Document
Eternal God,
direct our lives today and every day to just and peaceful action.
God of a thousand faces,
help us also to acknowledge you are worshipped in many languages,
in different songs and rhythms of life from our own.
May we respect these religious insights in each other
and assist each faithful expression of you.
We rejoice in you, God, in whose image we are brothers and sisters
and by whose example in Jesus Christ,
we know the breadth and depth of your universal love. Amen
(Pilgrim Prayer, 199)
♪ Comfort, comfort all my people
Responsive Psalm 90: 1 – 8
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past,
or like a watch in the night.
You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning;
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
For we are consumed by your anger;
by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.
Scripture Reading: Revelation 16: 8 – 21
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Reflection Question: Any attempt to interpret Revelation can be challenging. However, what struck me is people’s unrepentant behaviour. What is it about human nature that seems to make repentance such a difficult thing to do?
Prayer of Intercession & Thanksgiving
Eternal God, as we pray for the peoples and churches in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia we give thanks for the beauty of the land and waters of this region and the special relationship that people enjoy with the natural environment.
We give you thanks and praise.
We rejoice and give thanks for the identities and cultural practices that indigenous peoples have long maintained, and for their increasing political voice.
We give you thanks and praise.
We offer praise and thanksgiving for how the people have welcomed new immigrants and for the many ways that the churches have witnessed and worked together ecumenically, especially amid challenges of apathy in highly secularized societies.
We give you thanks and praise.
Merciful God, hear us as we pray for that the peoples and churches in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia churches will have the imagination, skills, and energy to build bridges of understanding in increasingly multireligious and multicultural contexts.
Hear us, we pray.
May your presence surround those who work tirelessly on issues of justice for the poor, the marginalized, and the dispossessed, especially indigenous peoples.
Hear us, we pray.
Give comfort, we pray God to those seeking refuge and a new life in these countries, and those supporting and providing for them.
Hear us, we pray.
May those who work for the careful preservation of the fragile land, sea, and resources, not grow weary in their work but be encouraged in all their doings.
Hear us, we pray.
(Pilgrim Prayer, adapted, 198)
Our hope is affirmed as we pray together, each in our own language:
Our Father…
Benediction
Go in peace as those who tread a common way with the Christ;
and may each stone on the road be firm under your feet as God who is our rock,
the winds of the earth wrap you round with the breath of the Spirit.
Amen.
(Pilgrim Prayer, 200)
