Simple Sunday Service: Prayers and Reading

The following prayers and Bible passage can be read as part of the Simple Service which can be viewed on our YouTube channel, or can be used independently for your own personal time of prayer and reflection. God is with you. 

Gathering Prayer

Gracious God,

We come to you as we are, to offer you our worship in thankfulness and praise.

With our weaknesses, our faults and failings, we come to you as your children.

We are heirs of your promises and you delights to welcome us.

We are the inheritors of your kingdom of grace, mercy and peace,

Help us to listen to you.

Help us to hear you in the words of Scipture

Take what we are, that we may become all you would have us be.

We offer our prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Prayer of Confession

Almight God,

When we rebel against your righteousness,

Forgive us and heal us.

When we injure one another through ignorance,

Forgive us and heal us.

When we forget your faithfulness,

Forgive us and heal us.

When we neglect each other’s needs,

Forgive us and heal us.

When we justify injustice,

Forgive us and heal us.

When we search only for ourselves,

Forgive us and heal us.

For your Son, Jesus Christ’s sake,

Forgive us and heal us.

Amen

Bible Reading: Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered round Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods^a]">[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’

² Aaron answered them, ‘Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.’ ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, ‘These are your gods,^b]">[b] Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, ‘Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.’ ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterwards they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

⁷ >span class="small-caps">Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. ⁸ They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

⁹ ‘I have seen these people,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘and they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.’

¹¹ But Moses sought the favour of the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, “It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth”? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. ¹³ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance for ever.”’ ¹⁴ Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Reflection:

• God takes his relationship with us seriously. Do you? Do I?
• To take our relationship with God seriously we can wait faithfully, pray defiantly and accept the second-chances. Which is particular relevant for you at the moment?

Song:

The Summons (Kelvingrove)

Will you come and follow Me

If I but call your name

Will you go where you don't know

And never be the same

Will you let My love be shown

Will you let My name be known

Will you let My life be grown

In you and you in Me

Will you let the blinded see

If I but call your name

Will you set the prisoners free

And never be the same

Will you kiss the leper clean

And do such as this unseen

And admit to what I mean

In you and you in Me

Lord Your summons echoes true

When You but call my name

Let me turn and follow You

And never be the same

In Your company I'll go

Where Your love and footsteps show

Thus I'll move and live and grow

In You and You in me

Intercessions

God who searches for the lost

We pray for those

Who are like the sheep or coin

Who have gone their own way,

Who have got into trouble with the police

Or who have run up debts

Or become dependent on drugs or alcohol:

Help us to search for others who are lost.

We pray for those

Who are like the tax collectors and sinners:

Who have discovered Christ in the own way

But maybe don’t fit into society or church structures or conform to our expectations.

Help us to rejoice with all who welcome Christ.

We pray for those who are like the Pharisees and scribes that Jesus encountered:

Those who think they know how church should be,

Who like order and who need to feel safe and secure

Trying hard to keep church respectable.

Help us to embrace challenge and change

We pray for those who are like the shepherd or woman worried about their security and the future,

Driven to reach out and care for others to search out those who are lost or sometimes tired from caring.

Help us to reach out and care for others and find rest.

Amen

Sending Out

As we face the challenges of our lives and of our wold,

Affirming God, enfold, embrace and connect us with your love.

Give us the wisdom to search for your truth,

The strength to work for justice and for peace,

And the joy of being close to you and to each other.

Amen

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Prayers taken from Roots on the Web copyright © Copyright 2002-2020, ROOTS for Churches Ltd. All rights reserved

‘The Summons’ CCLI Song # 4668756 Graham Maule | John L. Bell © Words: 1987 WGRG, c/o Iona Community, Glasgow, Scotland (Admin. by Wild Goose Resource Group) Music: 1987 WGRG, c/o Iona Community, Glasgow, Scotland (Admin. by Wild Goose Resource Group) For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use.  All rights reserved. www.ccli.com. CCLI Licence No. 3204