On to the service for tomorrow ....
Tomorrow is the third week of Advent. The sermon title is "The Anticipation of Lions". I have been looking at King Herod a good bit this week and his reaction to the news that a new "King of the Jews" might have arrived in Palestine. The Magi were a harbinger of good news gone bad (in Herod's hands).The pastoral prayer returns this week, thanks to Bob Hall. He has generously allowed me to preview his 11am prayer and what I received freely I pass on to you.
Prayers of the Church for Grandview
14 December 2008
14 December 2008
Loving God, we come before You full of anticipation…anticipation of this child, who has been born the King of the Jews. We are full of anticipation for the prince of peace whose star the wise men observed at its rising. We are full of anticipation for the Son of Man whose incarnation did not involve the subtraction of deity, but the addition of humanity. We are filled with joy as we prepare for the coming of the Christ-child, the child to whom the wise men presented their gifts.
But what can we offer You, dear God….what could we have that You would want? We obey Your Word and offer You our love, our adoration, our obedience, our service to Your people, to the least of these.
We come before You Lord, with anticipation of better lives…better lives rooted in the Good News…better lives directed toward others and not ourselves…better lives focused on the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We love You, Father.
We look ahead with anticipation to the arrival of the Baby Jesus, the little holy one, so meek and mild, so perfect in his plain settings….God incarnate, yet fully human. We adore You, Father.
We brighten up in anticipation of Your blessings, blessings not of worldly riches, but spiritual gifts…wisdom, discernment, empathy, love. We honor You, Father.
We anticipate the 2nd coming, our reuniting with You in perfection known only because of Your grace. We long to hear You breathe the words “well done, good and faithful servant”; we relish the thought of Your delighting in us and with us. We lay our lives down before You, Father.
Use us.
Use us to bless our enemies…to remove the barriers that keep them from knowing You, from experiencing Your grace.
And now, in the silence, our prayers turn to a multitude of different thoughts from sadness to joy, from conflict to peace, from trouble to calm:
We pray Your blessings on our missionaries, Your emissaries in foreign lands. Bless the Coleys, the Freelands, the Headens, the Hillmans, the Nyadors, the Veals, and the Orths. Refresh the McDades in their time with us. We also remember before You the Jacksons and the Colemans as You prepare then to follow Your call.
And now we pray together as Jesus taught us to pray:
3 comments:
I appreciate the video especially as we continue to search for a church home here in Dayton. Even as experienced "coffee drinkers" we have often felt the same way as visitors. Sad, but true. Thanks for sharing!
The funny thing is I was at a church this morning and they asked new visitors to stand up--I was the only one who stood up!
They clapped for me! Not sure if it was because I stood up or because I was a visitor.
The irony is that I felt much like this couple the first time I went to Starbucks: everyone had their complicated orders down, the longish lines seemed to preclude asking the 'barista' any questions. I had to be cued to move away from the counter and wait patiently in the throng for by order to be prepared.
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