Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nail Him to the tree?
Were you there when they nail Him to the tree?
Were you there when they nail Him to the tree?
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they nail Him to the tree?
Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were You there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were You there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were You there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble
Were You there when they laid Him in the tomb?
I have just fallen in love with the words of this song and I sing this as a prayer and an affirmation of my faith and commitment to Jesus Christ.
“So Will I” by Hillsong
God of creation
There at the start
Before the beginning of time
With no point of reference
You spoke to the dark
And fleshed out the wonder of light
And as You speak
A hundred billion galaxies are born
In the vapor of Your breath the planets form
If the stars were made to worship so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You’ve made
Every burning star
A signal fire of grace
If creation sings Your praises so will I
God of Your promise
You don’t speak in vain
No syllable empty or void
For once You have spoken
All nature and science
Follow the sound of Your voice
And as You speak
A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath
Evolving in pursuit of what You said
If it all reveals Your nature so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You say
Every painted sky
A canvas of Your grace
If creation still obeys You so will I
So will I
So will I
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice, rejoice
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel
O come, Thou wisdom from on high
Who orderest all things mightily
To us the path of knowledge show
And teach us in her ways to go
Rejoice, rejoice
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
Rejoice, again, I say, rejoice
For unto us is born the Savior of the world
Take heart, oh weary soul, take heart
For help is on its way
And Holy is His name
“Consider and answer (us), O LORD (our) God; Enlighten (our) eyes, or (we) will sleep the sleep of death” (Psalm 13: 3). You, O God, see the good in us. Forgive us when we just can’t see or hear You. We don’t want to have a heavy mind holding on to thoughts that pull us away from You. So provoke us, and call on us to continue on this search for truth. Give us a willingness to look beyond our own perspective and to look humanity in the eye so that we can unlearn intolerance and fear. Teach us to learn what being human is, and what your vision is so that we can help each other experience the possibilities of God.
“When there is a mighty movement of God, nobody can stop it” (Pastor James Phillips). We pray, Almighty One, that you would give us the strength and the tenacity to stand up, take a breath, and speak the truth that God is love and that Love is for all. For “nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
Lord God, You are “our light and our salvation” (Psalm 27:1). Strengthen us by “reviving whatever peace and love has died within us” (Christian Today) so that we can see as you see. Open our eyes to see a world that needs so much more than us. Show us a world that needs You. Shift our minds to experience how love works and how love never fails. See, we don’t know You but we want to know you…because You know us, and “to be known is to be loved and to be loved is to be known” (Chris Kinsley & Drew Francis). Help us to know You, Lord. We need to know You.
“Christ has no hands or feet on earth but ours” (Teresa of Avila). So let us be His body and feed those who are hungry. Not with bread alone but with the Love of God. Break down the walls of fear and hatred with the realness of looking at one another, straight in the eye, and seeing a child of God; someone who is in need of as much grace and forgiveness as we are. In the end, “Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
We come here today to receive not what we want, but what we need. We need the love of God. We give You, oh Lord, our time and our hearts because You so loved us, that You gave Your only Son so that we would never be separated from the love of God.
The most important work that we will do is to break down the walls of our hearts, and just love others as God loves us. It is the Word made flesh that heals us of the ugliness of this world, and brings us forward into our function as beloved children of God.
“Christ has no body but ours, no hands, no feet on earth but ours. Our eyes are those with which He looks compassion on this world, Our feet are those with which He walks to do good, Our hands, are those with which He blesses all the world” (Teresa of Avila) with love. And “love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).
God of comfort, envelop us in Your truth. Stop us from pointing fingers and remind us that we are unified by our humanity. Lead our hearts into Your presence. Forgive us when we forget You and each other. Instead, create a community of grace and action. Send us out there, outside of what is familiar, to the places that need grace the most, so that we can be part of building Your kingdom here in this place and in our hearts.
“When something bad happens, we have three choices: we let it define us, we let it destroy us, or we let it strengthen us,” (Frank Langela). Strengthen us, O Lord, to see and hear the needs of Your people. So many lives that we need to see, remember and honor. Don’t let us ever forget. Don’t let us forget.
Guide us now, oh Great Redeemer, to a place of community with You and with each other. Engage us with a needy world, so that when we see each other, we see God in every expression. Equip us with the understanding that, “it doesn’t matter if we’re right, it matters if we are in relationship” (Pastor Leila Ortiz) with each other and with our Creator. Give us the strength to let go and let God, so that we can invite those who are thirsty and hungry for more than what this world can offer.
Other’s might laugh and gossip, but God knows and walks with each and everyone us. So let’s walk with each other, not against each other, and let’s do what God does; care about those that the world does not.
Creator God, rebuild every good thing that has been destroyed. Teacher, call to us and draw us into Your story. Make us active players in Your narrative and in this community. Clear our eyes to see those who are not safe. Tear down the walls so that we can reach out to those living in the margins. Unbind us from fear so that we can be Your hands and feet. Meet us where our condemnation and our limitations collapse. Meet us.
You invited us to Your table by taking the lowest place in ours. You humbled Yourself and gave Your life so that we could live. Give us the courage to receive the Holy Gospel and make us alive. Begin the healing now so that we can be the Church that invites all and sees all. Let us not leave this place as we came, but with changed hearts and minds that have seen and experienced the risen Lord. Let us be the Church again. Let us be the Church.
Merciful Creator, “You are the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:13.) You are the only constant in the continuum of life. Connect us to You, to each other, to all times, to all places and to Your greater plan. Disengage us from the world, and silence the noise of the many and tune our ears to the voice of the One. The One who runs to His prodigal children who were lost but now are found.
We’ve carried too much, and we come to this house to lay down our burdens. It is time to leave the anger, leave the pain, leave the sadness and leave the fear at the foot of the cross so that we can find God in the spaces and moments in between life’s first cry and final breath. We came here today as sinners but we leave here as saints, redeemed by God, moving ever forward into the story of love, forgiveness, hope and grace.
“Consider and answer (us), O LORD (our) God; Enlighten (our) eyes, or (we) will sleep the sleep of death” (Psalm 13: 3). You, O God, see the good in us. Forgive us when we just can’t see or hear You. We don’t want to have a heavy mind holding on to thoughts that pull us away from You. So provoke us, and call on us to continue on this search for truth. Give us a willingness to look beyond our own perspective and to look humanity in the eye so that we can unlearn intolerance and fear. Teach us to learn what being human is, and what your vision is so that we can help each other experience the possibilities of God.
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