King Jesus,
Be the Christ for us, and free us from our darkness, doubts, worries and fears through your unconditional promise that you are making each of us and all things new. Assure us and have us know that you are not sitting back and waiting around for us to make the grade. By grace and mercy take action through your Word, Lord, create and sustain our faith in you out of the nothing of our sin. For your love does not first discover what is pleasing to you. Instead, your love creates what is pleasing to you. Create us anew in your image, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to bear the fruit of the spirit. Draw us to the fulfilled promise of that newness found in you alone which you deliver through your Word and body and blood this morning. Hear our prayer, Lord, you who are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call on you. So we call on you, forgive us, renew us, enliven us, and sustain us. Crash your resurrection life into us, Lord. Make us new.
Rest us in the truth that your fulfilled promise of restoration on account of the cross and resurrection is real and present, right now. When we look over our shoulder in regret and say “What about the past?”, the promise intervenes, saying, “I took care of that.” When we look to the future in anxiety and worry, the promise invades, saying, “ I took care of that too.” Rest us, sabbath us, wherever you have planted us, as oaks of your righteousness, living and loving as you have re-created us to be.
AMEN.