Loving God of
wonders beyond our imagining, we gather today and remember that you are our
rock and our everlasting hope. We are thankful
for the gift of this morning and of the sunshine that warms our skin and
brightens our days.
We are grateful
for this church home and the community we have built together. And the members
of the congregation and the staff who seek to do your work, We especially
bless Pastor Fred and Jan as they spend restful and rejuvenating time with
their beloved family this week.
There are those
of us in need of your special care these days and in particular we lift up to
you ...
Our children are
registering for school and purchasing new backpacks and supplies in preparation
of a new school year,
we ask you Lord
to inspire and strengthen them to be your hands and feet to their fellow
students and teachers,
to help them
treat those they meet with compassion and to protect those who are bullied and
those beaten down by the stresses of family life and high expectations.
We ask your
special blessing on our recent graduates who soon head off to college.
Surround them
with your presence and comfort them as they begin a new chapter away from
home.
Lord, we know
that you are our light and our salvation and that with you we should not
fear...
But it is
difficult not to be afraid when the world seems so confusing and we are often
overwhelmed by the pain of your people.
We are challenged
to try to make sense of senseless situations, and to seek ways to help put
pieces of broken lives and nations back together.
We know that your
loving presence is there in all situations and conflicts, but we pray that
those in conflict are reminded of your dreams of a peaceful kingdom on earth
and in heaven.
We pray for your Spirit of peace to descend where wars rage
on the ground, the sea and in the air
in the Ukraine, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and all the places of
the world so in need of your peace.
We pray for your healing to those facing Ebola, AIDS and
other illnesses that seem beyond hope.
Be a strong presence to the patients and the caregivers and
give them hope that a new day will come.
We implore you to walk with our neighbors in the Middle East,
Israel and Palestine;
may they be inspired and directed by words and actions of the
ancestors that all our faiths share.
Guide the leaders of all nations to work together for
peaceful solutions and justice for all people.
And to God, who by the power at work within us is able to
accomplish abundantly more than all we can ask or imagine we lift our prayers,
praying as our Lord taught us:
Our father …
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