We thank you, O God, for the joys of life:
Ten thousand things and counting …
A million things and more …
A bird singing like crazy outside our bedroom window, on a mission to awaken the world …
The first sip of coffee in the wee morning hours …
Breakfast at Dinah’s with a friend …
Drivers who back off and let us shift lanes …
Fire engines roaring on by, sirens wailing, warning us to get out of their way, because they have important work to do …
O LORD, we thank you, for:
Children who love us …
Parents who guide us …
Teachers to teach us …
Shoes that fit …
A pathway to walk …
Tasks to be done …
A Bible to read …
A church called Covenant …
And Jesus Christ our LORD …
We thank you, O God, for our elders and for our deacons …
For former pastors who taught us your Word …
And today, O God, we begin a season of prayer for our Designated Pastor Nominating Committee …
We will soon place upon their hearts, O God, a great task …
A burden … to find our next pastor.
Help them carry that burden lightly, with a full measure of your Holy Spirit to guide them …
That in the heat of thought and discussion, they will quickly turn to you in prayer … seeking your counsel at every turn of the way.
Remind them, O God, and remind us all, that we live, not by our own devices, but by your divine providence.
Not by our cleverness, but by the power of your Spirit.
Not in the wisdom of the world, but in the ways of faith, hope and love.
Not for our own comfort or personal interests, but for the glory of Jesus Christ and the wellbeing of the world.
We thank you, O God, for the Reformers: Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and Knox … for their determination to reform the church, to awaken the church from a long, dark, slumber … to re-center the church in Jesus Christ and Scripture, and to help every believer discover their place in the kingdom of God on earth – the priesthood of all believers unto one another, standing between heaven and earth, holding up the world to God, and sharing God with the world.
Help us, we pray, to be a part of the Reformation today … to be creative and energetic in our faith, seeking the furthermore, going deeper, stretching higher, reaching wider … daring to think in new ways … never afraid … always courageous, ever bold, unflinching in our love for you and our love of neighbor … guided by Christ in our pursuit of peace and our quest for justice.
We thank you, dear God, for the gospel … your gift to us … a gift of infinite meaning and eternal endurance … a gift forged in Bethlehem’s cradle and on Calvary’s cross … a gift refined in the darkness of the tomb and on a journey to hell … a gift revealed in the resurrection on the Third Day … a gift assured in the Ascension and the testimony of angels … that Christ reigns with the Father, pleads our cause and intercedes for us, and when times are right, Christ shall return, with the blast of a trumpet, to finish the work and turn the kingdom over to you, O God, and to preside with you, in the new heaven and the new earth, where ever tear is wiped away by your very hand, and death will be no more!
We pray 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 …
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