01C*
A Call to Worship
Advent 1C 2009
Psalm 25: 1-10
O Lord our God, with confidencewe come to you, but we also come with regrets.
Our hearts and our inner beings are heavy with
foreboding, and our fears have us in a tight grip.
Show us the path you want us to walk, as we
continue to place our hope in you, our Saving God.
We trust in the assurances of our faithful God
Every generation will indeed be blessed
because of the Lord’s unfailing promises.
The Lord blesses us with constant love
and leads God’s faithful ones to security.
God’s covenant relationship is always
to be trusted, and it teaches us God’s way.
Guide us as we seek to walk in your ways, O God
In confidence, we come to worship you this day. Amen.
Prayers of Confession
Advent 1C 2009
Psalm 25: 1-10
O Lord our God, once more we come to you,overflowing with our remorse and regrets.
Once again we have failed! We feel ashamed!
We deeply regret the way we have allowed life
to shape us and take us away from your path.
Our relationships; and in our personal living has
been tainted by this self-centred attitude.
O Lord our God, through your mercy we know
we can come to you, because we trust in you
as our forgiving God, whose ways are love and mercy.
Forgive our failings, and help us to be more aware
of the traps that are set for unwary and foolish people—
traps that are within us, and traps that are around us—
all waiting for vulnerable people to fall into!
O Lord, help us to overcome these failings.
Forgive our failures to turn to you
for your guidance in overcoming these traps
and for being so gullible and reckless.
Teach us the way to walk in your right paths.
O Lord our God, forgive our arrogant and stubborn ways!
In humble contrition, we turn to you now, as we
have experienced your blessed mercy before.
We resolve to walk in your ways, and to follow you
in a committed relationship of trust and faithfulness.
O Lord our God, hear our prayers, our regrets,
even our confessions, and the new resolve we have
to walk in your ways, and to seek
to live always within your merciful love. Amen.
Declaration of Forgiveness
The Lord our God is a merciful God.The Lord our God is filled with unfailing love.
All who seek to follow in God’s paths
are indeed blessed.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
A Personal Meditation
Advent 1C 2009
Psalm 25: 1-10
O Lord my God, I come to you now.I come, confidently lifting up to you in worship,
my thoughts, my dreams, my hopes,
my failings, all that makes me who I am.
However, I deeply regret the way life has developed
for me, and within me – I have failed! I am ashamed!
| Creative pause: | I have many regrets. |
O Lord my God, my enemies betray me—
my enemies within, and my enemies without.
They lay traps for me waiting for my downfall,
and gullible and vulnerable as I am, I fall into them.
| Creative pause: | Life has many traps for the unwary. |
O Lord my God, in the past I know I have taken
the wrong direction. I come to you now, seeking
your guidance, I need to take the right path so that
once again, I can learn how to live within your care.
| Creative pause: | Seeking God’s guidance. |
I take comfort that you have saved me from
disaster before - how well I remember it!
I have failed you before, and I’ve done it again!
But I also remember your loving kindness
and the mercy with which you blessed me.
| Creative pause: | Memories of past mistakes and blessings. |
The Lord our God really is generous and totally
trustworthy, you show me the path of humility—
and the best way to live in God’s ways. The Lord
even teaches me the value and blessings of a loving
covenant relationship. I am indeed grateful to be part
of such a faithful and caring community. I am so blessed!
| Creative pause: | Living a committed relationship with God. |
Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and
Meditations are from
‘The New Revised Standard Version’ Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union');
as it offers an easy sequential numbering
for the Revised Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.
If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2009 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.
jstott@netspace.net.au
Download/view a pdf file of this document here: advent1c_2009.pdf