O God,
We praise you because of your power, because of your grace, and because of your love; we praise you because you are in your power, grace, and love through the saving activity of your Son Jesus Christ working your purposes out in your people and in all of your creation.
We confess that we fall short of your will for us when we try to find our joy in anything that is less than you; we confess that we fall short of your ideal for us when we attempt to find our joy through what we can accomplish; we confess that we fall short of your plan for us when we try to find our joy through what others can do for us.
We affirm that it is in our acknowledgment of and submission to what you have done, what you are doing, and what you will do through Jesus in us and in your creation that real joy can and will be found. We furthermore affirm that all the events and aspects of our lives—that all of our accomplishments, that all of our failures, that all of our gains, that all of our losses, that all of our pleasures, that all of our pains—find their appropriate place in our lives and make their appropriate contribution to our joy when we are caught up in what you are doing through Jesus Christ, who is your Son and our Savior.
We rejoice today over the great salvation that you are accomplishing through Jesus Christ in our lives and in your creation. Help us, with great trust, to give ourselves over to what you are doing, that we might be caught up in your great joy.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior,
Amen.
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