Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on (Being) Chosen
Gracious and loving God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
We praise you for how wide, how high,
and how deep is Your vast love for all people.
Incarnate in Jesus, You offered Your life
for the healing of the world through the forgiveness of all our sins.
Your arms outstretched on the cross embrace us all
as Your love transcends our divisions and differences.
Breaking out of the tomb, You broke the powers that bind us
and released us to live new and free.
Your wide and welcoming love for all challenges us.
Forgive us when we find it hard to forgive others.
Teach us how to value and respect one another.
Give us the necessary strength and courage to reach beyond ourselves
To those who are unfamiliar, and even those we find disagreeable.
Make us a safe place in a dangerous world,
a people in which Your Hope lives,
Your Love welcomes,
Your Compassion restores and
Your Grace lifts all who are downcast.
Creator God, you who love us more than we can know,
Who chose us from the very beginning to be family ,
We praise your holy name.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, Word become flesh,
Who dwelt among us and was sacrificed for us,
We praise your holy name.
Holy Spirit, present and power in our lives,
From the moment that we first believed,
We praise your holy name.
John Birch, Faith and Worship