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Lord our God, we give you thanks,  because in your mercy you have come to us and made yourself one of us in Jesus Christ, so that we might be made one in you.  You have taken the initiative: you have broken into our silence.  You have crossed the wall of our isolation and division.  You call to us all, knocking at the door of our lives and the door of our world.  You manifest your presence in many ways.  May the presence of your unifying and quickening Spirit not pass unnoticed in our midst

Prayer

Lord our God, we give you thanks,

because in your mercy you have come to us and made yourself one of us in Jesus Christ, so that we might be made one in you.

You have taken the initiative: you have broken into our silence.

You have crossed the wall of our isolation and division.

You call to us all, knocking at the door of our lives and the door of our world.

You manifest your presence in many ways.

May the presence of your unifying and quickening Spirit not pass unnoticed in our midst.

Amen

(Pilgrim Prayer, 29)

Responsive Psalm 50: 1 – 6 

The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to its setting.


Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire,

    and a mighty tempest all around him.


He calls to the heavens above

and to the earth, that he may judge his people:


“Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.

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.

Prayer before the Proclamation of God’s Word

Blessed are you, O God, for your word of strength, of encouragement, of hope –

that contagious word which allows us to believe

and to move towards the renewal of our world.

Grant us to hear your word and to persevere in it, putting it into practice.

Amen

(Pilgrim Prayer, 30)

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 2: 12 – 17 

12 When I came to Troas to proclaim the good news of Christ, a door was opened for me in the Lord; 13 but my mind could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said farewell to them and went on to Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.

The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Moment of Silent Reflection

Prayers of Intercession

Holy Spirit, set us on fire with your wisdom, so that I may love only that which is holy.

Rekindle your people, we pray. 

Holy Spirit, enlighten me with your understanding, so that I may perceive only that which is holy.

Rekindle your people, we pray. 

Holy Spirit, kindle in me your counsel, so that I may see only that which is holy.

Rekindle your people, we pray. 

Holy Spirit, inflame me with your strength, so that I may desire only that which is holy.

Rekindle your people, we pray. 

Holy Spirit, pour out your knowledge upon me, so that I may do only that which is holy.

Rekindle your people, we pray. 

Holy Spirit, give me ardent devotion, so that I may seek only that which is holy.

Rekindle your people, we pray. 

Holy Spirit, make me blaze in the fear of God so that I may never again lose that which is holy.

Rekindle your people, we pray. 

(Pilgrim Prayer, adapted, 29)

♪          Padre Nostro (Our Father, sung by choir of Waldensian Evangelical Church )

Benediction

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

and the love of God

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit

be with us all this day.

Amen