Scripture: Old Testament: Joel 2:1-2; 12-17
New Testament: 2 Corinthians 5:20 -6:10
Wednesday 7 pm Evening Service, March 6, 2019
A Corporate Prayer of Confession for Ash Wednesday
For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Psalm 51:3 NRSV
O, God, when we pause to look back at our lives on this Ash Wednesday, we realize that we have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
We have neglected to do good when it was in our power to do so.
We, like believers of old, have pulled down your altars and erected idols crafted in our own image.
We have turned our backs on the poor, choosing instead to criminalize poverty.
We have ignored the cries of the motherless, the fatherless, the widow and the widower; choosing instead to turn children and the elderly into the new poor.
We have bankrupted the country with our greed and consumed more than our share of the world's riches.
We have not dealt honorably with our enemies or our friends, and wh have feigned a place in the company of the righteous.
Forgive us, O God, for turning sackcloth and ashes into a fashion statement by pursuing form without substance.
Forgive us, O God, for the times we have neglected to provide our children and our world an authentic example of Christianity.
As we begin the journey of these 40 days Wash us, O God and we shall be clean.
Cleanse us, O Lord, and we shall be made whole. Amen
Rev. Dr. Essex L. Richardson, Jr., Senior Pastor
Greater Mizpah Baptist Church
1701 E. 11th Street North
Wichita, KS 67214
Website: www.gmbcict.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gmbcict
Soundcloud: @gmbcict