Lent 4-C

Call to Worship
Do you feel it?
's kingdom is beneath our feet.
We live in the new creation
shaped by God out of our brokenness.
Do you know it?
God's reconciling love in Christ
has shattered our ways of viewing people.
No longer do we label our sisters and brothers,
we welcome them with open arms.
Do you believe it?
God has made everything, including us, new,
and sends us forth
to share this good news with everyone!

Prayer of the Day
Holy God,
Word Shaper:
you are not our accountant,
but our lover;
you are not angry at us,
but you forgive us;
you are not our enemy,
but the One who runs towards us
with wide open arms,
throwing steaks on the grill
to celebrate our newness!

Jesus Christ,
Shaper of our story:
you travel to that distant country
called our sin
to bring us home once again;
you share your inheritance with us
so we might be blessed;
you know the famine of our spirits
and fill it with your hope.

Holy Spirit,
Life Shaper:
surrounded by your grace,
we offer glad cries of salvation;
encircled by your constant love,
we shout for joy;
enclosed in your comforting arms,
nothing can overwhelm us.

God in Community, Holy in One,
from no on we will remember our life in you,
even as we pray as Jesus taught us,
Our Father . . .

Call to Reconciliation
We know our faults -- the way we have treated others, our alenation from God, our unwillingness to be faithful people. We will not hide our sin or remain silent, but confess them to the One who surrounds us with steadfast love. Please join me as we pray, saying,

Unison Prayer of Confession
We admit, Waiting God, how we have sinned against you. We treat others as strangers, not as our brothers and sisters. Like the elder son, we become green-eyed with jealousy, when you throw your arms around those who are different
from us. We are quick to see the faults of others, but do not recognize our own brokenness. We are not

You interrupt our confession, Tender God, to run and embrace us. There are no limitations on your love, there is nothing you will not give to us. You fill us with your compassion, and treat us as you do your own Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon
L: God rolls away everything that stands in our way - our past, our sin, our pain, our hesitation,
and reshapes us into new people living in the new creation. What wonderful grace. We
are forgiven!
P: Broken, we are made whole;
lost, we are brought home;
empty, we are filled with songs of gladness.
We rejoice and give thanks to God who has
graced us with mercy. Amen.

(c) 2007 Thom M. Shuman