Thursday, November 6, 2014

Most weeks, my prayers relate to the gospel for the day or another key reading. The prayers for this week related more specifically to our congregation and our 125th anniversary celebration.

Litany of Thanksgiving:

Leader: God, you have been our dwelling place for all of our generations
People: and we rejoice in you.  
Leader: We lift our thoughts, voices and hands to you,
People: and give you all of our praise.
Leader: You have been our source of new life:
People: calling together those who formed this congregation,
Leader: staying with our predecessors through conflict and turmoil,
People: walking with them through the fire,
Leader: giving hope in the midst of loss,
People: enabling sacrifice and generosity,
Leader: providing wise and dedicated leadership,
People: generating new vision, and instilling love.
Leader: We acknowledge your faithfulness to your people Israel, to the church of 
            Jesus Christ throughout the ages, to our predecessors at St. Nicolai, and 
            to us.
People: We rejoice in you!
Leader: We acknowledge that you have given us many good partners or our 
            journey.
People: We praise you with joy!
Leader: We acknowledge that everything good that we have experienced has 
            been your gift to us.
People: We thank you with hearts full of gratitude!
Leader: We acknowledge that you are continuously surprising us by your 
            goodness to us.
People: We celebrate your unfailing love!
Leader: We acknowledge that you are the one who brings new life among us 
            in many forms.
People: Though many of us are growing old, you still enable us to soar 
            like eagles, to run without growing weary, and to walk without 
            growing faint.
All:       All of our rejoicing, all of our praise, and all of our thanksgiving 
            are for you, God, our Creator and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Prayer for Healing:

Leader: God of mercy, show your healing power among us.
People: Heal our bodies of every sickness.
Leader: Heal those who mourn
People: Particularly the family of our sister, Edith Snyder, who was buried 
            Thursday.
Leader: Heal our hearts whether they have been wounded by love or hatred.
People: Heal every broken relationship that we endure with pain and 
            bitterness.
Leader: Heal the hurts that we have done to each other.
People: Enable us to repent of the injuries we have caused.
Leader: Enable us to forgive those who have injured us.
People: Heals any hurts that exist between us and our guest 
            congregations.
Leader: Heal the hurts that keep rising up out of our past.
People: Heal our relationship with the Chicago Metropolitan Association 
            and the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Leader: God, we long to live fully in the liberation and peace that you desire for 
            us.
People: Let your healing Spirit move among us!  Amen.

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