This week I'm preaching on Jesus parable of he Good Samaritan. It is hard passage to come up with fresh insight into, but as I have focused on it this week I found myself seeing it as an expression of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. The Samaritan showed Christ like love to his neighbour... and I thought of the great passage in 1 John 4... calling us to love one another... because God first loved us and sent his son to be an atoning sacrifice... So in my typically verbose way I wanted to express that in a public prayer of thanksgiving and confession... starting by saying we know what love is because Christ has fort loved us seeing that apply to our own life like in the parable... and finishing by asking that God may enable us to show that love to others so they may know Christ's love as well.
Father God,
We acknowledge
that we know what love is because you first loved us,
We know what
kindness is because you have shown us your kindness
We know what
grace and forgiveness are because you have forgiven us
We know
wholeness and healing because in you we are new creations
We know this
because in Christ you have shown us your great love
You did not
wait for us to come to you but came looking for us.
You saw us
waylaid by our own sin, under the shadow of death
You came to
us on the roadside where we had been left robbed and beaten
You healed
our brokenness and bound our wounds
You clothed
us in your righteousness, when ours was tatted rags
You paid the
price for us to be free and made whole again…
Forgiven because
Christ died for us
Alive again
because Christ was raised from the dead
Filled with
joy because you dwell in us by the Holy Spirit
Able to have
peace even in the midst of the continuing storms of life
Able to have
peace because you left your peace with us
We know that
it is not all wonderful
We know that
everything isn’t just going to be swell
You told us
in this life we would have trouble
But we know
you continue to journey with us
That you
strengthen us and consul us
We know in Christ
you have walked this path before us
That by your
Spirit Christ walks it with us
That Christ
has gone ahead to make a way home to you
WE confess we have sinned and done wrong
We confess
we have left undone the good you call us to do
And we ask
you again today to forgive us
To wipe the slate
clean and restore a right spirit within us
We thank you
that you are faithful and just
We thank you
that as we confess our sin you have forgiven us
We pray you
would fill us a fresh with your spirit
Help us to
love our neighbour and our enemy
To show them
the love we have received from you
Open our
eyes to see them and their needs
Open our
hearts with the compassion of Christ
Open our
lives and our wallets to share what we have
Empower our
words and our deeds to embody you in the world
May we love
because you first loved us
May we show
kindness because you have shown us your kindness
May we show
grace and forgiveness because we are graciously forgiven
May we offer
the wholeness and healing we know that
you bring
May people
know Christ because they see your great love in us.
Amen
Beautiful prayer Sir.
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