Eternal God of each present moment,
we come
before you at the turning of another year
with
diverse emotions and tentative hope.
The past and the future meet in this day,
and lay
themselves before us for prayerful pondering.
As we look back over the last year,
we see in
our lives, and in the lives of those we love,
that most human combination of joy and sorrow,
love and
loss, laughter and tears.
And so we hold before you now those whom you bring to our
minds:
loved ones
we have lost, and loved ones we have discovered;
friends
who have suffered, and friends who have rejoiced;
those who
have borne burdens, and those who have found release.
And we trust that you have been present to all these our
varied experiences of life,
drawing
all things together in your great love.
As we look to the coming year,
we offer
you our hopes and our dreams, our resolution and our resolve;
and yet we recognize that despite our best efforts,
we will
not be the people you have called us to be.
But we hold to the hope that by your grace
we will be
the people you have created us to be.
And so we pray for the uncertainty of tomorrow,
and we
trust that you will be present with us whatever the future may hold,
as you
draw all things together in your great love.
But most of all, we turn our prayers to the needs of this
day,
because yesterday
is gone and cannot be changed,
and
tomorrow will bring enough worries of its own.
So we pray for the world to which you have come in Christ
Jesus,
bringing
forgiveness where there is guilt,
and new
life where there is suffering and death.
We commit to your loving care all those who face tomorrow
with no hope,
because
their situation today is hopeless.
And we think particularly of refugees, asylum seekers,
and all people displaced by war or climate
change.
Renew in us a concern for the weak and vulnerable,
and give
us courage:
to speak up for the voiceless,
to speak out against violence in all its forms,
and to speak of the necessity to care for all creation.
We pray for those who have the authority to effect change on
a global scale,
for
politicians and business leaders,
for the
rich and the powerful, the articulate and the influential.
May they be given the gift of empathy,
and the
courage to use their power for the good of the many, and not just the few.
Renew in us a passion for change, and an unwillingness to
acquiesce.
Give us
the courage to take action
against powers that coerce and control,
and may we
learn to be wise
in the ways we speak and act as we seek to play our part
in the coming of your kingdom of love,
justice, and peace.
We pray for our church, for your gathered people in this
place;
we thank
you for one another, in all our glorious diversity,
and we
recommit ourselves to each other as sisters and brothers in Christ.
We pray for those who have come through the doors of this
building over the last years,
from
actors and celebrities to the homeless and the vulnerable.
We pray for all those who have joined us in worship,
visitors
from around the globe, bringing greetings from your worldwide family.
We pray for those who have left our fellowship,
and for
those who have joined it.
May we know, today, who we are created to be,
and may we
learn what it is to be true to the calling you have placed on us.
Help us to love each other,
to welcome
new people with kindness,
to serve
one another with grace,
and to
forgive one another with sincerity.
May our church, over the coming year,
be a place
of safety for those who are vulnerable,
and a
place of challenge for those who are comfortable.
May we be a community of inclusion for those who are
excluded,
and a
community of defiance for those who would exclude.
May we be humble in the face of our own failings,
but bold
in the face of those who fail others.
May we be your people, in this place, at this time,
created by
you and called to live lives of courageous love.
Amen.
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