THE INVOCATION:
P: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen
WE CONFESS OUR SIN AND RECEIVE GOD’S FORGIVENESS:
P: We enter worship with many things on our hearts and minds. We feel the weight of decisions, tasks, plans. We fill our time with noise and business, and it ends up distracting our hearts, diverting our attention, dissuading our plans, and making our lives a disaster. What we have invited and allowed into our lives has interrupted our relationship with God and one another. However, we interrupt our patterns of selfishness to confess our sins.
(A time for silent confession)
P: Lord, hear our prayer for the sake of Jesus, Your Son, our Savior.
C: Lord God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
P: Because God is love, Jesus came to restore our relationship with the heavenly Father and re-center our focus on God’s will. God has interrupted our lives with grace and forgiveness. May this Good News change you as you stand forgiven and free in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
C: Amen!
THE PSALM FOR THE DAY…Psalm 30:4-8, 11-12
P: Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
C: and give thanks to his holy name.
P: For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime.
C: Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
P: As for me, I said in my prosperity,
C: I shall never be moved.
P: By your favor, O Lord,you made my mountain stand strong;
C: you hid your face; I was dismayed.
P: To you, O Lord, I cry,
C: and to the Lord I plead for mercy:
P: You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
C: you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
P: that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
C: O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
P: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
C: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Lord God, heavenly Father, we have used any means possible to distract ourselves from the weight of sin and despair. But you have interrupted us with your grace. Give us the Holy Spirit, that we might focus our whole attention and spirit on the work You have put before us. We pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior.
C: Amen.