Thank you, O Holy One,
for calling us together this morning.
Thank you
that you have given us friends, neighbors, brothers, and sisters
to offer us encouragement and support.
Thank you that you grant us forgiveness—
not only through the assurance of reading about it in the scriptures,
but also through the words and actions
of our fellow members of the Body of Christ.
We know we are forgiven, O God,
but we long to finally get it right.
We long for the kind of integrity
that frees us from the cycle of wrongdoing, confession, and absolution.
Grant us new hearts.
Grant us the mind of Christ.
Help us to play our part
in a society where all live together in love,
and where peace and justice reign on earth as in heaven.
This we pray in the Name of Jesus Christ,
who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,
one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
