Assurance of Pardon
Assurances of pardon are organized by topic and scripture reference.
Advent
Galatians 4:4-7
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption [as sons and daughters] Because you are his [children], God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”
In Christ, you are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, an heir to the kingdom!
(NIV, adapted for liturgical use)
Anger
Micah 7:18-19
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Amen.
(NIV)
Anxiety
Inspired by John 6:51-58
Brothers and sisters, God does not leave us in our distress. He does not abandon us to our devilish decisions. While we choose to starve ourselves on a diet of our own making and choosing that leads to spiritual atrophy and deterioration, God provides us with the Bread of Life. Pursuing us, those who have rejected the wisdom of God, Jesus declares of himself in John 6:51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, [they] will live forever” (WEB). The bread that he gives is for the life of the world, for you and me. It is his very body pierced and broken which reunites us to the wisdom, truth, life and light of God. In Him and through Him, we are forgiven. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Atonement
Isaiah 53:2-5
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
(NIV)
Christmas
Glory to God in the Highest heaven!
Your peace surpasses all need, all evil, all understanding
You redeem our harm with your peace
You remove our guilt with your peace
You draw near to make us your peace
Glory to God in the Highest heaven!
Amen
Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon for Christmas by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia © 2022, www.revlisad.com
Hear the Good News. God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem us, free us, and make us children of God. In the Name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Glory to God! Amen.
Prayer of Confession and Assurance based on Galatians 4 © 2023 by Lisa Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Church
Inspired by Isaiah 6:7
Hear now, O Church, who stand in the gap for the world as representatives of God. We have been made clean. As the angel of the Lord touched the unclean lips of Isaiah and made the man whole in word and deed, readying him to do his will, he has done the same for us by the cleansing touch of his Son, Jesus Christ. In him, the disparity between our word and deed is made right. In him, our unkindness in action and in word has been forgiven. Go now in the purity of the King to speak the Gospel through actions of justice, mercy, grace, and love.
Scott Bullock
Comfort
Hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to everyone who repents and turns to him:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV*)
Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28 KJV*)
[Whoever] comes to me I will in no way throw out. (John 6:37b WEB)
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (I Timothy 1:15a KJV*)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen.
Adapted and modernized from A Book of Public Prayer (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Old School)) (Scribner, 1857)
*KJV quotes are adapted for modern liturgical use
Hear the words of comfort of our savior Christ says to all who truly turn to him:
Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28 KJV*)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV*)
Also hear the Apostle Paul’s words:
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (I Timothy 1:15a KJV*)
Also listen to the Apostle John’s words:
My little children, these things write I unto you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (John 3:16 KJV*)
Adapted and modernized from the Book of Common Prayer (1928).
*KJV quotes are adapted for modern liturgical use
Communion/The Lord’s Supper
Inspired by John 6:51-58
Brothers and sisters, God does not leave us in our distress. He does not abandon us to our devilish decisions. While we choose to starve ourselves on a diet of our own making and choosing that leads to spiritual atrophy and deterioration, God provides us with the Bread of Life. Pursuing us, those who have rejected the wisdom of God, Jesus declares of himself in John 6:51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, [they] will live forever” (WEB). The bread that he gives is for the life of the world, for you and me. It is his very body pierced and broken which reunites us to the wisdom, truth, life and light of God. In Him and through Him, we are forgiven. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Compassion
Psalm 103:8-12
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Joel 2:12-13
“Even now,” says the Lord, “turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Condemnation
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34, Phillips)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
1 John 3:19-22
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
(ESV)
Confession
When we speak of our sin
When we stop the silence and cover up
God is faithful to forgive our guilt.
Thanks be to God!
inspired by Psalm 32:5, Lisa Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Creator
Psalm 8 reminds us, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place— what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.” (NLT)
God is so much bigger than we can imagine. In fact, Jesus is big enough to grant even us – even me – even you – forgiveness and grace. Thanks be to a God that big.
Cody Sandahl
The Cross
Inspired by Psalm 51:9-12
The Lord has hidden his face from our sin. He has blotted out all of our iniquity. In Christ and his cross, he has created within us a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within us, so that we are not cast away from his presence. We are endowed with his Holy Spirit, restored to the joy of God’s salvation and given a willing spirit to do all that he asks and desires of us. For in Christ Jesus, the perfect suffered for the imperfect, the sinless became sin for the sinner; we are forgiven and freed to live in a right relationship with God. Brothers and sisters, you are forgiven, indeed! Amen.
We affirm the good news that this statement is completely true and should be universally accepted: Christ Jesus entered the world to save sinners. He personally bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might be dead to sin and alive to God. In Christ we are forgiven. Amen.
Stuart Strachan Jr.
Courage
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Covenant
This is the covenant that I will make with them, after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds…I will remember their sins and misdeeds no more.
Leader: In Christ you are forgiven
All: Praise be to God
Darkness
Psalm 116:5 & Colossians 1:13 & 14
“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.” “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” In Christ we are forgiven!
Jacob Traeger
(RSV)
Psalm 139:11 & 12
When we find ourselves without hope, we can pray along with the Psalmist:
Should I say, “Yes, the darkness will envelop me
and the light around me become night
Darkness itself will not darken for You
and the night will light up like the day
for darkness is as light to you.
Adapted for liturgy by Jacob Traeger, translation of Psalm 139:11 & 2 by Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary (Norton, 2009).
Inspired by John 6:51-58
Brothers and sisters, God does not leave us in our distress. He does not abandon us to our devilish decisions. While we choose to starve ourselves on a diet of our own making and choosing that leads to spiritual atrophy and deterioration, God provides us with the Bread of Life. Pursuing us, those who have rejected the wisdom of God, Jesus declares of himself in John 6:51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, [they] will live forever” (WEB). The bread that he gives is for the life of the world, for you and me. It is his very body pierced and broken which reunites us to the wisdom, truth, life and light of God. In Him and through Him, we are forgiven. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Colossians 1:13-14
Brothers and Sisters, be reassured. Your sins are not held against you. By the work of God in Christ, you are forgiven. God “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Scott Bullock
(ESV)
Based on Psalm 130
Out of the depths of darkness and despair we have cried out for your mercy, O God. Instead of marking our iniquities with the just weight of our condemnation, you have forgiven us, breathed new life into our souls so that we may now stand, a cleansed, holy, and fully alive people. In Christ, we are forgiven.
Scott Bullock
Death Has No Power
Hear the good news – God is not silent, nor is God deaf. The one who watches over you does not sleep or slumber. God hears your prayers, even in those moments when you don’t know what to pray. And God speaks – the same God who commands the wind and the waves says to you: “your sins are forgiven. You are loved, cherished, held, precious to God.” Know that your God cares about the big and the small things in your life, and in Christ there is nothing to fear – even death has lost its power over you. Be at peace.
Jacob Traeger
Deliverance
Psalm 70:4, which is a prayer for deliverance, says this: “Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, ‘God is great!’” (NRSV) Sisters and brothers, Jesus grants us forgiveness, love, and salvation. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven! God is great!
Cody Sandahl
Easter
There’s no night so dark
the light of Christ cannot penetrate to dispel it.
There’s no pit so deep
the Lord cannot descend all the way to lift us out of it.
There’s no obstacle so high
that Jesus is not higher still and takes us over it.
There’s no place where we can wander or to which we can run
that’s too far away
for the King of the universe to seek us, find us
and bring us safely home.
With Christ, in Christ, and through Christ there’s always hope –
for if the grave cannot hold him and death cannot defeat Him,
nothing is impossible for Him.
This same Christ,
who offers His sure and certain hope to you and me,
is with us in this place today;
and He’ll be with you everywhere and always.
This is Good News! Alleluia! AMEN!
Stuart Strachan Jr.
Inspired by Psalm 118:14
Friends, the Lord is our strength and our defense. He has become our salvation. In the life, death, and resurrection of His Holy One, the repercussions of our sin are shattered. We have been brought with him from death to life. We are forgiven, not simply because he breathed his last breath, a condemned criminal, who bore the weight of the world’s sin on his shoulders, but because he overcame the penalty of our sin by defeating the sting, breaking free from the bonds of death that early and dark Sunday morning. In Christ, we are forgiven and freed!
Submitted by Scott Bullock
Epiphany
Inspired by John 1
The Gospel of John declares that the Word made flesh was life and that life was the light of humanity. This Epiphany, the light of God has been made known to us in the person of Jesus. His life and light have arisen upon us. For all who receive him, he gives the right to become children of God. In him we are forgiven and freed, made to live no longer in darkness but in the light of life. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Eternal Life
The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. May the God of mercy, who forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
People: Amen.
Faith
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (NKJV) We believe and although we fall short, we must persevere to the end. Hold tight to His Word.
Faithfulness
Inspired by Malachi 3:1-4
In the midst of pronouncing judgment, Malachi reminds Judah that God does not change. God is still faithful, even when God’s people are not. Friends, hear the good news today: God’s grace is sure. Your sins have been forgiven. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Austin Hill
Fear of the Lord
Psalm 33:18-22
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
On those whose hope is in his unfailing love.
To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
May you unfailing love rest up us, O Lord,
Even as we put our hope in you.
Amen.
(NIV)
Fellowship
1 John 1:4-7
And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled. This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not tell the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Forgiveness
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34, Phillips)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. May the God of mercy, who forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
People: Amen.
As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Leader: You who trust in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sins: hear now and rest in the assurance of your pardon:
All: Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool. (ESV)
Submitted by Dustin Ray
Psalm 103 reminds us that God forgives all our sins and separates us from our sin as far as the East is from the West. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is God’s love for us. Friends, believe the good news. In Jesus Christ, your sins have been forgiven.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
Austin Hill
Adapted from Psalm 51:1-12
Hear the Good News of God’s Forgiveness of His Grumbling and Wayward People: He hides his face from our sins. He blots out all our iniquities. God creates in us a clean heart and a new spirit. He does not cast away from his presence or take his Holy Spirit from us. He restores to us the joy of our salvation and upholds us with a willing spirit. In Christ, who took upon himself the grumbling, griping, grabbing, and grappling sins of his people, we are forgiven. Amen.
Gabe Fung
Leader: In keeping with our Great High Priest, and with all authority of the Holy Spirit present with us now, I assure you that all who seek forgiveness from Christ of their sins stand before God forgiven today. Thanks be to God!
Charles Teixeira
Isaiah 58:8 says, “The Sovereign Lord declares – he who gathers the exiles of Israel: ‘I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.’” (NIV) Sisters and brothers, the Lord grants us forgiveness and gathers us into His fold. We are not excluded for our sinfulness. We are gathered in our forgiveness. Amen.
Cody Sandahl
God
Isaiah 55:6-9
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Goodness
The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. May the God of mercy, who forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
People: Amen.
Gospel
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34, Phillips)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
1 John 1:4-7
And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled. This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not tell the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Hear the good news: For the joy set before him, Jesus Christ endured the shame of the cross, taking all our weakness and failure. Jesus went to the cross for the joy of having you as part of God’s Kingdom. Know this: you are forgiven, and in Christ all of those things which drag you away from God have lost their power. Be at peace. Amen.
Jacob Traeger
Grace
Psalm 103:8-12
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Joel 2:12-13
“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
(NIV)
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Jesus knows our every weakness, and loves us still. Awaken to the promise of Christ’s amazing grace.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
1 Peter 3:14 & 18
Therefore, beloved, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen.
(RSV)
Healing
As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Heart
Psalm 51:9-12 & 2 Corinthians 5:21
The God of David is our God. He hides his face from our sins. He blots our all of our iniquities. He creates in us a clean heart. He renews a right spirit within us. We will not be cast away from his presence, nor have his Holy Spirit taken from us. He has restored to us the joy of our salvation, and upholds us with a willing spirit. O, Children of God, we are forgiven because He has given his own sacrifice in place of ours. “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (ESV). Amen.
Scott Bullock
Inspired by Psalm 51:9-12
The Lord has hidden his face from our sin. He has blotted out all of our iniquity. In Christ and his cross, he has created within us a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within us. So that, we are not cast away from his presence. We are endowed with his Holy Spirit, restored to the joy of God’s salvation and given a willing spirit to do all that he asks and desires of us. For in Christ Jesus, the perfect suffered for the imperfect, the sinless became sin for the sinner; we are forgiven and freed to live in a right relationship with God. Brothers & Sisters, you are forgiven, indeed! Amen.
Scott Bullock
Holiness
Hebrews 10:19-23
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
(NIV)
Hope
When we find ourselves without hope, we can pray along with the Psalmist:
Should I say, “Yes, the darkness will envelop me
and the light around me become night
Darkness itself will not darken for You
and the night will light up like the day
for darkness is as light to you.”
Adapted for liturgy by Jacob Traeger, translation of Psalm 139:11 & 2 by Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary (Norton, 2009).
Inspired by Jeremiah 33:14-16
The prophet, Jeremiah, reminds us that when it seems all hope is lost, God is still working toward restoration. Friends, believe the Good News today: through the messiah, the righteous branch, our sins have been forgiven and we have been made righteous, too. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Austin D. Hill
Image of Christ
The grace of Christ is never deserved but always intentional. Receive this grace, intended for you and me—it has our names on it–this all-sufficient grace that turns our weakness, which has our names on it too, into God’s power, that made us in his image and remakes us into the image of Christ.
Hassell Bullock
Imperfection
We are an imperfect people, but know and believe this, when we submit ourselves to the Lord and resist the devil the devil will flee. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Amen.
Bud Thoreen
Jesus
Inspired by Psalm 51:9-12
The Lord has hidden his face from our sin. He has blotted out all of our iniquity. In Christ and his cross, he has created within us a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within us. So that, we are not cast away from his presence. We are endowed with his Holy Spirit, restored to the joy of God’s salvation and given a willing spirit to do all that he asks and desires of us. For in Christ Jesus, the perfect suffered for the imperfect, the sinless became sin for the sinner; we are forgiven and freed to live in a right relationship with God. Brothers & Sisters, you are forgiven, indeed! Amen.
Scott Bullock
Isaiah 53:2-5
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
(NIV)
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (NKJV). We believe and although we fall short, we must persevere to the end. Hold tight to His Word.
Romans 5:1
Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(WEB)
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34, Phillips)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, he told her, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water” (MSG). Sisters and brothers, Jesus’ forgiveness is as limitless and life-giving as a spring in the desert. So believe the Good News of the Gospel: in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
Cody Sandahl
Based 1 John 2
Brothers and sisters, be assured of this, when we sin, “we have an advocate with the Father–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:2, NIV). Through Him, we are forgiven, freed, and restored to fellowship with God and one another through the light of his cross and resurrection.
Scott Bullock
Inspired by John 6: 68-69
Jesus is the holy One of God who forgives our sins and pardons our iniquities. He pursues us with words of eternal life and in him we are forgiven, fed, and freed to live again. Amen.
Gabe Fung
Joy
1 John 1:4-7
“And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled. This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not tell the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” (WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Know this, the Lord is slow to condemn and swift to forgive and so we can claim the words of the psalmist who declares, “My heart leaps for joy and I with my song I praise him. The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed.” (Ps. 28:7-8, NIV)
Bud Thoreen
Judgment
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34, Phillips)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Justice
Inspired by Isaiah 6:7
Hear now, O Church, who stand in the gap for the world as representatives of God. We have been made clean. As the angel of the Lord touched the unclean lips of Isaiah and made the man whole in word and deed, readying him to do his will, he has done the same for us by the cleansing touch of his Son, Jesus Christ. In him, the disparity between our word and deed is made right. In him, our unkindness in action and in word has been forgiven. Go now in the purity of the King to speak the Gospel through actions of justice, mercy, grace, and love.
Scott Bullock
Justification
Romans 5:1
Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(WEB)
Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. (Romans 8:34, Phillips)
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Submitted by Scott Bullock
Kingdom
Psalm 116:5 & Colossians 1:13 & 14
“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.” “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” In Christ we are forgiven!
Jacob Traeger
(RSV)
Light
1 John 1:4-7
“And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled. This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not tell the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” (WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
When we find ourselves without hope, we can pray along with the Psalmist: Should I say, “Yes, the darkness will envelop me / and the light around me become night / Darkness itself will not darken for You / and the night will light up like the day / for darkness is as light to you.
Jacob Traeger, translation of Psalm 139:11 & 2 by Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary (Norton, 2009).
Love
Psalm 103:8-12
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Joel 2:12-13
“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
(NIV)
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (NKJV) We believe and although we fall short, we must persevere to the end. Hold tight to His Word.
Jesus knows our every weakness, and loves us still. Awaken to the promise of Christ’s amazing grace.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Dearest Brothers and Sisters, the One who was rejected by family, friend, and neighbor, is the One who expresses love for sinners like us. He epitomizes the love of which Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church: He is patient, kind, and humble. He does not insist upon his own way, complain, or hold grudges. He is saddened by sin and rejoices in truth. He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. For us, he endured the extent of shame and scorn upon the cross so that we may be unfettered and freed to live and love. In Him, we are forgiven.
Amen.
Scott Bullock
“But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8, WEB). We gratefully accept Christ’s sacrifice of love for the forgiveness of our sins and confess, “In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.” Amen.
C. Hassell Bullock
This is what good news means:
There is nothing you can do
to make God love you any more…
and there is nothing you can do
to make God love you any less.
Beloved of God, know and believe that in and through Jesus Christ,
you are forgiven. Thanks be to God!
Ellen R. Dawson
Mercy
Psalm 116:5 & Colossians 1:13 & 14
“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.” “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” In Christ we are forgiven!
Jacob Traeger
(RSV)
The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. May the God of mercy, who forgives us all our sins, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life.
People: Amen.
The Lord our God is rich in mercy, slow to anger, and abounds in steadfast love. He does not pay us back what we deserve, but even while we were his enemies he sent his son to die for us. Christ died for you as God’s gift – not because God owed you, but because God loves you. You have been forgiven and you are freed to love others as God has loved you.
Jacob Traeger
Adapted from Psalm 25:6-9; 1 Peter 3:18
Leader: “Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of [our] youth” and our old age, and our rebellious ways; “according to your love remember [us], for you, Lord, are good. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring [us] to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” In him, we are forgiven.
People: Thanks be to God!
Scott Bullock (passages from NIV)
Our prayers of confession come close to God’s heart because God is merciful and gracious and eager to say: “I forgive you.” Let us receive God’s forgiveness with a resounding “Amen!”
C. Hassell Bullock
Jesus, we bless you and honor you for your unending mercy, a flood of grace, pouring out and spilling over. We receive your mercy. We receive your blessings and pray for the Holy Spirit to make them real in our lives. Amen.
Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Pardon based on the Beatitudes by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Need
Jesus knows the wilderness of our need
Because he’s been there before, he will not hesitate to go there to find us
Because he’s been there before, he can lead us out
In the name of Jesus, we are found and forgiven
Glory to God, Amen.
Lisa Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Psalm 72:12-13
Leader: Through the grace of Christ Jesus who gave His body and shed His blood for our forgiveness, hear and believe that “he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.” (ESV)
All: We praise you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who has graciously forgiven us and united us to Christ our King!
Submitted by Rev. Dustin Ray
New Birth
Jesus, you pour yourself out for us and the world
So we may be born again of water and the Spirit
So we may never thirst again
We thank you and praise you for your eternal blessing and forgiveness
Help us lead others to the well of your saving love
Amen
Pardon based on John 4 by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
New Life
The good news is that Christ calls us to new life and enables us to begin again and again and again and again.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
No Condemnation
Romans 8:1-4
Leader: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (ESV)
Submitted by Dustin Ray
Obedience
Isaiah 55:6-9
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Offering
1 Peter 3:14 & 18
Therefore, beloved, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen.
(RSV)
Pardon
Let us receive Christ’s pardon for all of our sins, and receive God’s peace that we can never generate on our own. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.
C. Hassell Bullock
Let us remember that Christ forgives our sins because he bore them at Calvary, not because we deserve Christ’s pardon; and though our sins stubbornly cling to us, our Savior’s love releases us from their grip and gives us freedom to live the new life of grace. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.
C. Hassell Bullock
Peace
Romans 5:1
Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(WEB)
Your torture puts hostility to death
Your broken body breaks down every dividing wall
Your blood makes us blood
What wondrous truth
What dazzling grace
Bring us near again, Jesus
Help us remember and re-member
Make us one in your generous, fierce love
Lisa Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Purity of Heart
Psalm 51:6-12
Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts.
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all of my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
Do not throw me from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Uphold me with a willing spirit.
(WEB)
Reconciliation
2 Corinthians 5:20, 21
Brothers and sisters, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (ESV)
We know this to be true, that the word of the Lord goes out from his mouth, does not return empty, but accomplishes all that he desires and achieves the purpose he sent it for, that is our redemption, our salvation, and our reconciliation. Thanks be to God.
Bud Thoreen
Redemption
Isaiah 35:10
Now return to the Lord with joy and gladness.
Sing a song of redemption!
Let sorrow and sighing be no more.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.
Isaiah 62:11-12
Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your salvation comes!
Behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him!’”
They will call them “The Holy People,
the Lord’s Redeemed”.
You will be called “Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken”.
Amen.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Galatians 4:4-7
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption [as sons and daughters] Because you are his [children], God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”
In Christ, you are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, an heir to the kingdom!
(NIV, adapted for liturgical use)
Psalm 116:5 & Colossians 1:13 & 14
“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.” “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” In Christ we are forgiven!
Jacob Traeger
(RSV)
Titus 2:11-14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. In Him, we are forgiven. AMEN
(ESV)
In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. Together we affirm that by Christ’s forgiving grace we are forgiven. Amen.
Hassell Bullock
Isaiah 43:1-2
LEADER: But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel:
ALL: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
LEADER: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
ALL: When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Adapted for liturgy by Allen Thompson from Isaiah 43:1-2 (NIV)
Refuge
Take refuge in our God who knows we are mere mortals. He forgives us for our sins, even though they were aimed at his loving heart. Rejoice that the Lord, out of his grace, will not remember our sins against us. Amen.
Hassell Bullock
Repentance
Joel 2:12-13
“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
(NIV)
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Isaiah 55:6-9
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Restoration
Inspired by Isaiah 6:7
Hear now, O Church, who stand in the gap for the world as representatives of God. We have been made clean. As the angel of the Lord touched the unclean lips of Isaiah and made the man whole in word and deed, readying him to do his will, he has done the same for us by the cleansing touch of his Son, Jesus Christ. In him, the disparity between our word and deed is made right. In him, our unkindness in action and in word has been forgiven. Go now in the purity of the King to speak the Gospel through actions of justice, mercy, grace, and love.
Scott Bullock
As Jesus healed the afflicted and restored those who have died, he also forgives our sins and gives us new life.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Inspired by Jeremiah 33:14-16
The prophet, Jeremiah, reminds us that when it seems all hope is lost, God is still working toward restoration. Friends, believe the Good News today: through the messiah, the righteous branch, our sins have been forgiven and we have been made righteous, too. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Austin D. Hill
Inspired by Zephaniah 3:14-20
Zephaniah reminds the people of God that God will gather the exiles. God will restore his people. Believe the good news today. Through our Messiah, your sins have been forgiven. Thanks be to God! Amen.
Austin D. Hill
Isaiah 51:22-23
This is what your Sovereign Lord says,
Your God, who defends his people:
“See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger;
From that cup, the goblet of my wrath,
You will never drink again.
Live in the freedom of the Lord’s forgiveness.
Amen.
Submitted by Bud Thoreen
(NIV)
Psalm 113 says this: “Who can be compared with the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high? He stoops to look down on heaven and on earth. He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes!” (NLT) So does the Lord do for us. He stoops down to look at us, exactly as we are, and chooses to lift us up in the name of Jesus Christ. We are forgiven! Amen.
Submitted by Cody Sandahl
Sacrifice
1 Peter 3:14 & 18
Therefore, beloved, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen.
(RSV)
Salvation
Psalm 145:17-20a
The Lord is righteous in all his ways,
and gracious in all his works.
The Lord is near to all those who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him.
He also will hear their cry, and will save them.
The Lord preserves all those who love him.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
The first chapter of the Gospel of John has this incredible statement: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” In other words, God knew we couldn’t save ourselves, so he saved us. Believe the Good News of the Gospel, that in Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Hallelujah!
Cody Sandahl
Psalm 91:14-16
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges by name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
And show him my salvation.” (NIV)
Submitted by Bud Thoreen
Paul writes in Romans 10, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (NIV) In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Amen.
Cody Sandahl
Inspired by Psalm 25:6-7
The Lord is our hope and our salvation.
The Lord is great in mercy and love.
Although we have been rebellious,
he will not remember our sins.
Rather he will remember his love
and he will remember you.
Casey Clark
Self-Awareness
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Jesus says:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God,”
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled,”
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”
Blessed are you who know you’re not enough, for God’s grace is sufficient for you. Your sins are forgiven, go in peace as God’s people.
Jacob Traeger (Luke 6:20 & 21, NRSV)
Shepherd
The Lord is our Shepherd. He is aware of our wanton hearts. He has rooted out our sin and reversed its dire consequences upon His cross. The tree of life has become the cross of Christ. Although we have strayed, our Merciful God has not removed His steadfast love from us. He is faithful to His promise to restore us. In Christ, we are forgiven. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Sin
Inspired by Psalm 51:9-12
The Lord has hidden his face from our sin. He has blotted out all of our iniquity. In Christ and his cross, he has created within us a clean heart and renewed a right spirit within us. So that, we are not cast away from his presence. We are endowed with his Holy Spirit, restored to the joy of God’s salvation and given a willing spirit to do all that he asks and desires of us. For in Christ Jesus, the perfect suffered for the imperfect, the sinless became sin for the sinner; we are forgiven and freed to live in a right relationship with God. Brothers & Sisters, you are forgiven, indeed! Amen.
Scott Bullock
Inspired by John 6:51-58
Brothers and sisters, God does not leave us in our distress. He does not abandon us to our devilish decisions. While we choose to starve ourselves on a diet of our own making and choosing that leads to spiritual atrophy and deterioration, God provides us with the Bread of Life. Pursuing us, those who have rejected the wisdom of God, Jesus declares of himself in John 6:51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, [they] will live forever” (WEB). The bread that he gives is for the life of the world, for you and me. It is his very body pierced and broken which reunites us to the wisdom, truth, life and light of God. In Him and through Him, we are forgiven. Amen.
Scott Bullock
Sons and Daughters
Galatians 4:4-7
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption [as sons and daughters] Because you are his [children], God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”
In Christ, you are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, an heir to the kingdom!
(NIV, adapted for liturgical use)
Suffering
Isaiah 35:10
Now return to the Lord with joy and gladness.
Sing a song of redemption!
Let sorrow and sighing be no more.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Thanks be to God.
Isaiah 53:2-5
He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
(NIV)
Trinity
Taken from Psalm 27:1
Leader: Through the grace and righteousness of Jesus Christ, the plan of the Father, and power of the Holy Spirit, you who trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins—your sins are washed away!
All: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (NIV)
Dustin Ray
Trust
Adapted from Psalm 20:6-8
Because Jesus died for me, I know that the Lord saves me, his child; “he will answer me from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but [I] trust in the name of the Lord [my] God. They collapse and fall, but [I] rise and stand upright.” (ESV)
Dustin Ray
Truth
1 John 1:4-7
And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled. This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not tell the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Adapted from John 15; 16; Ephesians 2
The Spirit of truth has been given to a people who lacked truth. The Advocate has been sent. We who were once without life have been given new life. For it is by grace we have been saved through faith, and this is not our own doing; it is the gift of God–not the result of works so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Scott Bullock
Weakness
Psalm 103:8-12
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
(WEB, adapted for liturgical use)
Jesus knows our every weakness, and loves us still. Awaken to the promise of Christ’s amazing grace.
Leader: Friends, believe the good news of the gospel.
People: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!
Welcome
God welcomes all who come to him.
In weakness or strength.
With much, or with little.
Seek the Lord, while he can be found
Call on him while he is near
And be confident that Jesus will look upon you with compassion
In Him, you have forgiveness and the abundance of God’s life.
Jacob Traeger
World Communion Sunday
Standing Together: Pardon
Nothing can stand against You
Nothing
No sin, no death
No prejudice, no division
Nothing can stand against our God
You’re making us whole and holy in your mercy and grace
Standing together in truth and grace
Standing together in power and love
Standing together in unrelenting hope
You’re making us one as you are One
Amen.
Standing Together © 2022 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com
Worship
Christ took our place in the grave, being bathed in death, taking away our grave clothes. Let us worship Him with full hearts, knowing that it is good and right to worship Him fully.
Charles Teixeira