Confession
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all.
Father, we come before You to confess the pride of the nations. We have forgotten that You created us all, and that we have our life and all good things from You. You have made us, and not we ourselves. It is not true that we evolved to this point over millions of years; it is not true that we answer to no one outside ourselves. Rather, You created us and placed us here. You gave us Your Word, which we in our hard-hearted pride have walked away from. Father, we plead with You on behalf of the nations, and ask You to have mercy upon them all. Restore us for Jesus’ sake.
We know, Father, that if we in the Church regard iniquity in our own midst, or in our own hearts, this prayer will be ineffectual
. And so we confess that we in the Church have handled Your Word with pride in our hearts, seeking to bend it into shapes that make more room for our lusts, wants, and desires. We confess that the world is in the grip of pride because the Church has not adequately dealt with her pride. Remembering this, we now confess our individual sins to You—and Selah . . . We do this in the great name of Jesus, and amen.
God lifts up the one who humbles himself, which you have now done. On the basis of that honest confession, and as a delegated minister of all His promises, I declare that your sins are forgiven through Christ.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!