Pastoral Prayer - New Creation
God of New Creation,
You made this world very good. While it is broken by sin, there are still deep wells of goodness in it. We give You praise for the beauty of changing leaves, for the bounty of the harvest, for the richness of Your provision, and the warmth and joy of friends and family. For these and the unnumbered blessings beside them, we come to You with gratitude.
At the same time, that goodness stirs our hearts to long for the goodness we have lost. Not all is as it should be here. We fret over worldly wants and fears. We ache over relationships lost and broken. We groan under the weight of our sin, the guilt and the shame it brings. We weep for the sickness and death that afflict our bodies and our communities. For these and many other heartaches, we come to You with longing.
Our hope, Father, is that You are working salvation. You have drawn near to us in Jesus Christ, fully God and fully one of us. He paid for the destruction of our sin by taking that destruction in His own body on the cross. He rose again to break the power of sin and death and bring the life of resurrection into the world. For this great salvation, we come to You with hope and joy.
Teach us to live in light of Your salvation in our world. Give us the confidence of those whose sins are covered. Make us quick to repent and seek forgiveness. Give us the fellowship of Your Son by the presence of Your Spirit. Teach us to walk in His ways. Give us the courage of the resurrection. Commission us as bringers of life to all the dead places in this earth.
Work these things in us, and carry forward Your work of new creation by Your strong right arm. Let the gospel of Jesus Christ go forth to the nations, that they may walk in His light. Let the justice of Your kingdom come to the places of evil and injustice in our world. Let the love embodied in Jesus ripple outward in selflessness and peace.
Do this until You return and make all things new. Speak to us, ultimately, the hope of that day. Bring near Your great salvation. Return quickly, Lord Jesus, that we may experience the fullness of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. We pray all of this in Your great name.
AMEN
You made this world very good. While it is broken by sin, there are still deep wells of goodness in it. We give You praise for the beauty of changing leaves, for the bounty of the harvest, for the richness of Your provision, and the warmth and joy of friends and family. For these and the unnumbered blessings beside them, we come to You with gratitude.
At the same time, that goodness stirs our hearts to long for the goodness we have lost. Not all is as it should be here. We fret over worldly wants and fears. We ache over relationships lost and broken. We groan under the weight of our sin, the guilt and the shame it brings. We weep for the sickness and death that afflict our bodies and our communities. For these and many other heartaches, we come to You with longing.
Our hope, Father, is that You are working salvation. You have drawn near to us in Jesus Christ, fully God and fully one of us. He paid for the destruction of our sin by taking that destruction in His own body on the cross. He rose again to break the power of sin and death and bring the life of resurrection into the world. For this great salvation, we come to You with hope and joy.
Teach us to live in light of Your salvation in our world. Give us the confidence of those whose sins are covered. Make us quick to repent and seek forgiveness. Give us the fellowship of Your Son by the presence of Your Spirit. Teach us to walk in His ways. Give us the courage of the resurrection. Commission us as bringers of life to all the dead places in this earth.
Work these things in us, and carry forward Your work of new creation by Your strong right arm. Let the gospel of Jesus Christ go forth to the nations, that they may walk in His light. Let the justice of Your kingdom come to the places of evil and injustice in our world. Let the love embodied in Jesus ripple outward in selflessness and peace.
Do this until You return and make all things new. Speak to us, ultimately, the hope of that day. Bring near Your great salvation. Return quickly, Lord Jesus, that we may experience the fullness of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. We pray all of this in Your great name.
AMEN
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