God's sovereignty

Some times

There are some times

When I think that I know it all.

When what I think

And what I say

And what I do

And what I want

Are the only things that really count.

But, it’s at those times

When I’m mostly wrong.

When what I think

And what I say

And what I do

And what I want

Should be given over to you.

God is…

Bigger.

Wider.

Deeper.

Higher.

All knowing.

All seeing.

All loving.

All giving.

Dad.

Friend.

Saviour.

Here.

When

When life

Is full

Of fun and laughter,

You laugh along with me.

When life

Is dull

And dragging on,

You keep me fresh and bright.

When life

Is sad

And full of tears and grief,

You hold me tight and walk with me.

Help us

Big God,

You’ve done so much for us.

Help us to do more for you.

Creator God,

You made the world and it is yours.

Help us to show more care.

Saviour God,

You gave your son to die for us.

Help us to be generous with our lives.

Loving God,

You love us, whoever we are.

Help us to show love to those we meet.

Sovereign God,

You are over and above all.

Help us to be content in you.

And yet

God, you do so much for us

And yet, we’re always wanting more.

God, you ask us to care for others

And yet, we focus on ourselves.

God, you ask that we give you time

And yet, we find so little time to spare.

God, you want the best for us

And yet, we turn and loo away.

God, we want to love you more

And live our lives your way.

Forgive us, guide us

And help us follow you.

Thank you

Jesus, you are with us;

Helping us,

Leading us,

Guiding us,

Giving us life

And hope

And love

A Gospel of transformation

When Jesus came

When Jesus came

He showed the way

That we should love

And we should care

And we should live

Our lives.

For us to live the way we should

We need to change our ways;

The way we think;

The way we speak;

The things we do each day.

When Jesus came

He showed the way.

The way to think,

The way to speak

The things we need to do.

Help us to look to him

And learn

From all his ways.

Change

When we take too much,

We need to change.

When we say too much,

We need to change.

When we want too much,

We need to change.

When we don’t ask you,

We need to change.

When we turn to you,

You help us change.

Bigger

Jesus, we’re sorry when our thoughts,

Our plans,

Our dreams

Are so much smaller

Than those you have for us.

Jesus, make our thoughts,

Our plans,

Our dreams

Bigger, bolder, brighter.

Make them yours.

Jesus

Jesus,

Take us.

Jesus,

Hold us.

Jesus,

Change us.

Jesus,

Shape us.

Jesus,

Make us new.

God of all

Father God,

Thank you that we are yours.

Patient God,

Thank you for the time you give us.

Loving God,

Thank you that you care for us.

Powerful God,

Thank you that you give us strength.

Personal God,

Thank you that you know us well.

All-embracing God,

Thank you that the world is yours.

Faithful God,

Thank you that you are with us always.

Forgiving God,

Thank you for the chance of a fresh start.

Transforming God,

Thank you that you are at work in our lives.

A Gospel of hope

Free

You always helped

The people you met.

When you lived on earth.

You healed their pain

And eased their fear.

And helped them live their lives.

You gave them hope,

You gave them strength

And you always showed them care.

And still today

You’re here to help and share your love

And to free us from all fear.

Help us

Jesus, you knew and loved your family.

You know us too.

Jesus, you were known by your family.

Help us to know you too.

Jesus, you loved and cared for your friends.

You love us too.

Jesus, you were loved by your friends.

Help us to love you too.

Jesus, you lived and died for everyone.

Help us to live for you too.

Real

You were real.

People saw you.

People touched you.

People spoke to you.

People listened to you.

People ate with you.

You are real.

Though we can’t see you,

Though we can’t touch you,

We can speak to you,

We can listen to you,

We can trust in you.

  

Jesus

Jesus, thank you

That you lived on earth.

Jesus, thank you

That you died for me.

Jesus, thank you

That you live today.

Jesus, thank you

That you love me now.

Jesus, thank you

That I can love you too.

Jesus, thank you

That I can put my trust in you.

Promises

God made promises.

We can read about them all.

God made promises.

They show his love,

God made promises.

They give us hope.

God made promises.

He gave us Jesus.

We believe

We believe in Jesus.

We believe he lived.

We believe he died.

We believe he rose again.

We believe he brings life.

We believe he brings love.

We believe he brings hope.

We believe.

A Gospel of atonement

Sorry

I’m sorry for the things I’ve done

That have not been as they should.

I’m sorry for the things undone

When I’ve not done what I could.

I’m sorry for the things I’ve said

For words that have caused pain.

I’m sorry for the words I haven’t said

To make things right again.

I’m sorry for the thoughts I’ve had

Some unkind and bad.

I’m sorry not to think of you

And how you make me glad.

Father forgive

When we don’t show friendship,

Father forgive.

When we are greedy and want more than we need,

Father forgive.

When we think badly of others,

Father forgive.

When we think that we know better than you,

Father forgive.

Your world

Thank you for the world you’ve made;

Beautiful,

Perfect

And filled with life.

Thank you for the world you’ve made;

Fruitful,

Rich

And with enough to support all life.

Forgive us for how we treat your world;

Greed,

Thoughtlessness

And taking for ourselves.

Help us to care more for your world;

Sharing,

Giving

And putting others first.

So much

I love you

So much.

And yet,

I keep it to myself.

I love you

So much.

Help me

To share your love.

I love you

So much.

And yet,

I live as if I don’t.

I love you

So much.

Help me

To live in your love.

 Help me

Sorry, a word so easy to say

But so much harder to mean.

Help me to be sorry when I know that I should

And to try not to do things again.

I say I’ll forgive when someone’s done wrong

But often I won’t forget.

Help me to learn to really forgive

In the same way that you do it for me.

More like you

Jesus, I’m sorry for the wrong things that I do…

(you might like to think about some specific things)

Please forgive me and help me to try and be better and do the right things.

I want you to be in my life and thank you that you want to be my friend.

Thank you for everything that you have done for me.  Help me to be more like you.  Amen

A Gospel of prayer

My dad

My dad, in heaven,

You are holy and special.

May our world become more like yours.

May more and more things be done your way.

Thank you for giving us everything that we need.

Help us to forgive other people when they have done wrong,

Just like you always forgive us.

Help us not to be naughty,

Keep us away from bad people and bad places,

And from doing bad things.

All the world is yours and you can do everything,

Now and always.

Amen.

Thank you

God who made the world

And everything in it.

We say thank you.

The beauty of the earth

And the wonder of the skies.

We say thank you.

The warmth of the summer

And the sparkle and chill of the winter.

We say thank you.

For all that we have

And for all the is still to come

We say thank you.

Sorry

We’re sorry for the things we’ve said

When nicer, thoughtful, helpful words

Are what you’d have us say.

We’re sorry for the things we’ve done

When being good or helping out

Would have made a brighter day.

We’re sorry for the things we’ve thought

When love and care and positive things

Would have been your way.

We’re sorry.

Others

We thank you for what we have;

So much more than we need.

We pray for those whose need is great;

Help us to live in a world that shares.

We thank you for our health

And for those who care when we are ill.

We pray for those whose health is poor

And where care and love is hard to find.

We thank you for our homes and friends,

The warmth and comfort all around.

We pray for those whose friends are few

And home is just a square of ground.

We thank you that when we speak you hear;

That lives are changed,

And hope takes hold, instead of fear.

We can…

When we’re feeling lonely,

We can talk to you.

When we’re with our friends,

We can talk to you.

When we’re full of laughter,

We can talk to you.

When we’re sad and tears are in our eyes,

We can talk to you.

Wherever we are,

Whoever we are,

However we are,

We can talk to you. 

A Gospel of Immanuel

You know

When I am laughing,

I know that you laugh too.

When I am crying,

The tears that you cry comfort me.

When I am upset,

I know that you, too, feel hurt.

Thank you, Jesus.

When I’m feeling lonely,

I know that you knew loneliness too.

When my friends don’t support me,

I know that your friends treated you the same.

When life is fun,

I know that you enjoyed life too.

Thank you, Jesus.

When I’m feeling tired,

I know that you needed sleep like me.

When I’m feeling weak,

I know that you had to deal with tough things.

When I’m needing love,

I know that you will always hold me tight.

Thank You, Jesus

Come home with me

Come to my home Jesus, come through my door.

See my house, my home – the place I live;

You’re welcome here.

Sit with me when I eat or watch TV;

Watch me as I get along, and fall out, with my family.

You’re welcome here.

Come to my home Jesus, come through my door.

Help me to be kind to my family,

And to welcome my friends

Come to my home Jesus, come through my door.

Spend time with me, and I with you.

Help me to love you more.

Like me

It’s kind of hard to understand

That you were once like me.

Small and needing care -

Flesh and bones and “sticky-up” hair.

It’s kind of hard to really know

That you were once a boy.

You learned to live and love and play

And lived your life, day by day.

It’s kind of hard to understand

The things you did and said.

Making people better, showing them how to live.

Showing them the Father by all you had to give.

It’s kind of hard to really know

Why you had to die.

To have the people turn aside

When, for each and every one, you died.

It’s kind of hard to know you’re here

Beside me every day.

That where I am and who I’ll see

You’ll always walk along with me.

With us

Immanuel, God with us –

That’s who you are.

You smiled,

You cried,

You told stories,

You stood up for what was right

Whatever the cost.

You challenged,

As you still challenge today.

You loved,

You reached out to those in need,

And still reach out today.

You forgave and forgive –

Every day.

Jesus, thank you that you are with us.