Praise be to God Almighty
for the inheritance we have
through Christ Jesus
inheritance of the covenant of love
made with Abraham and Sarah
passed onto Isaac and Rebecca
Esau and Jacob
and sealed by the blood of the Lamb of God
gratitude we have that we are children of God
know this love
and are one with Christ through the Spirit living within us
we bring our thanks for this gift
of righteousness and life everlasting
may our lives turn towards your ways,
God Almighty
we thank you for your guidance in our lives
where your law, your Word, your love
is a guide to our feet
keeping us safe when the path is narrow and steep
we also thank you
for that lamp guiding us to the right path
when we have strayed from the Way
and are lost in the darkness of sin and our own selfish desires
Generous God
in your generosity to us
we know you don’t always answer our prayers as quickly as we would like
grant us patience and courage to wait on your timing and not our own
we thank you for Esau and Jacob
their example of siblings being so different in every way
yet family
and part of your covenant promise
remind us we are joined to our siblings in Christ
who we may not get along with
but we are united to in the spirit
we thank you for this blessing and this diversity
to your honour and glory
we thank you for our own families
bless them with your love, reflected through us
bless our communities in which we live and work
bless our neighbouring congregations
and the whole worldwide church
may all our actions reflect we are all in Christ by the spirit
bless elected officials in community and local councils, devolved and national governments with wisdom and courage to do what in right, even when faced with opposition from many fronts
bless organisations which campaign for safe routes for refugees
bless countries which receive refugees, fleeing war, famine, disease, the affects of climate change
bless the governments and other organisations in those countries who support those seeking refuge.
Bless these, and all our prayers
offered in the name of Christ
Amen