+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Humility
Call to mind people you've met this week.
Picture their faces.
Remember the conversations you held with them
Or the impressions they left on you.
And hold them before God.
Holy God
the Bible is filled with stories
of you working through
the unlikely,
the despised,
the stranger,
the enemy,
and you constantly shocked
those who were called your own
and offended their sensibilities.
And for that we thank you!
When we get precious about
who's in and who's out
remind us again of our role models:
Abraham and Sarah, the travellers
Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives
Ruth and Boaz, the boundary breakers
Cyrus and Darius, the faithful outsiders
and all those restored by Jesus
to their full humanity,
and all those in the history of your people
who have defied convention
in subversive ways.
In Jesus you showed us how to love
those who are not like us
but who are adored by you.
Help us to love our neighbours too
and to see you reflected in their faces.
Free prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!