lives have changed dramatically.

For those nearing death.

We pray for all those who accompany others

and bring deliverance.

Loving God, save us, lift us up, hear us, draw near to us.

That our prayers may be heard and answered,

and we and all your children know your love more deeply.

In Jesus name.

Amen.

Blessing

May the peace of Christ go with you

wherever He may send you.

May He guide you through the wilderness,

protect you through the storm.

May He bring you home rejoicing

at the wonders He has shown you.

May He bring you home rejoicing

once again into our doors.

Amen.

          from the Northumbria Community

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