4.21.24 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, April 21, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

The sun rises to warm the earth … birds welcome it with a chorus of songs … their music, a delight to the soul and a reminder to us all, of the greater things of God.

Holy God, eternal light,

Our world is filled with war and terror … missiles fly and bombs explode, people die and children cry, politicians shout outrage, and people pray with broken hearts … 

The streets fill with protest and clamor … nations claim right from wrong, and accuse the other of wrong from right … 

Do you grow tired of us, O God?

Do you wonder if another flood might work better than it did with Noah and his Gang?

Do you count the ways we violate your laws of love and kindness?

Do you cringe at our little loyalties, lives lived unto ourselves? The tiny circles of our love.

We turn, dear God, to Christ … not to escape our world and its sorrows, but to embrace our world and its pain through the Man of Sorrows, through the pain that Christ bore upon Calvary’s Cross, the darkness of death and the sorrow of hell he endured … the struggle with all of it, dear God, and the victory over every bit of it … his Day of Resurrection, when death met its match in the matchless grace of Christ.

O LORD our God, we pray for the nations of the Middle East … even now, as we speak, diplomats and politicians are scrambling to find justice, to find the ways of peace, to restore what has been lost, to rebuild what has been destroyed, to give to everyone a chance at life … 

Remind us, O God, the road to peace requires much courage and profound skills … greatness of soul and mind … rising above whatever loyalties we might have in the moment, to the greater loyalties of creation, covenant, and Christ.

Help us, O God, to be people of conscience, people of learning and thought and prayer, people large enough in word and deed to reflect your word in Christ.

Remind us, O God, of our purpose … to love you with all that we are, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves … help us, we pray, to bow down to Christ, that we might stand up to serve … help us to open our minds and hearts to the greater truths of faith, hope, and love, that we might open our arms to the lost, the lonely, the weary, and the sad.

That in our work and in our leisure, with our classmates and our friends, we would bring to this world the bits and pieces of your glorious kingdom … thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

In the name - of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

4.14.24 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, April 14.2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

LORD Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,

Thank you for grace, mercy, and peace.

Thank you for faith, hope, and love.

And a million, billion other things, that live and work, and have their being in you.

You have given us eyes to see the beauty of your world … you have given us hearts to receive and return love … you have given us the wherewithal to live, and to live well … to live for the sake of one another, to live unto you.

Holy Christ, and always LORD, we pray for the welfare of our nation … we pray for those who lead us … may goodness fill their hearts, may wisdom inspire their thoughts … 

Holy Christ, and always LORD, lead us, we pray, upon the pathways of justice, truth, and honor … remind us of all things noble and beautiful … 

Holy Christ, and always LORD, guide your church in these difficult days … help us to be people of love, people who welcome and affirm, who celebrate and rejoice, who are not afraid, who are not discouraged, who look beyond the tragedies of the day to find the bright light of hope shining in all things.

Bless our children and youth, we pray, especially, we thank you for our confirmands; and for the work of your Holy Spirit in their hearts. Bless their families, their friends, their schools, and this church. Stir our souls with the greatest powers of compassion and mercy … fill our minds with visions of your kingdom come, your will being done on earth, as it is in heaven.

We pray for the nations of the Middle East - we pray for all the governments and people involved … may the way to peace be found, may there be just settlements to the conflicts, may the power-mongers be challenged, make the peace-makers be saluted. 

Holy Christ, and always LORD, bless us in the remains of the day … give us some sabbath rest and a good night’s sleep … calm our spirits, settle our minds … remind us, Holy Christ, that you are at work in all things for good .. that you are the center point, unmoved by time and circumstance, unmoving in resolve and purpose, to love, and to love, and to love again, and to love forevermore.

Holy Christ, and always LORD, we pray as you taught us to pray, saying together:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

4.7.24 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, April 7, 2024, Easter 2

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, eternal light …

Maker of heaven and earth …

You are the Good Shepherd of body and soul … you are the LORD God Almighty, and to you we belong.

We pray for our schools - our teachers and staff … we pray for their students, and the homes from which they come … 

We pray, O God, for the leaders of great corporations, banks and financial institutions … those who sit on corporate boards and shape the policies for the flow of wealth … who manage the goods, the stocks and bonds, the buying and the selling, that energize the economy … 

We pray for the people of Taiwan … and for the efforts of recovery and rebuilding.

We pray for the people of Gaza and Israel … we pray for the aid workers, and for the families of those killed and injured.

We pray for Ukraine and Russia …  

We celebrate NATO’s 75 years of work and hope … and all such alliances that promote peace and provide protection.

Be with those who suffer in mind and body, heart and soul … provide healing, we pray … bring about hope and peace, assurance and love, give encouragement and guidance.

Thank you, dear God, for the Table in our midst - bread offered freely, the cup of blessing poured without question - kindness and mercy from the hands of Christ … help us, O God, help us.

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

3.31.24 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, March 31, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church - Easter Sunday

Up from the grave he arose; 

with a mighty triumph o'er his foes; 

he arose a victor from the dark domain, 

and he lives forever, with his saints to reign. 

He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Eternal God, LORD of Light … 

we celebrate the gift of life over the powers of death.

We give thanks for all you have done … creation, and the dawn of time …  Adam and Eve, Sarah and Abraham, Moses and the Prophets, Mary and Joseph … this very moment in time, here and now, Westminster Presbyterian Church … 

O LORD our God, life presses hard upon us … the morning news, distress and sorrow … our own sins lay heavy upon our minds … yet your Holy Spirit, dear God, moves mightily within our souls … you secure each one of us to Christ, you build up the fellowship of faith, you strengthen the church, you point the way ahead, you find the lost, you open up our future … stones still get rolled away.

Dear God, we raise our thoughts to those who have left this life and now reside with you … we send them our prayers and love … we miss them dearly, and recount with gladness the days we had, and the love we shared … even as they send their prayers and love our way.

We pray for our world, O LORD …  we give thanks for people of good will and purpose hard at work for the better day. We pray for the nations embroiled in war … especially, we pray for the children.

We pray for our nation and its leaders … we give thanks for women and men of good character and mindful purpose, who speak truth and work for justice.

We pray for the citizens of Baltimore, and the families who’ve lost loved ones …

We pray for all religious traditions, dear God … where there is love, where there is prayer … where there is music and dance, you are there, O God, you are everywhere …  in every heart, hard at work, to heal the world.

We give thanks for people who erase the lines others have drawn in the sands of time and space … who open doors rather than shut them, who cross borders as did Jesus … who welcome those disdained by society … those who laugh easily, cry profoundly, dance with abandon and love fiercely. 

Tomorrow, dear God, just another day, another week … much to be done … bless us, we pray, with the fulness of Christ, that our light might shine, and the world see our good works. 

Up from the grave he arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

Good Friday: What's Good About It?

 Good Friday, March 29, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

“Where the Tower Still Stands”

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

A day when justice, or what little there was of it, failed … and with bogus allegations, and political machinations between the religious authorities of the city and the ruling political party overseen by Pilate, the Roman Governor, Jesus was tried and convicted, and sentenced to death.

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

Judas had betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, roughly $600 … Peter had denied knowing him, and when the nails were driven into the hands and feet of Jesus, the men disappeared as quickly as they could, and who could blame them?

But it was the women who remained … was it safer for them? I suppose so; they remained, and it was the women who returned to the tomb early Sunday morning to finish the proper burial rights.

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

The two thieves, likely insurgent rebels fighting against the Roman occupiers, hung on either side of Jesus - one was broken and belligerent, the other, mindful and respectful … and there’s Jesus in the middle, between these two dynamics, these two realities, anger and hope … 

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

Jesus there in the middle … receiving into his very own soul and body the anger and brokenness of the world … and the hopes and dreams, too - the worst of it, the best of it … both needing Jesus - to redirect the anger and shore up the hope. Jesus takes it all upon his shoulders, to give the world a second chance, a third and fourth chance, as many chances as is needed to bring the light into focus, to find ourselves and the goodness within our souls.

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

A time to look at the cross and ponder the suffering of our world, a suffering that God takes up within God’s own being and heart and soul … and with all of that hurt and sorrow, all of that sin and shame, God dies … there is nothing God shuns about the human journey, from birth to death, and everything in between, to fulfill the promise, that God is at work in ALL THINGS, for good. 

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

To consider Jesus and what he says and does … his kindness to all in need, his challenge to the rich and the powerful … his tireless work, and when he was tired and needed some rest, he went to the hills, the wilderness, there to find rest, peace, refreshment … there, in the hills, the wilderness, to find God, his Father, our Father, your Father … the Father of us all … the Mother of us all … the Mother who gives us birth, the Mother who feeds our soul, the Mother who weeps with us, and laughs with us.

Our Mother, Our Father, our God … Our Savior.

Good Friday, and what’s good about it?

What’s good is you … and your quest for meaning, for purpose, for life. God is present in all things in your life - ALL THINGS - at work, clearing the way, opening doors, closing others, pointing there and speaking tenderly to your soul.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want!

To God all things, and in all things, God!

 Prayers of Church & Community, March 24

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light … 

Companion of the Way …

Help us, in this moment, 

to cleanse our minds,

to center ourselves in your love.

With the peoples of ancient Jerusalem, O God, we wave our palms of victory, and lay our cloaks upon the road … we lift our hearts in grateful praise, and pray for a better day … we welcome you, O Christ, to our cities and towns, to our homes and our hearts.

In humility and sorrow, dear God, we pray for the church around the world … 

In humility and sorrow, we pray for the nations of the world … 

In humility and sorrow, we pray for the citizens of Moscow … 

In humility and sorrow, we pray for the lands besieged by war, famine, and disease.

In humility and great joy, we give thanks, for the glory of our baptism … 

In faith, hope, and love, we stand with Jesus in the Jordan, dear God, and John the Baptist is beside us … 

with little Noah John and his family, O God… and all their friends, gathered here in this sacred place, we lift our hearts in grateful praise, for the great work of Christ.

Reach deep into our minds, we pray, with the healing light of Christ … that we might leave here today with a fresh sense of who we are in Christ, and what must be done for the sake of Christ … 

Remind us, dear God - we are not alone in the huge tasks of love … we put our hands to the plow along with millions of women and men of good conscience and fortitude … 

we are not alone, O God - the saints who’ve gone before us lend us their strength, their love, their prayers, and wisdom … 

we are not alone, dear God - your Holy Spirit is our companion, Christ himself our strength and vision.

All of this, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.