Prayers of Church & Community, March 31, 2024
Westminster Presbyterian Church - Easter Sunday
Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o'er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
Eternal God, LORD of Light …
we celebrate the gift of life over the powers of death.
We give thanks for all you have done … creation, and the dawn of time … Adam and Eve, Sarah and Abraham, Moses and the Prophets, Mary and Joseph … this very moment in time, here and now, Westminster Presbyterian Church …
O LORD our God, life presses hard upon us … the morning news, distress and sorrow … our own sins lay heavy upon our minds … yet your Holy Spirit, dear God, moves mightily within our souls … you secure each one of us to Christ, you build up the fellowship of faith, you strengthen the church, you point the way ahead, you find the lost, you open up our future … stones still get rolled away.
Dear God, we raise our thoughts to those who have left this life and now reside with you … we send them our prayers and love … we miss them dearly, and recount with gladness the days we had, and the love we shared … even as they send their prayers and love our way.
We pray for our world, O LORD … we give thanks for people of good will and purpose hard at work for the better day. We pray for the nations embroiled in war … especially, we pray for the children.
We pray for our nation and its leaders … we give thanks for women and men of good character and mindful purpose, who speak truth and work for justice.
We pray for the citizens of Baltimore, and the families who’ve lost loved ones …
We pray for all religious traditions, dear God … where there is love, where there is prayer … where there is music and dance, you are there, O God, you are everywhere … in every heart, hard at work, to heal the world.
We give thanks for people who erase the lines others have drawn in the sands of time and space … who open doors rather than shut them, who cross borders as did Jesus … who welcome those disdained by society … those who laugh easily, cry profoundly, dance with abandon and love fiercely.
Tomorrow, dear God, just another day, another week … much to be done … bless us, we pray, with the fulness of Christ, that our light might shine, and the world see our good works.
Up from the grave he arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
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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