Liturgy

We believe that God the Father,
Good Creator and giver of life,
Calls us to love all creation

And care for it as respectful stewards,
To do justice, to love mercy,
And to walk humbly with God.

We believe that Jesus Christ,
Sent from God to save and lead us,
Teaches us to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength

And to love our neighbors as ourselves,
So we see God in the poor, oppressed,
condemned, and forgotten,
And embrace all people with God’s true compassion.

We believe that the Holy Spirit,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
Unites us in God’s eternal dance of love,

Empowers us diversely to serve and love,
And fills us to overflow with grace, truth, beauty, and life
As God’s hands and feet in this world.

We proclaim this in the name of the Father,
of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Community Confession

In prayer, let us confess to our God as a community.

When we keep our faults and failures locked safely away,
we have no need to confess.
But God engages our hearts when we least expect,
so we can be filled with forgiveness, with hope, with peace.

God of empty tombs and empty people:
when we hesitate to speak of your hope,
forgive us, and give us voice.

When we find it difficult to love another,
forgive us, and give us new compassion.

When we want to stand with the high and mighty,
forgive us, and put us next to the poor and oppressed.

When we stay locked behind our doubts and sense of safety,
forgive us, and send us out to share your grace.

When we can not believe your Word of new life,
forgive us, and fill us with your joy.

Christ inhabits every shadowed corner of our lives
with the light of Easter.
Christ comes into the locked rooms of our faults,
and gifts us with grace and hope.

Christ lives, to fill us with peace,
that we may proclaim the good news of mercy
and forgiveness.

Thanks be to you, oh God.
We praise the name of the Father,
of the Resurrected Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Reflection

What does it look like to clothe yourself with humility this week?
Who can you practice gratitude with today?

Benediction

Take your encouragement from Christ,
that your joy may be complete.
We will share in the Spirit;
We will find consolation in love.
Practice a ministry of humility and compassion,
For God is at work in you, empowering you.
We will welcome Christ into our hearts.
We will live lives worthy of the Gospel.
We will go forth in hope and in peace,

to serve others in the name of the Father,
of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Go in peace and live the church.
See you throughout the week.

[Photo by ¥¥¥¥¥P∆†¥¥¥¥¥ @ Flickr]