From a child’s cry of delight, O God, to the vast reaches of the universe, your love is evident, your guiding hand is felt, your purpose of creation, goodness and beauty, is manifest and commanding …
Holy is your name, and great is your praise … may we in this place have the heart of praise, the mind of thankfulness, the power to see beyond the moment, to see through the times, and the distress of the present … to see your glory in all things, dear God, to be moved in soul and mind by your grace, to find our own world of time and concern being expanded, developed, transformed, and made new … that we might be the salt of the earth and the light of the world … ambassadors of Christ, servants of love.
We give thanks for our families … for those who gave life to us, for those who have sustained us in our daily walk, and continue to provide home and shelter, grace and love … for friends where there is no family … for your faithfulness when human bonds have failed us … for we, O God, are often given to fatigue and frustration, and love fails and goes awry. Heal our wounds and dry our tears … hold our hands and comfort our souls.
We give thanks for your Holy Spirit at work in the trends and times of this world, no matter how broken and busted things become … your Spirit continues to create anew the hopes and dreams of goodness, tranquility, and transformation …
You are the ever-present God, and never for a moment is our world without your mercy … in all our strivings for progress and development, and in such times when your judgment lays heavy upon us, a judgment never unto death, but unto life, a judgment nevertheless for the cruelties of our heart, the selfishness of the ego, for systems and governments that serve the god of mammon, rather than you, the Eternal God of Everlasting Mercy.
Help us, we pray, as your people to point the way to justice and peace, to be the prophetic voice of truth … to lift up the cross of Christ, unmask the lies, proclaim the gospel, call the wayward to repentance, and seek further the ways of love, that the world might see our good works and give praise to you, O LORD our God.
Bless our church, we pray … we give thanks for those who preceded us, who laid the cornerstone here upon the Cornerstone of Christ … those who sang of your glory and preached of your kingdom. Help us to remain faithful to their vision, and help us to transcend it, to find new ways of ministry, new avenues of service, new angles to see what needs to be done. Give us patience and give us perseverance. Grant us grace, that we might be gracious unto one another, being a church of welcome and affirmation.
Bless us, we pray, in the remains of the day … give us peace and give us hope … give us strength and give us rest … give us, we pray, our daily bread.
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.
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