Most gracious God,

You have promised mercy through Jesus Christ to all who repent and believe in him.

We know that our only salvation is in Christ Jesus.

In his Word is our hope.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

"Faithful" and "just" - divine attributes that are alien to our nature.

You are reliable,

consistent,

dependable,

utterly true to your holy nature.

With you, God, there is absolutely no duplicity,

only absolute dependability.

That is why we rely on the promise of your Word -

that with our confession of sins committed

and belief in the cleansing of our hearts by faith,

we have the charge of "unrighteous" removed from our record

and the righteousness of Christ imputed to us.

Desiring such a divine transaction, we now confess our sins to you.

Thanks and praise be to God, for he has promised the removal of all unrighteousness.

Calvary's detergent makes us clean -

now, no condemnation;

now, peace with God.

This is good news:

We who are cleansed are reconciled.

May we be more thankful for your daily mercies.

May we be humble under your correction.

May we be zealous in doing your will.

May we be watchful against temptation.

May we be content under trial.

May we be what we profess.

Great Shepherd of the sheep -

Look with compassion upon our number experiencing the valley of shadows,

unpleasant, painful, disconcerting -

yea, devastating troubles affect some here today.

May the presence of Jesus penetrate such awful gloom and give joyful

victory to all who feel abandoned.

May all leave this place rejoicing and saying,

"It was good to be in God's house today."