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Gracious God, thank you for how you reveal yourself in your creation, in your image imprinted on our humanity, and in the creative art and industry of communities throughout the ages.
Revealing God,
We thank you for showing forth your glory.
Thank you, God, for how you have pursued us, your wayward children, through the prophetic descendants of Abraham and Sarah. Above all, thank you for how you have reconciled us to yourself through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, your Word made flesh among us.
Reconciling God,
We thank you for bringing us back to yourself.
Thank you, God, for calling us to proclaim the gospel by word and example as you seek to reconcile all people to yourself and to one another in Christ.
Sending God,
We commit ourselves anew to your mission in the world.
You are everywhere, God: in every place before we get there and in every meeting before we arrive. Help us to seek, name and celebrate Jesus’ loving presence in every person we encounter.
Guiding God,
Inspire us to form community with others through you.
Your gospel, God, is the story of your journey with your people, and you have formed a unique story with each one of us. Nurture us in courage and readiness of speech so that we may bear joyful witness to the stories of your transforming presence in our lives.
Speaking God,
Help us to go tell it on the mountains.
You long for relationship with all people, God. As we invite others to form or deepen their relationship with you in Christ, sensitize us to the yearnings of people in Vermont: farmers and professionals, hipsters and immigrants, factory workers and artisans, the poor and the affluent, those on the left and those on the right.
Listening God,
May we hear with your ears and reach out with your love.
Friend Jesus, you fulfilled your mission through both word and deed. Form us in gospel integrity, that what we tell others about you may be manifest in how we embody your compassion and justice in the world.
Acting God,
Help us to show forth your praise not only with our lips but in our lives.
Celebrant:
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.
This Litany for Evangelism, drafted by Titus Presler and finalized by the Green Mountain Witness Team, was first prayed at the 2018 Convention of the Diocese of Vermont. The closing collect is the third Prayer for Mission in Daily Morning Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer.