Lord God, we come just as we are with the shared brokenness of a fallen world. We’ve become numb and closed our eyes to the needs of others. Connect with us now and wash away our mistakes.
When others hurt us, help us to understand their situation instead of trying to hurt them back. Give us the wisdom to see that we are not boxed into the limitations that we’ve created for ourselves. Show us the bigger picture, that “sin is indeed always in us, and Godly people feel it; but it is covered” (Martin Luther) in the healing hands of Jesus Christ who takes away the sins of the world.
Lord, with all of our insecurities, You take the bad with the good with or without our apologies. Your love is unconditional. Your love knows no boundaries. Your love is always with us. So, open up our hearts and let the healing truly begin.
Lord God, You “stand with us and give us strength” (2 Timothy 4:17). Center us now in the truth that will change the landscape of our limited perspective. Yes, we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves, but we are also captive to the living Word of God that will not let us go. It holds on to us even when we stray. Some of our sins we know…but some are known only to You.
Help us to know that we are welcome at Your table with all of our joy, sorrow, anger, and regret. Just absorb all of the storms that we have to offer, for we have many. For today, “everything does not gleam and sparkle, but everything is being cleansed” (Martin Luther).
We’re sorry when we doubt You and make mistakes. Jolt us out of our complacency and awaken us to the needs of others. Reshape our hearts so that we can go out and touch lives and change the world. In the name of the all knowing and ever loving God we pray. Amen.
Great Protector, we give thanks and dedicate this time to You. Forgive us, if we asked You more than we thanked You. Help us to see that we are not the only ones in need of Your mercy. Let Your music fill the silence of our hearts so that we can sing Your praise.
We’re sorry for words we said or didn’t say. We’re sorry for things we did or didn’t do. We come here to be cleansed from our mistakes, and to be made new. Speak to us, lead us and guide us because we cannot be heroes of our own making. We’re just people who share the same brokenness and need the same healing. Let us just be still and know exactly who You are.
Lord, don’t let us be divided over the ways of the world but allow us to be united in the kingdom of God. Wrap us in the armor of truth, justice and love so that we can truly see those around us as ourselves and say to each other that “we’re sorry you’re heartbroken and we’re sorry that we’re not perfect, but we have a perfect love in Jesus Christ and we would love to share that with you right now and right here…one sinner to another.” In the name of the creating and sustaining God whose love knows no end.
Great provider, thank You for blessing us with so much! Each breath, each sunrise and each moment of life is a gift. We pray for a thankful heart. We pray for a gracious heart. And we pray for a humble heart. “Beneath our clothes, our reputations, our pretensions, beneath our religion or lack of it, we are all vulnerable both to the storm without and to the storm within” (Fredrick Buechner).
Comfort us with the truth that You are always with us, that You will always love us regardless of the works that we do or don’t do, and that You will always redeem us every time that we fail. Help us to believe in the miracle of God’s never ending love.
Give us the wisdom to trust You, O Lord, so that we can let go of our fear of failure and our hunger for success. Reorient our perspective so that we can see that the living bread from heaven is for all of us, and that it will never run out. Let us know that we can live this life in the abundance of all that God provides.
Creator of all, we come in through these doors because we need You to reopen the doors of our hearts and community onto the mission of Christ. Let this church be reborn and let the Holy Spirit unleash the power of healing that resides within all of us. Teach us to not just communicate with each other but to commune with each other.
As generations and cultures crash into each other, shift our thinking to rediscover the ancient unity of all sinners that was revealed on the cross at Calvary. Strengthen us to hold onto this union, this commonality, that we all share as children of God. Remind us, that even through the greatest storms of life, we are never alone.
“Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them” (Scott and Kelli KLOVE). For those of us celebrating with our families today, we give thanks to God. For those of us grieving the loss of a loved one, we pray for compassion and understanding that “grief never ends…it changes. It’s a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith…It is the price of love” (Scott and Kelli K-LOVE).
I saw this picture at an office complex. You can see my reflection behind Jesus. I kinda like that.
We welcome You Messiah and we also walk in the shadow of Your cross. We pray for wisdom to see beyond the cheers of the crowd demanding an instant miracle. If we build our faith on the crowd, then we build on a sinking foundation. So instead of empty words, let’s build on the solid rock of Christ and live out our faith in the One who paid the price so that we would know that God is always with us.
“We’re not saved because we’re good. We’re good because we are saved” (Rich Mullins). So when the Hosanna’s fade, let us not be moved but instead let us hold on to the truth. The truth that “Love is always going to be far more dangerous than power” (Jeff Hood). The truth that Jesus died for us so that there would be no emptiness between us, and the love of God. Lead us to the cross Lord, where Your love is and will always be…one scarred hand to the other.
“Because You turn Your ear to us, we will call on You for as long as we live.” (Psalms 116:2) You alone can see into the window of our minds and understand the snapshots of our life. You see the joys and the fears, along with all of the victories and the losses. “Though our feelings come and go. God’s love for us does not.” (CS Lewis) So when everything we know falls down to the ground, let us remember the hand that will pull us back into the possibilities that God has planned for all of us.
In a world gridlocked with fear and confusion “we need to be brave with our stories so that other people can be brave with theirs.” (Katherine Center) Reveal to us just how much of an impact our lives are to others. Because “now is the chance to choose the right side. (For You, Lord,) give us that chance…(but) we must take it.” (C.S. Lewis)
Hear us now O Great Redeemer, and “clothe us in your compassion, kindness, humility and patience.” (Collossians 3:12), “Turn away our eyes from our own vanity and revive us in your ways” (Psalm 119:37).
We’re just ordinary people, flawed and prone to sin, but You see us as no one else does. You understand our potential. So as these battles rage on in all of us, we pray that You would reign in us and remind us that “nothing can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38), that “You have been with us since the beginning” (John 1:1) and that You will always be, Emmanuel, God with us.
When words fail “hope will not be silent” (Harvey Milk). For it is “By faith (that) we began, by hope (that) we continue, and by revelation (in which) we shall obtain the whole (truth of God)” (Martin Luther). For “if there is anything in us, it is not our own; it is a gift of God…that it is entirely a debt (that we) owe to love…and must serve others with it, not ourselves” (Martin Luther).
Jehovah Jireh, our provider, let the walls around our hearts come tumbling down so that we won’t be afraid to love as radically and inclusively as You do. Remove the things that don’t deserve time and space in our lives for “life is too short to argue and fight with the past.” (Steve Aitchison).
Send a message to us and to the world that “love is not what we say; love is what we do” (John Hagee) and how we treat others is how we treat the Lord. So let us be united in one voice and one body for “it is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.” (Ephesians 1:11)
“You alone know the plans that You have for us” (Jeremiah 29:11) so write your truth into our lives and remove anything that would darken the light within us. We only get this one life to be kind, compassionate and merciful. Let’s not waste it.
Lord of all, calm our hearts and minds. Don’t let us doubt You, and don’t let fear rule or feed our thoughts. Interrupt our lives, when we forget the miracle of each breath that You give us, so that we can face these obstacles and not cower or retreat back into the false security of what once was.
Let us let go of our egos and move forward, by faith, into the promise of God so that we can feed the hungry, heal the sick, and be as one body united by the unwavering love of our Creator.
Because of You, our story has been rewritten. So let us dare to know You, to be more like You, to be quick to forgive and slow to anger. Don’t let our own insecurities inhibit ourselves from ministering God’s grace and doing what is right in the eyes of God. We may not “understand the mystery of grace…but grace meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.” (Anne Lamott).
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