2.2.25 Prayers of Church & Community, Scout Sunday, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Prayers of Church & Community, Feb 2, 2025

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light … 

We pray for those who lost loved ones in the Potomac plane crash … our hearts are broken, our minds awhirl with sorrow … 

We pray for the families and friends who lost homes to the fires, and those who lost loved one … we’re mindful of our Scouting Family, dear God, many of whom lost their homes - all the things of life: mementos, the bits and pieces of memory … souvenirs … awards and trophies, childhood toys, and good books.

On this day, O God, we lift up our Scouts - we give thanks for all who have taken up the mantle of Scout leadership, to help our youth find their way in life … we thank you, O God, for the great values represented in the program … patriotism, honor, decency, and faithfulness.

Bless our Scouts, we pray, with your Holy Spirit … bless their families and see them through the challenges and crises of the moment … give to them, we pray, the solace of your mercy, the guidance of your wisdom, the courage of your love … to face forward and to look upward … to reach out to help others, and from others, to be helped  … to maintain the human bond, the commitments and loyalties that keep us connected and working together … help us all, we pray, to be good Scouts, good citizens of this land.

We pray for our nation … caught up in political distress … help us, we pray, with the light of Christ, to discern what is true and what isn’t … to cling to the ideals we all share … to help one another, to level the playing field, to confront bigotry, racism, discrimination - all the ways, O God, we have of hurting one another … help us, we pray, to rise above the evils of nationalism to find true patriotism, to seek justice for all, and peace for the world.

Bless, we pray, the churches of our land … bless synagogues, mosques, and temples … communities of faith and prayer … may the light of truth shine brightly … may the lies of pride and power be exposed … may courage be the hallmark of faith … may open arms be our life …  

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.

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, date

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Holy God, Eternal Light … creator of the heavens and the earth, the heart and soul of the covenant, the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ … 

You are, in your glory, so much more than we could ever imagine … more than our highest love, and larger than the universe … yet small enough to curl up in Bethlehem’s manger, small enough to hang on a cross, and small enough to find a home within our hearts.

Dear God, shine the light of your truth upon us, that we might be well protected against the lies and misrepresentations of irresponsible politicians and profligate preachers … voices of hate and fear, doom and disaster.

Remind us, dear God, that we belong to the big story, your story - from the moment of creation to the end of time, to bring all thing together … you call unto yourself faith-keepers, O LORD … to walk in the light of hope, to carry in our hands the gifts of mercy and peace, to explore new avenues of understanding … to hold within ourselves the energies of gratitude and joy, creativity and vision … to face our daily tasks with resolute determination, ti seek justice and practice kindness … to do our best, and give our utmost … to cherish your holy name! 

By your grace, we belong to the big story, your story.

We pray this day for loved ones and friends … we lay their needs before you …

Holy God, creator of the nations, and all the families of the earth, we pray for President Biden and his family, we pray for the members of Congress, we pray for the judiciary … we pray for the political process of the day … we pray for the voters of America … we pray for the preservation of our Democracy … the welfare of our heritage, the dreams of a more perfect union, from sea to shining sea.

We pray for peace in our time … we pledge ourselves to the work of peace … in prayer and good works, with awareness of the times and the challenges of the day … we will not submit to the lies, we will not retreat into silence … we will serve Christ, we will proclaim good news, we will lift up the realities of hope and freedom, welcome and affirmation - for all you creatures, O God, great and small … for humanity, for the earth, forever!

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. 

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

 Prayers of Church & Community, April 21, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

The sun rises to warm the earth … birds welcome it with a chorus of songs … their music, a delight to the soul and a reminder to us all, of the greater things of God.

Holy God, eternal light,

Our world is filled with war and terror … missiles fly and bombs explode, people die and children cry, politicians shout outrage, and people pray with broken hearts … 

The streets fill with protest and clamor … nations claim right from wrong, and accuse the other of wrong from right … 

Do you grow tired of us, O God?

Do you wonder if another flood might work better than it did with Noah and his Gang?

Do you count the ways we violate your laws of love and kindness?

Do you cringe at our little loyalties, lives lived unto ourselves? The tiny circles of our love.

We turn, dear God, to Christ … not to escape our world and its sorrows, but to embrace our world and its pain through the Man of Sorrows, through the pain that Christ bore upon Calvary’s Cross, the darkness of death and the sorrow of hell he endured … the struggle with all of it, dear God, and the victory over every bit of it … his Day of Resurrection, when death met its match in the matchless grace of Christ.

O LORD our God, we pray for the nations of the Middle East … even now, as we speak, diplomats and politicians are scrambling to find justice, to find the ways of peace, to restore what has been lost, to rebuild what has been destroyed, to give to everyone a chance at life … 

Remind us, O God, the road to peace requires much courage and profound skills … greatness of soul and mind … rising above whatever loyalties we might have in the moment, to the greater loyalties of creation, covenant, and Christ.

Help us, O God, to be people of conscience, people of learning and thought and prayer, people large enough in word and deed to reflect your word in Christ.

Remind us, O God, of our purpose … to love you with all that we are, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves … help us, we pray, to bow down to Christ, that we might stand up to serve … help us to open our minds and hearts to the greater truths of faith, hope, and love, that we might open our arms to the lost, the lonely, the weary, and the sad.

That in our work and in our leisure, with our classmates and our friends, we would bring to this world the bits and pieces of your glorious kingdom … thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

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.