Week 1, Day 4
+ We draw near to God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Silence
Readings
Silence
Relationship
- We focus on under-churched areas and neglected people, trying to find ways of communicating Jesus appropriately to those most frequently marginalised, condemned and abused by society.
Who are the most despised in your neighbourhood?
What label does the rest of the neighbourhood give to them?
In your work, recall the faces of individuals from that group who you’ve spoken with or spent time with.
What are their names?
Created uniquely by God in God’s holy image, what has this person, or group of people, taught you about Jesus?
Imagine what their life would look like if they knew good news and the one who brought it?
What action does this reflection call from you? Offer that to God.
God
we pray for all Christians in this place
that, as yeast in the dough, you will
use us to be a transforming presence.
We confess our own labelling of those
who are not like us;
our standing apart from strangers
as we surround ourselves with friends.
We are sorry for the ways in which
we scaffold up the walls that divide us
and pray that you’ll give us a vision
of this community fully reconciled, redeemed
with the rubble of walls building
places of meeting and eating together.
We pray for all those who are
most neglected and most unloved;
those used as scapegoats for the
deeper sin which besets us all.
Help us to challenge wrong attitudes
and destructive behaviours
and in our churches to create
communities which are truly inclusive,
filled with justice and peace
and flowing with life-giving love.
And God,
where the old ways of introducing
people to Jesus seem to have lost
their power,
ignite our imaginations and give us courage
to share his life in ways that truly connect,
truly empower, truly transform.
We ask for this, because we have
no-one else to turn to.
You are our God
and we are your people.
Free prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Lord, in your mercy
Let your kingdom come!