God of signs and wonders
before even one human being walked the earth, the birds of the air and the rocks of the hillside showed your glory, spoke of your creative word, sounded your praises
we, your people, gathered here, in this time, in this place, come to join with all of nature to sing your praises, to draw near to you, to worship and adore you.
We join with the voices of the angels and the saints, a cacophony of devotion to the one who is holy, holy, holy, God almighty. May heaven and earth be filled with your glory.
Bless our song, our prayers, our worship. Bless the thoughts of our hearts and open our minds and spirits to the the renewing and enlivening power of your presence within us, around us and beside us.
Challenge, excite and inspire us, as we begin this Lenten journey, together, as a people united as one body in and through with your son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Jesus our friend
you came to this world, God incarnate, to draw us to yourself, to draw us closer to our maker and creator, to draw us to life in all its beauty and wonder and wholeness and fullness.
Ah, but we don’t get it right, do we?
We find rules and regulations to include and exclude
we don’t accept the artistry of your world with the openness and awe of a child
we sometimes struggle to believe, truly believe, your promises to us, to our fellow human beings and to all creation are true
we fail to live as people who, through our relationship with you, our saviour and king, are flowing over with love, towards others, towards your world and towards ourselves.
Father God, in Jesus you came so you really understand our daily struggles and, despite our failings, still love us, still care for us and always, until the end of time, forgive these and all our sins.
Blazing spirit
sweep through us and take us into the wilderness, the wilderness where we will be renewed, refreshed, replenished in our journey of faith that, once Easter comes, once the stone is rolled away, we are able to go into the world as disciples of Christ the risen king
Amen