14B*
A Call to Worship
Epiphany 6B 2012
Psalm 30

We gather to praise and honour the Lord, our Saving God.
Today, we sing our reverent thanks to our loving God.
As individuals and as a community, we praise and thank
our God for giving us a sense of healing and wholeness.

When we cried out to you in our sorrow and despair,
you turned our night-time grief into morning’s joy.
Listening God, we rejoice in the security you give us,
because of your past mercy and goodness towards us.

O Lord our God, we will thank you always and forever.
We will not be silent! Your love for us is so wonderful!
Holy God, you have turned our sorrows into gladness,
and our despair into joy. O God, how great is your love! Amen.

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Prayers of Penitence and Thankfulness
Epiphany 6B 2012
Psalm 30

Holy God, we come before you as a community of faith,
conscious that there have been many times when we
have expected the “good times” to continue; and that we
arrogantly believed that we would will always be an approved
voice in our community for love, peace and justice. We
regret that we assumed that people would always want to
listen to us, as we spelled out our views on how life should
be lived in relationships, each and every day. But with deep
remorse, we now realise that we have not always taken a
courageous stand against intolerance, injustice or violence.

Grace-supplying God, we give you thanks for the sudden
jolt that has come our way, that has made us re-evaluate
who and what we are in your sight, and in the sight of our
local community. Regretfully, we needed that jolt to make
us wake up to reality; to the way we have failed to be your
people and your voice in a community desperate for the
voice and hands of love, acceptance and compassion.

We have become comfortable and self-satisfied with our
past actions on your behalf in this community, that we had
forgotten that we need to make a daily commitment to your
life of justice, love and peace for all peoples. We seek your
merciful forgiveness, and make a renewal of our commitment
to your mission of giving and not taking; and of respectfully
sharing the good gifts God has so generously given to us.

Generous God, with joy, and thankful hearts and minds we
celebrate our new consciousness of our mission in this
place and time, and seek your acceptance of our worship,
witness and service in your name - to your honour and glory. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Epiphany 6B 2012
Psalm 30

I will praise you this morning, my God, for you have lifted me
from the pit of depression and weariness, and shown me that
the sun is still shining on your world. For the time being, I have
risen above the deep fog of depression, and I do thank you.
In that blackness, I cried out to you and you heard me, and held
my hand, so that I did not feel alone. Your presence helped me.



I will praise you at lunch time, my God, for you give me a sense
of security that is so precious and helpful when I am very ‘down’.
It is so comforting to know that you are a Listening God, whose
ears are always tuned to the pain of your children in their needs.
I thank you my God, that I have come through the morning well,
with your presence guiding and strengthening me. Indeed, I will
sing your praises to anyone who will listen to me, and then they
will know that I am sincere in my thanks and praise of my God.



I will praise you this evening, because you have travelled this day
with me. As the evening darkness settles and it is time for my rest,
my prayers are offered so earnestly to my God. O my God, do not
turn away from my when I am weak in the night hours, as it is then
that I need you most of all. Yet, any separation I feel from God only
lasts a moment, because of your loving and reassuring presence.
As the hours of the night pass by, and my tears have all been shed,
I see the morning light is coming, and I know in my heart and mind,
that peace and joy will come with the morning light – and I will be
able to start another day with my God. Praise and thanks are offered
to my compassionate God – and I pray that I will never be silenced.



O my God, I will sing your praises forever – that is my prayer.

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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: epiphany6b_2012.pdf

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