Prayer for January 26 – February 1, 2014 

Sermon Text: Matthew 4:12-13

That we might recruit others to share the work of Christ’s just and peaceful reign

God, our Sovereign, we rejoice that You sent Jesus as Agent and Bearer of your reign of peace.  We rejoice that he brought light to those who lived in chaos and confusion—including us.  We rejoice that his call to repentance was an invitation to new life that counters other models of life based on domination and exploitation.  We rejoice that at his command, some rose and followed after him and became his disciples and recruiters of others who would follow with them.

From the scriptures, we know that they had little comprehension about what they were in for when they dropped everything to follow Jesus.  Many of us have been more hesitant to follow, and, like those first disciples, we have been slow to comprehend where Jesus is leading us and what Jesus asks of us.  

As we follow in obedience, give us deeper understanding of who we are and what we are called to do as Jesus’ followers.  Enable us to draw others to follow Jesus and share in the work of his just and peaceful reign that is already present, but often hidden from our sight.  Amen.

Each year, the United Church of Christ observes a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from January 18-25.  This prayer was written for worship at St. Nicolai UCC on January 23, 2007

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-6

God of wonder and love we rejoice in you!  We come to you in humility, for we know that all of our hope is in you, and yet our lives fall short of your desire for holiness, justice and unity.

Although you have created the foundation of our unity with all Christians through Jesus Christ, we do not seek unity with each other in consistent and committed ways.  In spite of the gospel message that Jesus has broken down the dividing wall of hostility that separated Jews and Gentiles, your church consistently erects new walls of hostility.  In spite of your desire to reconcile all things in Christ Jesus, we refuse to be reconciled to each other.  Even though your word reminds us that the church is one body, your people fragment the body in order to limit communion with one another. 

Forgive us for our lack of understanding, patience and forgiveness.  Forgive us for undermining your mission of love in the world. 

Enable us to experience greater unity with Christians in our local    community and those who are part of other communities.  Energize us with a love that is not easily diverted or defeated and that builds securely on the foundation of unity that you have created.  Amen.

                    

Each year, from January 18-25, the United Church of Christ observes a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  This prayer was used for worship at St. Nicolai UCC on January 20, 2006.

Scripture: Colossians 1:15-23

God of glory, God of love, God of unity, God of mystery, we rejoice in you!  You, who desire unity for all of creation, and whose experience of unity, at the heart of your own being, provides the foundation for our unity, we rejoice in your holy name! 

You, who have visited us, in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, Model, Lord and Friend, we rejoice in the intensity of your passionate love for us!  You, who place your own Spirit within us, we rejoice in your nearness!  You, who have called us together as one body, we rejoice that you have created us for each other!  You, who have given us faith to face many challenges in quiet confidence, we rejoice that you have shown your faithfulness!  You, who have claimed and cleansed us through the waters of baptism, we rejoice in your renewing work within us!  You, who give us hope for a future that is beyond our imagination, beyond our contrivance and control, we rejoice in the vision and the energy that you give us to live into the future that you are creating!  Amen.

              

Each year the United Church of Christ observes a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from January 18-25.  This prayer was written for use at St. Nicolai UCC on January 23, 2007.

I've added two words to the original: "and practice."

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7-12

O God, our God, we rejoice in your wisdom and care.  You have called us together, as your community, and made us one, even though we did not previously know each other and did not know your plans for us.  You have called us to lives of prayerful discipline and have enabled us to love each other in ways that have exceeded our prior expectations.  Through the love we share together, you have deepened our experience and practice of forgiveness.  

Through the generosity of your Spirit, you have given us many gifts of service.  These gifts demonstrate your great creativity even while they enable us to serve each other in ways that comfort, nurture, challenge and strengthen each other.  Help us to discern and identify your gifts in ways that allow every person to contribute to the strength of a unified body.

May you be glorified by our life together and by our participation in the worldwide fellowship of Jesus Christ.  We pray in anticipation of your continuing provision and presence.  Amen.

                    

  

The United Church of Christ observes a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, each year, from January 18-25.  This prayer was written for worship at St. Nicolai UCC on January 18, 2004.

As I reread this, I was surprised to remember my use of "tenacious hope" as a characteristic of God.  Any thoughts about this?

Scripture: Psalm 133

Holy and Living God, God of many names and many covenants, we address you, like our ancestors did, as one God.  We worship you with joy.  We sit in awe, because in the mystery of your being diversity is expressed in perfect unity and love. 

You who are One desire unity for all of your creation.  And you have acted in tenacious hope through your Living Word and Energizing Spirit to reconcile all things. 

We rejoice for the various ways that we have experienced your unifying presence: when we have sensed your welcoming nearness enfolding us in the sure grip of a love that calms our fears; when we have felt the wholeness and integrity of our own personhood and have been able to act with courage and vulnerability; when we have known and offered the care of brothers and sisters in the baptized community that feeds upon your word; and when we have experienced delight in the complex interactions of a creation that teems with life and overflows with beauty. 

You who are One, though our unity often seems fragile, we rejoice that you never give up and that you are constantly working to bring your desire for unity to fullness among us.  Amen.

The United Church of Christ observes a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, each year, from January 18-25.  I wrote this prayer for worship at St. Nicolai UCC for January 21, 2005.

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:8-12

God, we want to live in harmony with your people everywhere.  But we are reluctant too.  We want our lives to go smoothly, even if others have it rough.  We want safety and security, even though others are in danger.  We want to hold on to all that we claim as ours, even if others may need it as much or more than we do.  So often it seems that our wants and needs, our fantasies and fears get in the way of welcoming others into full fellowship as sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus.

Help us guard our speech so that our words do not cause injury.  Let words of blessing pour from our lips and enrich the lives of others.  God, help us let go of our fears.  Help us to let go of our pride that is so easily offended.  Help us to seek peace, as a daily practice, even when doing so seems to challenge us beyond the limits of our abilities.  Help us respond with compassion and sympathy even toward those whom we have perceived as enemies.

We rejoice in the parting gift of peace that Jesus promised his followers.  We rejoice that you give peace that passes understanding.  We rejoice that you have broken down barriers between peoples in order to make peace possible on a grand scale.  You have laid all the foundation for peace.  Now let peace come to fruition among us as we dedicate ourselves to making peace.  We implore you in the name of your Beloved Peacemaker, Jesus.  Amen.

The United Church of Christ observes a "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" from January 18-25 each year.  This prayer was written for Sunday worship at St. Nicolai United Church of Christ on January 19, 2014.

This is a prayer of thanksgiving, but reading it also reminds me of the huge gap in our experience and Christ's desire for our unity.

Some of the scriptures behind this prayer: 2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 1:15-20; Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:1-7; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Acts 2:42-47; John 3:16.

God our Maker, we rejoice that you have made us anew in Jesus Christ, even as you are renewing and uniting all of creation in Christ.  We rejoice that when you renewed our lives in Christ, you inextricably linked us to each other, to be your people of bold, loving action in the world.

Thank you for creating a sure foundation for unity through the self-giving love of Jesus and by the generous outpouring of your Holy Spirit who is constantly present with us.  Thank you for giving us diverse gifts that are energized by your Spirit so we may nurture each other, grow in faithful unity by mutual acts of service, and act in healing, liberating, peacemaking ways in your world.

Thank you for calling us together to learn from the instruction of prophets and apostles, to share bread and wine as effective signs of our life together in Christ, to pray without ceasing for each other and for the world you have loved at great cost, and to share the resources you have given us with hearts full of gratitude and generosity. 

We thank you for making us one and trust that your wisdom and your gifts will enable a more complete expression of unity among us.  Amen.

Prayer for January 19-25, 2014 

Scripture text: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

That we might use all of your gifts for your glory

God, we rejoice that You have set us apart and enabled us to grow deep in your grace through Jesus Christ.

We thank You that You call us your holy people as we find our identity in Christ.

We praise You for the abundance of your grace that has enriched us in every way, including in varieties of speech and knowledge, that we may say what You direct us to say, and know what your Spirit reveals to us.

We rejoice that You have confirmed the truth of the Good News of Christ Jesus, in many ways, in and among us, so that our lives may reflect the new reality that You are creating.

We thank You that You have given us every gift we need for our time of waiting for Christ’s return, so we may worship, witness, serve and live together in the knowledge that Christ reigns now.

We praise You for enabling  us to stand firm when our faith might waver and wither, or when we tend to become the obstacle that blocks our own way.

We rejoice that You make us blameless through our identity with Christ and that You enable us to live our faith in more effective ways.

We thank You for being eternally faithful and trustworthy.  

All praise and glory to You, God of all creation, and our God.  Amen.

The United Church of Christ observes a "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity," each year, from January 18-25. This prayer was written for a "Service of Scripture and Prayer for Christian Unity" at St. Nicolai UCC, today, January 19, 2014.  As you can see, it is a responsive prayer, but I believe you will find it useful read alone, especially if you read it out loud.

Prayer of Confession:

Leader: God of all, in spite of Jesus’ prayer that his followers would be one,

All:       We resist.

Leader: In spite of your desire to unite all of creation in Christ Jesus.

All:       We resist.

Leader: In spite of the perfect foundation you have created for our unity.

All:       We resist.

Leader: In spite of the many spiritual gifts you have given so we may

            nurture unity.

All:       We resist.

Leader: In spite of the powerful example of unity lived out in the days after

            Pentecost.

All        We resist.

All:       Forgive us for resisting the unity that you desire for us and that

            you have already created among us.

Leader: Forgive us for resisting unity with those who read scripture in

            alternative ways;

People: those whose theology does not fully mesh with our own;

Leader: those whose practice of faith seems odd to us;

People: those whose worship is more exuberant or restrained than our

            own;

Leader: those whose politics clashes with ours.

People: Prod us past every obstacle and excuse that we use to block

            communion with others whom you have chosen as your own 

            and given to us as sisters and brothers.  Amen.

The United Church of Christ observes a "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" from January 18-25 each year.  Here is a prayer I wrote for worship at St. Nicolai for January 20, 2006.

Scripture: John 17:20-26

     God of love, who expresses and experiences unity in the heart of your own being, we confess that we lack the passion for unity that you demonstrated through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, through whom you have reconciled all things. 

     The full expression of the unity you desire has not been achieved in our lives or in the world around us.  And, we find that we are often resistant to a full expression of unity, even with brothers and sisters who have experienced your life-changing generosity and seek to live in intimacy with you. 

     Forgive us when we assume that only we, and others like us, have a clear grasp of what you desire from us.  Forgive us when we define others as outside of the scope of your care.  Forgive us when we erect barriers to unity with people who seem different or somehow unacceptable to us.  Forgive us when we let our individual preferences take priority over your challenging call upon our lives. 

     Root out any obstacles to unity that lie within our individual hearts and in the experiences and practices of this congregation.  Take our hands and lead us toward the fullness of the unity that you desire for all people and all of creation.  Give us courage for obedience to your desire and for acceptance of your provision for unity.  Amen.

                                                                  

Prayer for January 12-18, 2014 

Sermon Text: Matthew 3:13-17

That your generous love will overflow from our lives

God of all creation, we wonder and rejoice in your revelation of yourself in Jesus the Messiah.  We rejoice that Jesus did not remain aloof from the problems and sufferings that sin created among your chosen ones, but identified fully with them, and acted in solidarity with them by entering and being submerged in the water of baptism.

We do not fully comprehend what happened there.  We do not know how Jesus could identify with your people in their sin—with us in our sin—but we trust that he did.

We believe the testimony that your Spirit came upon him and remained within him to direct and empower his entire earthly ministry.  We believe the testimony that You, our God, identified Jesus as your pleasing and well-loved Son, believe that every act of his ministry was an overflow of your love that brought healing, liberation, joy and peace.  

God of all, we rejoice that in Jesus you are with us even now, allowing your generous love to overflow in our lives.  Amen.

Prayer for January 5-11, 2014 

Sermon Text: (John 1:1-18)

That we may cling to Jesus in delight

O God, how often have we closed our eyes or turned aside from the light that You have shone upon us in Christ Jesus, your Living Word?  How often we have plunged headlong into confusion!

How often have we refused and turned aside from the true life that Christ Jesus creates and offers as your Emissary?  How often we have condemned ourselves to lingering death!

     Pry our eyes open!

     Enable us to see the truth about ourselves.

     Enable us to see the truth about You.

     Strengthen our hands!

     Enable us to cling to Jesus in loving delight.

     Enable us to grasp the life and freedom Jesus offers.

You have poured your gifts upon us in abundance!  You have given your gifts by showing yourself to us.  We offer You our deepest thanks!  We sing your endless praise.  We walk with You each day.  Amen.