A Broken Road.

 One: Christ walks the Lenten road alone, his shadow the only thing that understands.

All: In the shadow of Christ we follow.

One: The path is punctuated by brokenness

All: As we walk this path we are called to reflect on broken faith .  Faith the foundation of our relationship with you God is cracked by the ever-increasing secularism of the world. We give in far to easily to the demands of work and obligations and fail to seek out a spiritual centering in our lives.  With out a that spiritual centering we are like grains of wheat that fall on the side of the road and are lost. 

We confess that there are times when we have ignored empowering our Faith and the faith of others.   

One: When we fail to empower faith for those that journey with us, the light of Christ is dimed as we come to know that all paths lead to the cross. 

Fifth Candle extinguished 

Prayer

God the rock of our faith    we ask that as we walk this Lenten path  forgive us for those moments that we have lost our way and strayed away from you.  Forgive us for the moments that we have failed to see the value in the faith of others.  Forgive us for the moments when we have not trusted in our faith in you but put our faith in things of this world. Renew our faith so that we may live in the assurance of your presence in our lives and to know that in all things your love shall provide for all that we may need. 

With a contrite heart we come and ask for forgiveness 

Personal Prayers of Confession

Song Come now, O God of second chances

          May we forgive ourselves

          May we become your living sign

          Children of God’s love

One: God who takes away the sin of the world have mercy

All: Christ who takes on the brokenness of the world be with us

One: Spirit of wholeness bind us together once more. 

All: God comes to find us beyond the shattered pieces of our lives.

One: God comes to make all things whole. This is our hope touched by your love that will bring peace and joy to our souls for our faith will lift us up.  The path that leads to the cross is our assurance of forgiveness

     I know far too well that there is a certain amount of technical skill in being the church, you need to know doctrine, polity, politics, theology. It is very easy to let the mechanics of the church to over take us. The great caution is that the sacred does not become sacrificed and how do we reclaim that?

Is the sacred lost because of the demands of this world.  We must continuously work at keeping the sacred, nurturing our spiritual center.

Over the last few years I have reflected often on what it is to nurture our spirit center.  More and more I feel that we are called back to that center. 

  of older traditions from other faiths and spirituality. Modern Christianity fragments itself with the idea of denomination. This fragmentation has lead to a sense of “our way is better than there way” mentality

 We don’t practice anointing the way that it is done with in the  Roman catholic faith But the gospel reminds us that it was an act of extravagant love. The anointing of oneself with holy water as you enter a Catholic church an out worldly remembrance of our baptism, a small bows of respect before the alter, a humble act before God. Crossing of oneself the remembrance of the gift of the resurrection and God in all of Gods manifestation in our lives in the trinity.  In the Jewish faith, the modesty of coving ones head before God, They also have a small container on their door frames called a mezuzah. Which reminds them of the blessing of God at their going out and coming in. It contains a prayer. In the Eastern Christian Church they venerate Icons. They have an Icon corner in their homes a small little place to go and pray. They believe that the saints are always with them and interceding in their lives.  The icon screens in the churches are spectacular 

What would be the response if each Sunday we set out a blessed bowl with some water in it.  For us to bless ourselves when we came in, to remember our relationship to God, and that we are baptized into a larger family of God. 

Oh that would be to Catholic  But we are Catholic we are a part of the one holy catholic church.     Well to much Roman Church

Our Spiritual practices are not limited to a denomination but can be reflective of the wide and rich traditions that have been given to us.  They take the common and make them holy

What would be to have monthly pray and meditation? What would be like to have a dish of stones at the back of the church to pick up and use as a means of focusing prayer. 

May we broaden our understanding of our spirituality, to seek out ways to encounter God in our common life.  The same way that Mary took common perfume and made it sacred the way that Jesus took common bread and wine and made it holy. 

 To take common acts and make them an extravagant gifts. 

To work in this world honouring what is sacred to us. To Act with integrity in our ministry.   To experience the presence of God in Rocks and Trees, to honour God in our actions. To wear our sacred symbols not as bling but an outward sign of who we are. 

May we honour our rich heritage of faith and discover new ways to allow the Spirit of God to open our lives to its presence. To hold what is sacred in our faith knowing that it constantly reminds us that we are not 

Prayers of the people

God whose arms encircle us in our brokenness. Who weeps when our hearts are breaking.  God who hears our sobbing cry when we feel alone in tide of humanity. God in all of our lostness you welcome us home regardless of how far we may have journeyed away from you.   Hear our prayers. The prayers of our hearts. The prayers that carry our pain and hurt. The prayers that hold our joys and dreams.  The prayers for a world so torn with conflict. The prayers for the displaced, the lost the hungry and sick.  Send O God your Spirit to gently gather the broken pieces of our world and draw them once more into a loving wholeness. Send O God your Spirit upon us to draw together the fractured piece of our own lives so that we may know your joy and the love of your presence.   To you great comforter surrounded by the love we know in this community of your people we offer our prayers and the great prayer which bind us as one saying Our Father….



Offering

We give thee but thy own.   The work of the Church continues and there are three ways you can continue to support that work.   Consider using PAR, use the donate button on our Web Site or drop your gift at the Manse.   Let us make our offering and give thanks.     

 One Wandering in the wilderness we are sustained by our living faith. sign and symbol of that faith we present our offering to God for the work of Christ’ Church

Song

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below; praise Him above ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

 Prayer   Bless our offerings, O God. May they make known your love to those who need to hear your good news. In Jesus’ name we pray amen