Today's Offering

Well . . . for better or worse . . . here it is (not sufficiently proofed). You'll recognize bits and pieces of Psalm 121.

Prayers of the Church for Grandview

June 24, 2007

We lift up our eyes to the Appalachian Mountains—and we ask ourselves, where does our help come from?

Our help comes from the LORD, the Maker of all that is, seen and unseen.

O God, do not let our feet slip. Watch over us and do not nap; we can’t afford for you to catch even one second of sleep.

O God, watch over us and provide shade and shelter for the things most dear to us, so that the searing heat of day will not burn us up; so that our darkest fears will have no power in your presence.

O God, keep us from all harm and watch over our lives. We grieve this morning over the life of Sarah Ann. We grieve like Sarah before you filled her with the life of Isaac. We anticipate, like Anna at the temple, the day when we will see and hold new life from you. Give comfort to all who grieve today. With your healing hands reach down and touch the sick. Send your angels to protect those who, for our sake and safety are in harm’s way. Bless our enemies. For those who have found life too hard and are sinking into despair, Lord, give the light of your hope. For those who are dying, grant a peaceful death.

Watch over us all as we come and go from this place. Help us—even in all of our busyness—to be willing to be built into a community of great witness. Build us into community of pure hearts, unsoiled by secret fantasies that don’t belong to us. Build us into a community of integrity, where the boundaries you have revealed to us are honored: the boundaries of marriage, of thought, and of self. Teach us, through the example of Jesus, by the power of your Spirit poured out upon us, to be comfortable in the skin you gave us and to be sure of the love you have for each of us—love that surpasses any earthly pleasure.

O God, we have been so busy that we have forgotten where our strength and hope come from. Now we stop. We put away all of our mental lists of things that we need to do. Give us the grace, in the silence, simply to sit and drink-in your presence.

silence

Thanks for allowing Nathan and Erin (McDade) to worship with us today. Bless the college students they have left behind in Puebla and prepare them for great things in your service. Bless all of your missionaries by giving them at least a glimpse of the fruit their offering for you bears.

We pray with one voice, the prayer you have taught us.