Cross at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Mounds, Minnesota

Lord of all, fill our minds with Your truth
and our hearts with Your love so that
we may be bonded together by faith. Today will never come again so “tune our hearts to sing Your grace” (ELW 807), and open the doors that shut us out from experiencing the presence of God.

Help us to understand how to live by loving ourselves so that we can live in the truth that You gave us. Don’t let our challenges push us away from Your hope because “we have to be Your light” (Matthew 5:16).  For there is only one foundation to build our life upon that will not falter and that is a relationship with the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the One who turns tragedy into triumph.

But we need to be His body, His hands and His feet. Our eyes can see with His compassion, our feet can walk in His righteousness and our hands can bless with His mercy.  And in case we forget the truth of our salvation, let us remember that the way in which we live our lives may be the only gospel or church that the people around us will ever experience.