READINGS:
Jeremiah 31:27-34
The new Covenant
Psalm 119:97-104
Learning and Loving God's Law
2 Timothy
3:14-4:5 Preach and teach the truth
Luke 18:1-8
Persistence in
Prayer
HYMNS: (Rejoice & Sing)
64 I lift my eyes to the quiet hills
316 Lord, I have made thy word my choice
502 If thou but trust in God to guide thee
518 Father I place into your hands
586 All my hope on God is founded
639 This we can do for justice and for peace
CALL TO WORSHIP: (based on Jeremiah 31:31-34)
The time is coming AND IT HAS COME!
When God has made a new covenant
A PROMISE OF LOVE TO HIS PEOPLE
He will be our God AND WE WILL BE HIS PEOPLE
Our sins and our wrongs are forgotten
LET US WORSHIP OUR LOVING, SAVING GOD.
PRAYER OF APPROACH:
(inspired by R&S 368 I sought the Lord)
O Lord, I sought you out
Once I had found you I nestled in your love
And only afterwards began to realise I had not found you on my own
You were seeking me, you moved me and I came.
To know that you love me so much, it fills me with joy.
O Lord, you stretched out your hand and encircled mine
And when the sea grew stormy - I did not sink beneath the waves
We walked upon them - hand in hand.
Not because of the strength of my love for you
But your love and care for me.
It fills me with joy.
O Lord, I have found you, I walk with you, I love you
But all my love, the whole of my life is given, only in answer to you.
Because you were walking with me, living with me,
long before I knew you were there.
You always loved me.
And it fills me with joy
I praise you, I love you, my Lord. Amen.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION: (based on 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 )
In the second letter to Timothy it says...
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth,
rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living,
so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to
do every kind of good deed
We read the scriptures, we are inspired by the Spirit and convicted by its
truth.
And so we are ashamed for we know that ...
sometimes we do not tell the truth,
sometimes we commit errors,
sometimes we are at fault and do not live in a way that is right.
And though we are equipped to do every kind of good, so often we let the
opportunity go by.
We do not behave as though we love you and want to serve you.
We are truly sorry and ask to be forgiven.
Fill us again with your spirit who teaches and guides us, we pray in jesus'
name.
Through Jesus, God's promise has been fulfilled - I will forgive their sins
and I will no longer remember their wrongs. Know this, if you turn to Jesus
asking for forgiveness, you receive it!
Go and serve God! Amen.