Liturgy
God, our shaper,
thank you for calling us into community
in this city.
Thank you for its color and vibrancy,
its texture and life.
Thank you that we can’t do all that you’ve asked of us on our own.
But it’s together with all the people here
that we’re asked to build your commonwealth
of justice, peace and fullness of life.
We offer to you our hopes for our church
and place them before you now.
We pray for partners in this community
with whom those hopes could be made real and
place them before you now.
We pray that you will take from us any pride,
any assumption that we know best,
and that you will give hearts open to
receive your word and life
from the friend and stranger we will meet this week.
In all our work, keep us humble,
conscious that without you we are nothing
and without our neighbors we are but a clique.
Bless our partnerships and our dreams.
In the name of the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit, may your kingdom come.
Amen.
Reflection
How are we when it comes to living out Scripture together as a community?
How are we when it comes to supporting our community in prayer?
For your context, what would it look like to sell your possessions and give to those in need?
In what ways is God calling you to be a good neighbor to those around you?
Benediction
We go now, secure in the love of God
from which nothing can separate us.
We delight in seeking the Lord –
looking always for the power and the presence of God,
letting love permeate all that we do.
May God work for good in all things through us;
May Christ Jesus conform us in the image of his sacrificial love;
And may the Holy Spirit help us in our weakness,
interceding for us, and in us, according to the will of God.
In peace, may we live in our city to love and serve the Lord,
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Go and live the church. See you throughout the week.