LENT 2
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Breakdown can be break through if if we recognise a new pattern of life struggling to emerge.
I’ve seen that love is stronger than death, have you?’
Gideon Heugh
The everyday and familiar beckon our return
School runs, commuter routes, schedules and in-trays
e-mail; g-mail; voice-mail; snail-mail; what’s app;
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ is coming again.
Appointments to keep, customers to satisfy
Orders to complete, mistakes to rectify
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ is coming again.
Ends to make meet, uncertainties lurking
Tough decisions to make, dilemmas to ponder
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ is coming again.
Aspirations to fulfil, careers to pursue
Skills to share, accomplishments to celebrate
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ is coming again.
Experiences await; unimagined, unforeseen
Dreamed-of, dreaded or simply routine
Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ is coming again.
Christ who is Lord of all things,
We have wept and shuddered in the face of loss,
Marvelled and rejoiced at miracles of recovery.
May we not return unchanged from that which we have experienced;
But be ready to seek Your living presence in every aspect of our being.
Amen
© 2013 Industrial Christian Fellowship (adapted)
We pray:
For Fiona as she conducts three funerals and ministers to three bereaved families this week
For hope and healing for both Bob and Sarah
For guidance for our great city of Liverpool in a time of important decision making
For all those on our hearts
Full of compassion and mercy and love is God,
the Most High,
the Almighty
Amen
LENT 3
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Extravagant God,
we come to wonder and marvel at all that you are,
to celebrate your presence in the world you have made.
Yet, you, the God of all things, find your home
in bedsit, lecture room, library, hospital and bar,
in the grey concrete tower block
the derelict shop, the city street
the broken down play area where children meet
in the struggle and resilience of the poor.
God of our daily lives
We pray for the people of the cities of the world in the midst of pandemic
Working and without work
Homeless or well-housed
Fulfilled or frustrated
Confused and cluttered with material goods
Or scraping a living from other’s leftovers
Angrily scrawling on walls or reading the writing on the wall
Lonely or living in community
Finding their own space and respecting the space of others.
We pray for our sisters and brothers
Mourning and celebrating-
May we share in their suffering and hope.
In our beginning and in things which continue
Your Kingdom come
In places which are new to us
and places which are familiar
Your Kingdom come
In homes and households and hospitals
among friends and strangers
Your Kingdom come
In the streets and the cities
with the suffering and the bruised
Your Kingdom come
In our prayers and lives
Your Kingdom come
We pray:
For Ellen and Eva
For Cathi and her family
For Val and Billy and for the youngsters who have disappointed them
For children preparing to go back to school
For teachers
For all those who mourn...
God take our prayers and our lives
We offer ourselves to you
to be moulded according to your desires
to be shared by the purpose of your Kingdom
to celebrate your unique expression
in each person we meet. Amen