Prayer for January 25-31, 2015

Sermon Text: Mark 1:14-20

Christ Jesus, we rejoice that You have walked into our lives, preaching the good news of God’s nearness and commanding repentance and belief through the voices of many who have answered your call to follow.

We rejoice that You have enabled us to follow You – some “at once” and others after more prolonged exposure to your presence and your word.

We rejoice that You have enabled us to change our minds, to turn from selfish and narrow pursuits, in order to serve the broad vision of God’s saving and healing reign.

We rejoice that You have enabled us to believe that You are the One in and through whom God has made God’s own self known, and to live our belief by following You and learning from You in glad obedience.  

We rejoice that You empower us to invite others into this journey of repentance and belief in You.  Let love and joy overflow our lives so that others hear your call, look to You, experience your transforming love, and follow You with gladness.  Amen.

Prayer for January 18-24, 2015

Sermon Texts: Philippians 2:1-11, Romans 15:1-9a, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, 1 Peter 3:8-12

Prayer of Thanksgiving

God of compassion and mercy, we rejoice in you!

            You enable us

·        to accept each other so that you will be praised,

·        to bear with each other in our various weaknesses,

·        to abandon deceitful ways and speech,

·        to return good for evil and blessing for insult,

·        to move beyond selfishness and conceit in order to 

          value others and their interests,

·        to be sympathetic and compassionate toward one 

          another,

·        to assist and strengthen each other,

·        to serve one another as Jesus served each of us,

·        to love each other in humility,

·        to pursue peace together,

·        and to experience full healing and restoration of our 

          individual and corporate lives in unity with you.

You keep us from being distracted by allegiance to specific leaders when that allegiance distracts us from full devotion to Jesus Christ.

You encourage and give us endurance for practicing unity that is always more difficult than we can achieve by our own resources. 

We rejoice that by your grand design we are one with each other as we are one with you through Christ Jesus our Savior.  You are worthy of all the thanks and praise that we can offer.  Amen.

Prayer for January 18-25, 2015

Prayer of Confession:

Pastor: God of all people, we confess that most of the time we are not much

             inclined to seek unity with one another.  We do not want to be one

             in mind and spirit

All:        if it means giving up the illusion of autonomy. 

Pastor: We do not want to be one in mind and spirit

All:        if it means that we must submit to one another in love. 

Pastor: We do not want to be one in mind and spirit

All:        if it means placing the needs and values of others before our

            own. 

Pastor: We do not want to be one in mind and spirit

All:        if it means abandoning some of our pet projects or opinions. 

Pastor: We do not want to be one in mind and spirit

All:        if it means emptying ourselves in order to serve one another.

Pastor: God of all, you have made us one in Christ Jesus,

All:        but we resist the unity you have created as the very foundation

             of our experience.

Pastor: We choose distraction, dissolution, and division

All:        over the goodness and beauty of living together in unity.

Pastor: We harden our hearts against each other

All:        even as we harden them against your desire for us.

Pastor: Forgive us.

All:        Forgive us!

Pastor: Make the transformation among us

All:        that we have been unable to make for ourselves,

Pastor: so that we may live the reality of unity  

All:        that you have already achieved through Christ Jesus.  Amen.

PRAYER FOR JANUARY 11-17, 2015

Sermon Text: Mark 1:4-11

That we may follow Jesus in bold witness and humble service

God of mercy, we rejoice in You!  We rejoice that You sent John the Baptizer to call your people to repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  We rejoice that many heard him and welcomed his message of the greater One who would come to baptize, with the Holy Spirit, in fulfillment of your covenant promise.

We rejoice that Jesus came and that he acted in full solidarity with your covenant people.  We rejoice that he submitted himself in humility and obedience to the word from You that he heard from the lips of John.  We rejoice that in this way he prepared himself thoroughly for your presence and for his role as your Living Word and Suffering Servant.

And we rejoice, O God, that You acknowledged and affirmed your Chosen One, your Beloved Child, by declaring that You were pleased with him and by placing your Spirit within him.

We have heard your judgment upon our sins and your call to forgiveness.  We have been baptized into the name of Jesus.  Because of Jesus’action on our behalf, we have received your Spirit.  

Let us follow Jesus in bold witness to your unfailing mercy, and in humble service of the world You love.  Amen.     

Prayer for January 4-10, 2015

Sermon Text: John 1:1-18

O Christ Jesus, we rejoice in You as

                    Living Word

                    True God

                    Creator of All Things

                    Light of All People

                    Life of Humankind.

We rejoice that You entered your own creation and came to your own people.

We regret that we have often failed to recognize and receive You, and pray that You will forgive us for our foolish and stubborn resistance.

We rejoice that You have enabled us to receive You, to believe in your name, and to live as children of God.  Help us to be more consistent and joyful in the life of faith that You have enabled.

Thank You for revealing God’s glory to us and for showing us God’s grace and truth.  Thank You for flooding our lives with God’s grace and helping us to walk in truth.  

You have made God known to us.  So we rejoice and commit our fidelity to God, as your followers, who trust in the aid of your Holy Spirit.  Amen.