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PRAYER AND REFLECTION:
Our Father,
You alone are the only true God. You alone are the one worthy of awe.
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We can never thank you enough for your love for us. And for your boundless forgiveness, your mercy on us, and your grace toward us—not giving us what we deserve but instead showering us with love and second chances on to infinity!
Jesus, as our High Priest who suffered as the Son of Man on earth, you know exactly how difficult it is to live, to keep ourselves pure, to be in the world but not of the world, to focus every thought on you and your goodness.
You understand every temptation, every large or small sinful act against a fellow human created by you and for you. Yet you remember our frailty and weakness; and are still willing and mighty to save us from our sinful selves. We want to confess our specific sins to you Lord and revel in the forgiveness and the cleansing by your blood, shed for us.
We also know, from the words of our dear Christ Jesus, that it comes down to not loving you as we should, and not loving those around us as you instruct. So, most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned, in thought, word and deed—by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart, we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We confess that we have no help and no hope, except in you alone. Oh Lord, how we long to be free of our sins and to live in ways that bring you glory, that draw our loved ones as well as the stranger, to you for salvation.
We praise you God for sending your Son Jesus to completely remove the penalty of sin from us forever. We praise you God for sending your Holy Spirit to give us power over sin every day of our lives. We praise you God that one day we will be utterly free of the presence of sin, and dwell with you in a real place of true perfection, so beyond our comprehension, for eternity.
Glory to you Father, and to the Son Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Spirit—Three in One, as it was before the beginning of time, is now, and will be forever! World without end!
Amen.
Written by Barb Dorn
