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

 Prayers of Church & Community, January 28, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Glorious in light, 

gracious in mercy, 

good in all respects, 

Holy God, Mother and Father of us all, we give thanks for the Tower on Lake Avenue - those who laid the foundation of faith for the sake of the future - who raised their hymns and did the work of love … they did it well, O God, and sometimes they didn’t … they were true to your Christ, dear God, and sometimes not …  

In our weakness, dear God, may your Holy Spirit provide guidance and correction … in our strength, O God, may your Holy Spirit provide humility and gratitude.

This day, O God, we pray for poets and writers - as they take the language of words and shape them like clay in the potter’s hand, to create an image, a story, a world, wherein we can find ourselves, our goodness, our sorrows, our best, and our worst.

This day, O God, we pray for the engineers and scientists, the technicians and staff, of JPL - they map the universe and take us to the stars. They build the machines of exploration, dear God, they probe the mysteries of the universe, they help us dream.

This day, O God, we pray for the medical faculties of our universities and hospitals … we pray for the technicians who manage the machinery of our health, the housekeepers and the cooks, administrative staff and archivists … as they care for our bodies and minds, and seek cures for our ailments.

Bless us, we pray, in this time of worship and wonder … set our spirits soaring with the glories of Christ and the joy of our redemption … give us patience, we pray, in the midst of distress and grief … give us energy when we’re tired, give us rest when we need it, give us love …  

We pray, O God, for our YouTube Family … may this time together bring healing and hope, to all … we pray for Stan and Ann Marie, for Charles, for Francie and for Cheri … separated though we be by many miles, we are intimately bonded together by the Holy Spirit.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, January 21, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, forever the light of all creation, the energy of all that is kind and good, the hope of the ages, and the comfort of our souls.

We lift up our hearts to you, O LORD, our God … to see what is right and beautiful … to be delivered from the falsehoods of the day, the lies, the illusions, the promises and the promotions, that offer life, but only give us sorrow.

We humbly and honestly pray for the salvation of our souls … we pray not for perfection, but for faith … to cast our cares into your hands … to give our lives unto Christ … to find our place in the world, by finding our place in you.

We come to the place of our baptism, dear God, because we are weary … our souls parched by the heat of the day and the dust of the road … we come to the table of bread and drink, for we are hungry … our souls yearn for the bread of heaven and the cup of blessing … we hunger and thirst for righteousness.

We give thanks for the stories of our faith … stories of women and men just like us, dear God - full of life and full of sorrow, running toward the light, and running away from it … full of ourselves, and empty of good, uncertain of our identity, longing for love, hoping for peace, wanting what only you, dear God, can give - the everlasting goodness of eternity, the matchless beauty of Christ.

We pray for our world … grateful that as we pray, O LORD, millions of prayers are rising up from the heart of your people all around the world … women and men of faith, great faith, small faith, wavering faith, triumphant faith, faith broken, faith healed, faith soaring high unto the heavens, faith running the race of life, faith walking, slowly, one step at a time …

Before we say it, O LORD, you know it … before we ask it, you do it … you bless us and our loved ones … there is healing in your wings, there is love in your mercy … there is hope in your providential care for all your creatures, great and small … 

Where there is death and sorrow, O God, you are there with comfort … 

~ where there is anger and fear, O God, you are there with the healing balm of your Holy Spirit … 

~ where there is foolish ignorance, O God, you are there with the light of Christ … 

~ where there are lies and deceptions, O God, you are there with the truth of the cross and the glory of the resurrection.

~ where there is noise and nonsense, O God, you are there with the gift of holy silence and the gentle touch of angels.

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Jan. 14, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, forever our home and our hope … 

in your grace, we find our way, 

in your mercy, we find the courage to reach for the fulness of our humanity … 

in your forgiveness, we face tomorrow, 

in your love, we live today.

Holy God, we give thanks for those whom you have called to the most special of ministries … we give thanks for the Prophets of old, for Samuel and his family, for Eli the priest, and all who were faithful to your Holy Covenant … 

We give thanks this day for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, whom you called to bear the toughest of burdens, to speak truth to power, and to live the power of love … we give thanks for his words, his wisdom, his courage, his tears … 

Holy God, your Spirit hovers over the welling waters of time … your Spirit works in all things for good … 

so we pray, dear God, that we might know enough of Christ to know where and how to live our days, 

to walk in his truth, 

to live his love, 

to practice his kindness and courage - 

to be people of compassion and good character … 

We pray not, O God, for some kind of moral perfection, but rather that in, humility and hope, sinful as we are, we would simply do our best, day-by-day, growing all the more into the likeness and goodness of Christ … until the days of our lives draw to their appointed end, as they must, and we are gathered into the great fellowship of the Church Triumphant, the Church Eternal.

Bless Westminster, O God … bless the Search Committee as it seeks our next installed minister … bless our neighborhood, we pray … may the Tower give hope to all, and may you lead into our fellowship of faith those who will carry on the legacy of this church, for the welfare of our neighborhood.

We pray for our loved ones … we pray for those in ill-health and pain … we pray for the grieving, burden by loss and loneliness … we pray for the emotionally confused, the physically challenged … those bored with life, and those for whom life is gloriously successful … those with too little, and those with too much … O LORD, our God, help us each and all to discover the center of life - your love, your peace, and your Christ.

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.