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

 Prayers of Church & Community, Feb. 18, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Sing praise to the Lamb of God … 

sing to the glory of the heavens … 

sing to the lost and to the lonely … 

sing the songs of love.

Eternal God …

We are yours … 

in our sorrows and in our joys.

Dear God, our minds are preoccupied … from the morning news to the heartaches of life.

We pray for Europe O God … and the nations of NATO … we give thanks for the visionaries, the women and men of good conscience, who built this alliance, to defend Democracy and keep the peace.

We pray, O God, for all of our alliances around the world … from the Pacific Rim to Africa - the nations of Central and South America … our neighbors, Mexico and Canada … may our nation serve the purposes and needs of humanity … where we have failed, O God, let us be humble; where we have succeeded, let us try all the more.

Dear God, keep our Flag safe, and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under your watchful eye …  

We pray for Westminster Presbyterian Church on Lake Avenue, giving thanks for the Tower that still stands … we give thanks for all who have served you in this hallowed place, elders and deacons and trustees, and those who have stood in this pulpit to proclaim your love …  

Eternal God, thank you for Christ … for love revealed in Bethlehem’s little cradle … a child held in his father’s arms, a child nursed at his mother’s breast - his baptism in the Jordan - … his words to teach, his love to heal, his gift on the cross, the glory of his empty tomb, to redeem lost souls, and save the world.

Help each of us, O LORD, in our singularity, our individuality, just as we are, to give ourselves to Christ … to step across the lines we’ve drawn, to join arms with one another in faithful service to the world … to love Christ all the more, to serve Christ with great intentions, to surrender our lives, and get on with the tasks of discipleship.

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.