Prayer of Confession: Proper 26 C

Here’s a corporate act of confession inspired by the suggested scripture readings for Proper 26C.  It comes from the Worship Ways website of the United Church of Christ.

Call to Confession

We confess we have strayed away from your Word
We cry out to you, O God

We confess that we have allowed the worries of this world
to drive us away from your vision for our lives
We cry out to you, O God

We confess that there is strife and contention all around us
We cry out to you, O God

Let us confess together:
That we are powerless
and have taken our focus off your Word….                
that we have not allowed your Word to work in our lives,                                                 
yet we continue to cry out to you in times of trouble and need. 
Grant understanding and wisdom
that we may see your vision and apply it in our lives. 
Hear our prayer, O God, and      
Call us back to you.

Assurance of God’s Love
(inspired by Luke 19: 1-10)

The scriptures tell us that God’s love will find us
no matter how far away we are from the Word. 
Just as Jesus found Zacchaeus hiding in a tree,
God will find us and bring us home.  
It does not matter what we have done wrong,
we still belong to God. 
We have the assurance that God will rescue us. 
This is the good news of the Gospel!

~ from Reformation and Reconciliation, written by LT Leticia Rouser. Posted on the Worship Ways page of the United Church of Christ website. http://www.ucc.org/worship/worship-ways/year-c/p/pentecost-ordinary-time-9.html