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).
Architect of life, shift the universe and align us with Your message to love beyond our limitations. Mend and resolve what is broken in our lives so that we can experience the fullness of these moments that You gift us.
Thank You for being faithful, consistent, constant and always with us. Impact our attitudes as we remember the saints that have gone before us, so that we can trust in the resurrecting power of Almighty God; that in Christ there is no good bye and there is no end. There is only oneness with the love of the One who created us.
We pray for many things. But the prayer that is answered into our being, is that God is always with us, goes with us, and stands alongside us as we face the many obstacles and mazes of this life. We are never without God. Ever.
Search us, O God, and fan the flame of Your love in all of us. May our eyes be open to the beautiful things that are happening because of the love of God. Wrap our heads and hearts around the complexity of this love. May we remember and learn from what love is, and let go of what love is not. Love doesn’t boast. Love doesn’t destroy. Love doesn’t lie or gossip. Love builds up. Love protects. And love unites because God is LOVE. And anything that is not of Love is not of God.
“May we let Love lead us. May we stand for what Christ stood for or rather stand with those whom Christ stands with. May we be the blessing and not the curse” (Pastor Melissa Greene, Gracepointe Church, Tenessee).
Lord God, “Your mercy fills the space between our hearts and Yours” (Emilie Kirkpatrick). We’re here because we forget that we are always in Your presence. We’re here because we need the strength of Your word to drown out the noise of this world. Speak the truth that pierces through the darkness of our minds and hearts so that we will know that no matter what happens in this life, we do not need to be afraid to live in the victory of Christ.
Because of You, we can be the change. We don’t have to make the same mistakes that other people made before us. We can step outside of ourselves and see each other, one sinner to another, in need of the same grace, love and forgiveness. We don’t need judgment and we don’t need to judge. We need to love and love is the only way that others will know who and what we are.
Original Oil Pointing commissioned by New Song Church
Let us be aligned with You, O God. Allow us to embrace the changes that resonate with God’s Holy plan. Calm the storms around us and within us by letting “love diminish our fears” (Rev. Zelda Kennedy). And even when we’re caught in the winds of the world, please don’t let us ever stop witnessing the gospel of Jesus Christ. For “sin (will) happen whenever we refuse to keep growing” (Richard Rohr). So nourish our growing relationship with You, O Lord, and remind us that “hope will never be silent” (Harvey Milk).
“Love cannot be taught. Love comes from God alone, and must be incarnated and experienced” (Rev. Jeff Hood). “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter” (MLK). The love of God will not be silent and neither will we. We will not look away from those whom we can help. We can and will be the transformed compassionate children of Almighty God, so that all will know that they are loved. So that all will know that they are healed and forgiven. So that all will know that they truly belong.
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).
God of everything seen and unseen let Your infinite love flow through us as members of one community, one body, and one church. Flush out the fears that linger in our minds by breaking down all of the barriers so that we can see each other as You see us: forgiven sinners redeemed by the same God.
Lord, transform our potential into Your now. Interrupt our routine, interrupt our life, interrupt our religion and lead us into radical growth so that we can fall in love with life again and make decisions based on integrity, respect and grace.
Your ascension into heaven is our glory and our hope. You lead us into eternity and we follow You into the new creation, the new covenant, between us and our Creator, so that all will know that life is not meant to be endured. It is meant to be enjoyed, and it is meant to be lived within and surrounded by the loving arms of God.
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