Pentecost 21b

L          All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) Let us confess the ways we have gone astray.

Silence is kept for confession reflection

L       Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases…

C       He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his wounds we are healed.

L       The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities… because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Pentecost 20b

L            The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.. it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before God no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

Silence is kept for confession and reflection

L       O Lord

C       teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Satisfy us by your steadfast love in the morning; so shall we rejoice and be glad all our days. (Psalm 90:12,14)

L            …let us hold fast to our confession …for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Pentecost 19b

L       It is Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.(Hebrews 2:9)

Silence is kept for confession and reflection

L       O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth

C       what are mere mortals that you should be mindful of them, human beings that you should care for them? (Psalm 8:1,4)

L       It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing  many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is )not ashamed to call (us) brothers and sisters… (Hebrews 2:10-11)

Pentecost 18b

L         The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.  (James 5:15-16)

Silence is kept for confession and reflection

L         Keep your servant from presumptuous sins;

C       let them not get dominion over me; then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

L       My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Pentecost 17b

L       Who is wise and understanding among you? Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (James 3:13; 4:7-8) Let us confess the ways we fail to draw near to God.

Silence is kept for confession and reflection

L        Behold, God is my helper;

C        I will offer you a sacrifice of praise, O Lord, for you have rescued me from every trouble… (Psalm 54:4,6-7)

L        Who is wise and understanding among you? …the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. (James 3:13, 17)

Pentecost 16b

L       The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. (Isaiah 50:4-5) Let us confess the ways we fail to listen to the word that sustains.

Silence is kept for confession and reflection

L       Gracious is the Lord and righteous;

C       Our God is full of compassion. The Lord rescues us from death; our eyes from tears and our feet from stumbling. (Psalm 116:5,8)

L        The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty? (Isaiah 50:4 7, 9)

Pentecost 15b

L        What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (James 2:14-17) Let us confess the ways we fail to live our faith.

Silence is kept for confession and reflection

L         Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help;

C       who keeps His promises forever and gives justice to those who are oppressed, who gives food to the hungry and sets the captive free. (Psalm 148:5, 7)

L       Speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:10, 12-13)