O LORD our God, we give thanks for grace:
The grace to live well,
To love much,
To pray often,
To make a difference in this world.
We gather in this place, O God,
A place of memory and a place of hope -
Covenant on the Corner.
We gather with one another …
As you would have it …
Not alone, but arm-in-arm …
To love one another as you love us …
We gather together:
To find hope,
To recast our values,
To think higher and better,
To leave behind the baggage of fear and suspicion,
To set aside the prejudice and ill-will that lives in the dark corners of every heart, every mind and every soul … LORD, we’re not without guilt in these matters … and we’ll not leave here today without coming to grips with the dark stuff of our soul.
In faith and trust, we face the truth boldly and hopefully …
We face Jesus, who touched the untouchable, who welcomed the outcast and invited the stranger … we come to Jesus … because he has the words of eternal life … his cross is our redemption … the empty tomb our hope that goodness and mercy have the last word.
Who are we, LORD?
A thousand questions fly through our mind:
Does life count?
Is faith for real?
Does this make any difference?
Are we just playing a game?
Is life a matter of getting all that we can?
These are the questions, LORD.
And we’ve made some choices, as best we can.
We believe … we trust … we serve.
We give ourselves to Jesus …
We love one another …
We stand with people of faith all around the world …
Muslims and Jews, Hindus and Buddhists …
When some divide, we bring together.
When some cast doubt, we honor and respect.
In your mystery, O God, in the mystery of the Trinity … there’s a wideness in your mercy … something for everyone … a way into the truth … a pathway for all to travel …
We thank you for your love …
For Covenant on the Corner …
For all that has been, all that is, and all that shall be
And most of all,
We thank you for Jesus our LORD …
What a joy to know him …
What an opportunity to serve him …
What a blessing to share his gifts of love and compassion with the world …
In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …
No comments:
Post a Comment