Give glory to God in the highest
Praise the Lord, the Mighty One
Whose love endures forever
Sing to the Lord, who is our strength in our weakness
our hope in our doubt
our assurance in our fears
Give honour to the King of Kings
whose rule is just
whose judgement is fair
whose compassion knows no bounds
for in God’s compassion
God calls to us
whispers in the night, near dawn
speaking our names, at the break of day
asks us to listen to God’s voice
a voice which spoke forth continents and countries
a voice which breathed life into the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, all that crawls and slithers
a voice which longs to speak to us now,
through our hymns
through words of the bible
through our shared experience in devotion this hour
as we worship the Almighty King
who is our strength and through whom we may have confidence
to profess our faith
to live our faith
to love our faith
a faith which invites us to listen to the voice of the Lord calling to us
a faith which declares sins forgiven
debts erased
guilt removed
no matter when or where
we pause, Lord God, to reflect on all we have failed to listen to your calling
to love you most of all
more than money or possessions,
more than status and power
more than rules and regulations
forgive us Lord when we have placed love of these things before love of you and in so doing have failed to love our neighbour as ourselves
[pause]
Christ Jesus
cleanse us, renew us
for your sake and the sake of your gospel
remind us we are loved beyond measure
and called to love without cost
now and always may our deepest desire be to love God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit first
to do your will and listen to your voice calling near dawn
Amen