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

 Prayers of Church & Community, April 28, 2024

Westminster Presbyterian Church

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me;

As he died to make us holy, let us die that all be free!

While God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Holy God, Eternal Light,

We pray for our nation, we pray for our President and those who serve with him … 

we pray for Congress, 

we pray for the courts of the land … 

we pray for our armed forces around the world … may they keep peace with the force of ideas more than the force of arms … but if arms are needed, O God, than preserve them, we pray … and may the promise of peace and freedom be realized.

We give thanks for the Founding Fathers and Mothers of this land, who dreamed a glorious dream of freedom and hope … a dream not yet fulfilled, O God, a dream still waiting to be finished.

We thank you, O God, for all whom you have brought to America - from lands to the south, and lands across the seas … an endless parade of peoples and cultures … we are all from somewhere else, dear God, and finally, all from thee. 

Help us all, O LORD, to put our hand to the plow, and not look back to what was, but to look ahead to the dreams that beckon us onward.

Holy God, Eternal Light, help us, we pray, to care for your Garden, your earth, all your creatures, great and small.

Holy God, Eternal Light … touch our souls, we pray, with the power of your Holy Spirit … shine the light of faith all around us:

If we are complacent, dear God, disturb us … 

if we are discouraged, revive us …

if we’ve wandered from Christ, bring us back …

if we’ve forgotten our promises, awaken us …

if we are tired, dear God, give us rest …

if we are frightened, give us comfort …

if we doubt our abilities, tell us again how good we are …

if we have lost our way, find us …

if we lack purpose, dear God, remind us of our baptism …

Holy God, Eternal Light … we are painfully aware of distress and sorrow all around the world … especially, we pray for our universities and colleges, their students, faculties and staff, and their families. 

We continue to pray for the people of Ukraine and Russia and surrounding nations … we pray for Israel and Palestine and the nations of the Middle East - may the wisdom of peace prevail, may the courage of forgiveness give light, may the power of tomorrow reveal a pathway through the chaos of the day.

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.

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

Holy God, creator of the heavens and the earth, speak tenderly to us, we pray, for we need to be healed, to be loved, to be given some peace.

Speak forcefully to us, we pray, for we need our emotional defenses breached, our resistance conquered, our reluctance challenged.

Speak quietly to us, we pray … compel us to listen, for there is much we have to learn, much we need to know, O God, to transform our souls, all over again, day-by-day, that we might be ready for the challenges of the hour, the trials of life, moments of loss and sorrow, tragedy and fear.

Speak assuringly to us, we pray … remind us that you are the ultimate love of the universe, a love into which we can place our lives, our daily strivings, our loved ones, and do so, with confidence, dear God, even if the world should turn into darkness and pain.

Speak that we might hear … that we might know … that we might see the glory of Christ …

upon the Mt. of Transfiguration … that we might see Moses and Elijah at his side, that we might see the disciples on that mountain of peace and hope, bewilderment and wonder … and, there, to see ourselves, lost and found, blind and sighted, with Christ on the Mt, and with Christ in the valley … and with Christ all around the town.

We have given our lives to you, O God … and you have received us with boundless love and joy - by your Holy Spirit, you lead us upon the pathways of life … you forgive us in our failures, you restore us in times of loss and hurt, you assure us when we’re discouraged and frightened, you strengthen us when we stumble and lift us up when we’re tired … you bring us to rest when the day is done … and to eternal rest, when mortal life is ended.

We pray for President Jimmy Carter and his family … we give thanks for his life and work … in all such things, dear God, you guide him to the gates of heaven, and beyond. You are a faithful and loving God.

For this day, O God, we are grateful … we are glad to be here, to be with one another, to hear the gospel, to sing the songs of Zion, to celebrate Mardi Gras, kick up our heels a bit, as the saints come marching in.

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. 

2.12.23 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, we are yours, in life and in death … there is, finally, nothing that can separate us from your great love, given to us in Christ, and given to the world in a thousand different voices, and values, stories and prayers, hymns and poems, a chanting priest, a prayer wheel in Tibet, the cries of a mother and father for their child … you are the God, supreme, of every tear and every broken heart … you are the God, masterful, in the ebb and flow of time … you are the God of eternity, woven into the fabric of every life, every creature, ever grain of wheat and in the tumult of the earth.

We are stunned, O God, we are heartbroken, by the loss of life in Turkey and Syria … death at

every turn … survivors marked for the rest of their lives - too many orphans … too many families, now without their children … O LORD our God, we give thanks for the nations and corporations rising to the task of rescue and rebuilding … the world proves to itself, dear God, what you have called the world to be - caring and kind, generous and faithful, mindful and sensitive, to the cries of bereavement now ringing across the globe. Can the world do better, O God? Yes, we must do better … and we will.

Watch over us, we pray … keep us mindful of the world, help us to feel its pain and sorrow … remind us that lament and a broken heart are part of the human story … shield us not from the sorrows of the day, but the despair of soul that paralyses our quest for your Kingdom, tempts us to withdraw into the comforts and distractions of piety or pleasure.

Bless us here, O LORD - remind us to say thanks - thanks to you, dear God, and thanks to all the folks who’ve loved us all along the way - our parents and grandparents, our families of birth, our families of choice, our children and grandchildren … and for our spiritual family, dear God, the family of faith, the church, all around the world.

Bless our Scouts, dear God … their leaders … their work. Thank you for those who’ve come before us … who taken the Scout Oath to heart, who’ve lived the values and virtues of Scouting, who’ve made this a better world.

All of this, 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. 

1.22.23 Prayer of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

The turn of a page,

The twist of an age.

Time runs on.

And the day is won.

O LORD our God.

Good is your name.

And faithful you are.

In love the same.

We cannot be but who we are.

Along the road ever so far.

You are the faithful companion.

In canyons dark and shining mountain.

With gates of gold.

Laughter never old.

Hope and light.

Shining bright.

Stir our hearts this day dear God.

Bring to life our weary sod.

Lift us to our feet, we pray.

To dance and sing and ever sway.

For the sake of love and all the folk.

We claim the story of Christ our hope.

The light of the world.

A peace unfurled.

Bless us, we pray, to stay the way.

In faith, and hope, and never betray.

The truth, the life, that belongs to all.

And grows large and never grows small.

For our loved ones we offer up our hearts.

That life in all of its fits and starts.

Will be good and light.

And faithfully right.

And for our blighted and struggling world.

We lift our hearts and reach for a word.

To sing a song of praise and peace.

For all the children, that war may cease.

All of this, 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. 

1.1.23 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church Pasadena

 Eternal God, to whom all things belong, from whom all love proceeds, we give thanks that you are the God of love woven into the fabric of time -  in the best of it, and in the worst of it … in our joys, and in our sorrows … in the suffering of millions even now, displaced by war and climate change … you’re heart, too, is broken, by the sins and sorrows of humankind.

It’s almost too much for us to comprehend, but we pay attention, dear God, because attentiveness is our task - to be fully human, fully aware, eyes open, ears listening to the children of our world crying out to us for justice and peace …  

Help us, we pray, to give priority to love and kindness, mercy and mindfulness … to be faithful to Christ, to be creative and playful, prayerful and thoughtful, to be the church alive and full of life and hope … in such times, O God, as these, changing times, tables overturned, the old ways disappearing, remind us that you are at work in all things for good … Christ is our companion … the Holy Spirit guides and directs our steps, reveals new pathways, new procedures and new practices … help us, we pray, to resist the temptation of Lot’s wife, the temptation to look backward, the temptation to give the past more honor than it deserves … to be those who look to the future, who look for you, O God, in the pathways before us, for you are always and forever the God of Tomorrow.

We pray now for loved ones… for family and friends … our children and grandchildren, our parents and grandparents … our brothers and sisters, neighbors and co-workers … all around us, O LORD … and for them we pray.

We pray for Ukraine and Russia, for Europe and NATO - we pray for the air and water, the earth and the animals … we pray for a just peace.

We pray for Taiwan and China … we pray for the nations of the Pacific Rim … 

We pray for Westminster, O LORD … we pray for our elders and our members, for our friends around the world, who join with us via YouTube - we pray a blessing upon them all.

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. 

Pastoral Prayer, September 6, 2015 - First Congregational Church of Los Angeles

Another summer, O God, has passed us by … and we wonder where all the time has gone … time speeds on heedlessly, and we’re swept along in its mighty currents … and in every moment, with every tick of the clock, every turn of the calendar, dear God, there you are, the contestant companion, who walks with us and talks with us along life’s narrow way … 

In moments of worship, O God, with just a word, a memory, a song, a Bible Story, we find ourselves transported, moved, caught up, in something wonderfully good and beautiful … 

If only for a moment, catching a glimpse of you out of the corner of our eye, and when we turn to see more, we only see our neighbor … as it should it be, O LORD, in whose image we all are formed … remind us day-by-day, that when we look for you, dear God, we find our neighbor, and when we look at our neighbor with kindly eyes, we find you!

We pray for our world, O God, … convulsed with violence and war - a child’s body washed ashore in distant Turkey shreds our soul with unspeakable sorrow … we would rather turn away, O God … but you firmly hold our face with your hands and turn us toward the image of the child … you turn us toward the refugees fleeing the maelstrom of war … you open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our hearts to bleed … and we are wiling, O LORD, to follow Christ, though always a little fearful … the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak … but we are yours, O God, and we give ourselves to you all the more.

And to one another … for we are not alone in the struggle for righteousness and peace … and we thank you, O God, for all whom you have raised up in this world to fight the good fight, women and men of good will all around the world … striving for humanity’s highest ideals of peace and goodness … with them, O God, we join hands - in prayer, in faith, in work, with all that we are, and all that we hope to be, for the sake of a better world.

Lead us, we pray, to be engaged and thoughtful … willing and eager to take up our cross … to follow in the footsteps of Christ where’re he lead … to bear witness to hope, to speak truth to power, and to welcome the little children. Amen!

Psalm 96

Psalm 96.10-13 offers a word of hope for all the world, confused and crazy and mean as it can be.

The Psalmist says: "The world is firmly established; it'll never be moved." 

The rest of the Psalm offers up striking images of judgment ... not the hammer and fire kind, but restoration and kindness and peace.

The Psalmist clearly sees the world for what it is, and it isn't always good (vss. 1-9), but rather than shouting out wrath, the Psalmist offers up hope. And in the hope offered, judgment is clear, not as a threat of destruction, but a pathway for how it's going to work out. 

The Psalmist doesn't succumb to the spiritual temptation of faith: threats of punishment to the "enemy" ... "god will get ya', and it ain't gonna be pretty. Ha!"

Noting like that in Psalm 96.

Only confidence in God's restorative justice and judgment - not a separating of the peoples from one another (there's more than enough of that already), but a joining together of all creation with humankind - the image of the Garden realized.

The Psalmist has a kindly spirit about her.

Other writers of the Text have differing temperaments, and there's time and place for them, too. Take names and kick butt.

But this Lectionary piece caught my attention. The world will end in flowers and fields and goodness, and with peace between Cain and Abel.

Such is the judgment of God!

May 22, 2011 - Pastor's Prayer

Calvary Presbyterian Church, Hawthorne, CA

Great God Almighty,

Creator of the Heavens and the Earth,

You have been our dwelling place throughout the ages.

Before the world was cast by your word, your love for us was already established … your grace already at work …

From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

Your Word anchors the universe.

Your light shines in deepest space and in the tiniest of creatures.

You number the hairs of our head.

A sparrow falling to the ground catches your attention.

You are at work in all things.

In all things for good.

It is right and good, O God, for us to be here today.

To hear the words of Jesus.

To think and pray.

To sing and celebrate.

To enlarge our understanding.

To know you better.

To love you all the more.

We pray, O God, for our world.

We pray for the leaders of the nations.

For parliaments and legislatures and judges.

We pray for peace.

We pray for your blessing on women and men of good faith.

Those who dare to see a new world, and strive for it.

Those who refuse to believe the gospels of violence and power and nationalism.

And believe, instead, in the Prince of Peace, and walk with him on the pathways of humility, kindness and justice.

We pray for President Obama and his family.

We pray for governor Brown and for mayor Guidi.

We pray for all those who take up the burdens of government.

And we pray for the citizens of America.

Deliver our nation, we pray, from the sins of nationalism and pride.

Deliver us from the sins of greed and wealth.

Deliver us from the sins that divide one against another.

Deliver us from the sins that impoverish many and enrich the few.

Deliver us from the sins that shut minds and harden hearts.

Bless Calvary Presbyterian Church, we pray.

Bless us, that we might be a blessing to our neighborhood, our community, our world.

Bless us, that we might have the light of Christ in our hearts and minds.

Bless us, that we might be the salt of the earth, a joyful witness to your work and your wisdom.

Bless us, we pray, that we might do your will on earth as it is in heaven.

Watch over us, we pray, in the remains of the day.

Breathe into us anew the Holy Spirit.

Use us, we pray.

And send us forth from this place with a fresh sense of hope, because you are at work in all things, in all things for good.

And to you, O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all praise, honor and glory.

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 … 

A Peacemaker Implant

A friend of mine is having a pacemaker implanted. My friend will have a simple outpatient procedure – he’ll be home in no time, and up and running, good as new.

This morning, I turned to a blog and read a headline – about a peacemaker, but I read pacemaker instead, until I read it again, and then I thought – that’s a thought worth writing about!

Every time we read our Bible, every time we invite Christ into our hearts, every time we gather with God’s people in the solidarity of worship and work, God does a procedure – God implants a peacemaker so that our heart can beat regularly in rhythm with Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Our greatest need is for peace – in all dimension: for the world, for our communities and neighborhoods, for our homes, schools and places of work, and perhaps most importantly, deep within our spirit – the peace that only Christ can give (John 14:27), a peace that surpasses every version offered by the world (Philippians 4:7).

My friend would never think of trying to implant a pacemaker by himself. A do-it-yourself project would be foolish and dangerous. Nor is the Peace of Christ a do-it-yourself project – we can only do it in the company of others, in the fellowship of faith, with good instruction and mutual prayers. Do not try this at home!

If my friend can step into the doctor’s office and be on his way home again in an hour or two, the implantation of a peacemaker for our heart is life-long process wherein we constantly surrender our life to Christ, constantly pray for the Holy Spirit, constantly read our Bibles and continually learn more about God. The invitation to follow Jesus is not for a few days, a year or two, or even the duration of this life, but forever, in season and out of season, when we feel like and when we don’t.

And why do we do this? Because we’re descendents of Seth in a world of crass opportunism, empty promises and the silly and violent boasting of Lamech (see Genesis 4:23).

For the sake of the world, we go to our Good Physician for a peacemaker implant – to keep alive the greatest reality – the truth that sets us free from pretense and fruitless quests - the steadfast love of God - the rock of our life, the immovable foundation – our hope and our peace!

Christ within us – he’s our peacemaker. And with our implant, we step into the world, our homes and communities, and we bring a modicum of peace to others. I’ll add my share; you’ll add your share, and together we’ll change the world.

What did Jesus say? “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).