49B*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 9B [Ordinary 17B] or [Proper 12B] 2012
Psalm 14

Reliable God, like children, we so easily drift into doubts and fears.
Our Faithful God watches all humanity, seeking true believers—
and in faith, hope and trust, we come to worship our God now.

Accepting God, we can be so naive, and believe all we see and hear.
The Alpha and the Omega searches for faithful followers of the Way—
so in regret and remorse, we come seeking forgiveness and mercy.

Our God, the Hope of all peoples, has promised us love and mercy—
and despite our lack of commitment to you, you continue to be patient.
Renewing God, be our Light and Truth in this dark and troublesome
world, and may our witness to your love be acceptable to you, O Lord. Amen.

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Prayers of Lament and Confession
Pentecost 9B [Ordinary 17B] or [Proper 12B] 2012
Psalm 14

All-knowing and All-merciful God, with heavy hearts we gather
to worship you, grateful for the opportunity to express our inner
thoughts and feelings before our Generous God, who listens
and responds to our cries of regret and remorse. We live in a
world that seems to have destroyed all that is pure and good;
and in a world where honesty, integrity and truth are “grubby”
words, instead of being worthy attributes of God’s own people.

God, our Quiet Centre, day after day, loud voices are proclaiming
that “There is no God!” These speakers produce “scientific proof”
and complex arguments to back up these statements. O God, the
really sad thing is that vulnerable people listen; and think these
words and statements are true! In addition, evil has so successfully
raised its head - believing itself to be invincible and supreme –
that its self-confidence has almost destroyed people’s hopes and
dreams for a different and better world. Gracious Wisdom, we come
to you, seeking your blessing and encouragement; and the faith to
cling to you, as our Rock and sturdy Foundation in an weary world.

Guardian of all goodness and beauty, forgive us we pray, when
we waver in our faith and trust in you; when doubts and fears
come to us in the dark hours of the night, when we are at our
most vulnerable and easily confused; and when we do not know
where to go and what to do to reinforce our faith and trust in you.
Help us to always remember, that in the gathered community of
believers, we will gain strength and encouragement to press on
in our faith journey, and to accept the promise that you walk with us. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 9B [Ordinary 17B] or [Proper 12B] 2012
Psalm 14

The ancient world believed in a three-tier geographical world
structure, with heaven being the uppermost tier, and that God
sat there in glorious and benevolent splendour, viewing all
creation below. Today, some people still seem to think that way,
with God still looking down at the world with a mixture of austere
judgement, and with a small dose of goodwill - on a nice day.
The Psalmist seemed to have an image of God as something
like that, with God ticking off on a short list those faithful people;
but the Psalmist’s “good people” list was so despairingly short.



With the media outlets now so rampant in their invasion of privacy—
acting as the spokespeople for non-believers; for consumer-obsessed
masses; and evil war-lords seeking advantage over impoverished
people; it seems to me that those who believe and who raucously rant:
“There is not God.” are now almost obsolete! The ugly deeds of
these offenders seem to shout their wordless message every day!
Yet - and I thank God for that “yet” - their “beliefs” are simply not true.
God is active in this world, and always has been! God has always
supported the weak and the oppressed, and has always breathed
love, mercy and justice into the DNA of all people, it is just hard to
find in some people. But those who know and love their Grace-giving
God, live quiet lives of service in hope, trusting in God’s ultimate victory.



Protecting and Renewing God, I come to you this day, disheartened and
bewildered, and yet still hopeful. You have never left yourself without
any faithful witnesses, and I must accept the responsibility for being a
witness myself in my own neighbourhood, praying that God will use my
feeble efforts towards the renewing of God’s people, for God’s greater glory.

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Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and Meditations are from
‘The New Revised Standard Version’ Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union'); as it offers an easy sequential numbering
for the Revised Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.

If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2012 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost9[17]b_2012.pdf

© 2012 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year B