I ask you to join me in a litany of confession for Pentecost Sunday:
Loving One, we confess that we have stifled your Spirit within us.
You have sent us the Spirit of love,
but we have preferred to hate those who oppose us.
You have sent us the Spirit of joy,
but we have taken your gifts for granted and been ungrateful.
You have sent us the Spirit of peace,
but we have allowed our selfishness to cause division and disharmony.
You have sent us the Spirit of patience,
but we have been worried and anxious when we have not seen immediate results from our efforts, or evidence of your love.
You have sent us the Spirit of kindness,
but we have been indifferent to other people’s needs.
You have sent us the Spirit of goodness,
but through thoughtlessness, as well as our own deliberate wrongdoing, we have sinned.
You have sent us the Spirit of faithfulness,
but we have been fickle in our resolve, unable to live up to our beliefs.
You have sent us the Spirit of gentleness,
but we have been insensitive to the feelings of others.
You have sent us the Spirit of self-control,
but we have lived recklessly, without disciplining ourselves.
Forgive us. Teach us how much we need the power of your Spirit in our lives, and breathe new lives in us.
Help us to be mindful of:
- DrainBamaged, as he continues to heal from his war-inflicted injuries;
- Matty and the family that grieves his loss in a senseless war, and his friend Mikey, a meber of this community;
- Those who must suffer hopelessness and loss, and those who are left anxious without affordable health care;
- All those who struggle with alcoholism and other addictions;
- Those with troubled families they must confront;
- and all those in need tonight.