Reading of the Law of God
Therefore I tell
you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food
and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow
nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are
you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a
single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and
tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of
little faith? Matthew 6.25-30
Confession of Sin
Our Father, we live
among a people who are very anxious. And sometimes we act like them. We act
like them when we do not believe You when You tell us that You will meet our
every need. We recognize that our lack of trust is a great insult to You. It is
only because of what Jesus has done that we are so bold to ask You to forgive
this offense. We also ask that You would change us so that we would always
believe You and Your great promises of love. Amen.
Declaration of Pardon
The saying is
trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1.15
May the God of all
healing and forgiveness draw us to himself, and cleanse us from all our sins
that we may behold the glory of his Son, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our
Lord.
The Book of Common
Prayer