Holy God, who knows our hearts before we know them ourselves, give us reassurance and courage to confess our sins and to admit the wrongs we have done and the need we have for help to become holy as you are, and grant us forgiveness and reconciliation with you, who has loved us since before the world was formed, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ‘ John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.’ – Mark 1:4-5