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

There is liberty, O God, in your grace and your love … 

there is acceptance and welcome …

Forgiveness and mercy …

a place for us at your Table …

a place for all of humanity …

none are lost, all are found.

Your kingdom come, O God:

Your will be done on earth:

The hungry are fed

The poor are clothed

The lonely are comforted.

Holy LORD God, we give thanks that we have been called by Christ to be a part of your great work throughout creation … by your Holy Spirit, equip us for the task, we pray, give us the spiritual skills necessary to love deeply, the abilities to distinguish the truth from the lie, and the will to seek the common good, for all your creatures, great and small.

This day, we give thanks for those whom you have called to this place and time, to give themselves to you, and to the life & work of Westminster.

For Suzanne and Cheryl, for Deanna and Phil - we give you our thanks and praise … you created them for this moment … before the foundation of the earth, before the first burst of light, you knew them, loved them, and waited for them, to share in this holy moment of time and place.

Watch over them, dear God, we pray … strengthen them day-by-day, shine upon them with the love of Christ, bless their souls with joy and peace.

Great is your name, O God - Father … Son … Holy Spirit.

Mother, Daughter, Eternal love.

Creator, Redeemer, Giver of Life.

Presence, Power, and Purpose.

One in Three, and Three in One.

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. 

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

Eternal God, grant to us this day some relief from the stress of our times, some distance from the sorrows and challenges of the present … that we might heal in soul and spirit, regain our strength and resolve … to face the demands of life, to bear the burdens of sin and sorrow, to be of help to others, to embody the love of Christ in all that we are.

We give thanks for the blessings of life … things that cheer us, and make us laugh … things to lighten our spirits and refresh our souls … there is much in this world, O LORD, to heal the wounds and lift up the weary … give us, we pray, the eyes to see the glories of your world … the bright hues of a morning sky, the blaze of color in a field of poppies … and all around us, the joyous blooms of trees and bushes … a world of color and exuberance, delight and wonder, birth and rebirth.

We pray this day for our loved ones - family and friends … those with whom we work, those who sit beside us in school … loved ones far away … and for each of them, O God, we lift our prayers, for their wellbeing, in body and soul … to have great purpose and high ambition … to set their hands to the plow, and never look back, to face the days that lie ahead, with joy and hope, confidence and courage.

We pray, O God, for our San Gabriel Presbytery, for the Rev. Wendy Tajima, and all of our churches and ministers, our elders and deacons … musicians and staff … and the ever-faithful members who give and serve, love and help, sing and dance, to your glory, O God, and strive for the welfare of the world.

Holy God, light eternal, you are the father, the mother, of us all … you instruct us with the light of stars, you counsel us in the rush of wind, you speak to us in the eyes of a child … you shelter us in time of storm, you guide us with with your hand, you see us through the trials and temptations of life … as our father eternal, as our mother forever, Happy Mother’s Day … may your children make you proud.

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. 

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

God of the ages, God of all our moments … from the rising of the sun to the close of the day … throughout the night, and to the first breath of morning … 

O LORD our God, we pray for our nation … may your Holy Spirit continue to raise up voices of reason and hope …  

We pray for the nations of the world … for the Palestinians and the State of Israel … for Sudan and its refugees … we pray for China and Taiwan, the Koreas … and Ukraine. 

We pray for great Britain, King George and Queen Camilla … their families and friends … may they embody the best of such grand traditions; may your Holy Spirit bless the Church of England … and all the Houses of Faith, wherein the best of humanity is enshrined.

We pray today for our sisters and brother at All Saints … preserve them, we pray … empower their witness for a just and inclusive world. 

We pray, too, for those who have welcomed fear and given themselves to hate. We pray for those who lack the emotional and spiritual resources to counter such things … we pray for those who use such things to further their own religious and political ambitions.

In such times, O God, give to us the courage to remain steadfast in our faith, our commitments, our vision of a world wherein all can find a seat at the Table of your Grace. A world of open doors, open minds, and open hands.

Bless, we pray, our loved ones … those in distress of mind and body, grant healing, guidance, and courage. Those in sorrow, grant comfort; those who are snared in addictions, grant release and recovery. 

We pray for the Writers … for all who produce the entertainment so vital to life … who tell the stories that make us laugh, and make us cry … stories to make us better, O God, stories to open up worlds of understanding, laughter and hope … may the issues be justly resolved … may calm hearts and good minds bring a new day.

For the joys of life, we give your our gratitude - children and grandchildren, their laugher and their love … dogs and cats who grace our lives with companionship … doctors and nurses who care for us … teachers who open the world to us … engineers and scientists who take us to the moon and beyond … 

All of this, and more, 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.