Confession of Sin

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

Here in this wilderness,
in our self-inflicted exile from the Garden,
you invite us to trust you:
to look to you for safety and deliverance,
to rely on you for our daily bread,
to be satisfied in your steadfast love
and find in you rest for our souls.

Yet often we live not in trust, but from fear.
We take our lives into our own hands,
relying on ourselves instead of your grace.
We look to the world’s hollow promises
to satisfy our longing and fill our emptiness.
We chase after shadows, trying to earn and build
what can only be found in you.

We confess, merciful God:
We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry, and we humbly repent.

Teach us instead, O gracious King,
to trust you in our weakness,
to walk in your light as we hope in your promise.

For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us,
that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name.
Amen.