O God, we thank you that you have not treated us as we deserve.

We thank you that, though you are Creator, Judge, and King,

   you are also Father, so that, though we are wandering children,

      there is always a way back to our Father’s house.

You have spoken to us,

   In the voice of conscience,

   In the words of your Book,

   In the promptings of your Holy Spirit,

      And yet we have not obeyed your voice.

You have shown us the best,

   In the ideals that haunt us,

   In the life and example of the godly,

   In the pattern of Jesus.

      And yet we have not followed it.

You have tried to teach us,

   In the events of history,

   In the experiences of life,

   In the wisdom of the ages, the prophets and saints.

      And yet we have not learned your lesson.

You have called us to a life of love,

   To the forgiving of each other,

   To the helping of those in need,

   To the caring that is like your care,

      And yet we have lived in bitterness, and selfishness.

We have nothing in our hands to bring,

We have no merits of our own,

We have no plea of self-defense to offer.

So above all we thank you for Jesus Christ our Savior,

who died that we might be forgiven.

So for his sake hear us when we pray:

God, be merciful to me a sinner.

(William Barclay)

O God, Creator and Sustainer of all things, we thank you

for the world in which we live;

for night and day;

for dark and light;

for summer and winter.

We thank you

for the sun and the rain and the wind;

for the earth and sea and sky;

for all the changing seasons of the year.

We thank you

for the flowers and fruits and crops of earth;

for all the wealth which nature offers to man;

for the beauty and the bounty of this world;

We thank you

for all that brings nourishment to our bodies and

delight to our eyes;

for all that brings pleasure to our hearts;

for all the materials which earth gives to our

hands on which to work;

We thank you, O God.

Grant that everything we see in this world may turn

our thoughts to you, the Maker and Creator of all.

(William Barclay)

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

     May we know him more clearly,
     Follow him more nearly,
     Love him more dearly.

Thanks be to God for his continuing mercies.

     For his love that redeems us,
     For his grace that sustains us.
     For his word that instructs us.

Thanks be to God for life, breath, and all things.

     For the years that are in his hands,
     For fresh air and bright days,
     For more blessings than we can count
          one by one.

Thanks be to God for family, friends, and faith.

     For a faithful and loving spouse,
     For children, grandchildren, great
          grandchildren,
     For dear friends, some there, some here,
     For a faith to live by and die by.

Thanks be to God for his exceeding great promises.

     For the assurance that he will never forsake us,
     For the joy that he is always with us,
     For the victory we have over sin and death,
     For the home we have in heaven.

(Leroy Garrett)

Lord, make us instruments of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let us sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is discord, union;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy;

For thy mercy and for thy truth’s sake.

Amen.

(St. Francis)