Father of Creation,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
We know that when your Son entered Jerusalem, he wept.
He wept because he knew what would befall it.
Father of Creation,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
When we look at this world of yours, this world of ours, we weep.
We weep because we know what has befallen it.
Violence; Lord have Mercy.
Consumerism; Lord have Mercy.
Unrestrained Capitalism; Lord have Mercy.
Father of Creation,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son dreamed a dream of a different kingdom,
An alternative reality for an alternative community.
And then he demonstrated what this looked like,
By healing the sick,
Welcoming the outcast,
Overturning tables of injustice,
And living a life, and dying a death, of self-giving sacrificial love.
Father of Creation,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
May we too dream a dream of a different kingdom,
An alternative reality for an alternative community.
That your church would demonstrate what this looks like,
By bringing healing to the world,
Welcoming the stranger,
Challenging injustice,
And living lives full of self-giving sacrificial love.
Father of Creation,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
You raised your son on the third day,
Showing that a new day has dawned.
Demonstrating that violence, evil and death
Will not have the last word.
Demonstrating that oppressive empires
Will not have the last word.
Father of Creation,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
May we too be resurrection people,
Who demonstrate that violence, evil and destruction
Will not have the last word.
Demonstrating that unrestrained capitalism and empires of exploitation
Will not have the last word.
Father of Creation,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus,
Your son came to his disciples in an upper room.
They were scared, and he spoke saying,
‘Peace to you,
As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.’
He calls, commissions and equips.
And then he breathed upon his disciples and said receive the Holy Spirit.
Father of Creation,
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your son comes to us in a world of climate breakdown.
We are scared.
And he speaks saying,
‘Peace to you.
As the father has sent me, so I am sending you.’
He calls, commissions and equips.
Empower your church afresh with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
Empower us to be faithful to your Son,
Until that day,
When the Kingdom of Your Son,
Now inaugurated,
Is consummated.
Until that day, when swords of ecological violence are turned into ploughshares.
Until that day, when unrestrained capitalism and empires of exploitation are no more.
To him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb,
Be all praise, honour and glory.
Amen

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