Challenging Creator, we always come with the same silly hope, that somehow being here for an hour on Sunday will provoke a divine magic act, that we will suddenly feel okay, that life will be easy and fair, that we will be freed from the world of sin and despair. We know this is not so, but we repeat the ritual week after week. Forgive us our delusion, for in our hearts we know the truth, that your word is a word of challenge, that we are called to be broken and remade every week by the power of your word, cleansed by the fire of the Spirit, re-invigorated by the waters of baptism. We know that this is not our home, that our home is in the world, that you send us out to do your will, and so we pray that in this place we might be prepared and transformed, comforted for a moment before we return to your mission: that we might deepen faith, that we might make disciples, that we might build your just and caring realm. Amen.
Sermons, Rites, and Prayers of a Progressive Pastor