Watchword for the Week:God says, "I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations." Genesis 17:7
Incline your ear to the Lord and come to him.
Listen that you may live.
We will seek the Lord while he may be found.
We will call upon him while he is near.
From the beginning of time God has been in covenant with humanity promising to be our God and to always bring us home.
We rejoice in God’s never ending faithfulness to that covenant.
Psalm 22:23-31
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
28 For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. 29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,
31 and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.
Confession of Sin
Lord Jesus, we come before you in humble confession. Help us to conform our lives to you as the model for holy and righteous living.
(Adapted from the Liturgy for Lent I)
Forgive us Lord
For the sin of unbelief. (pause)
Forgive us Lord
From the misuse of our body and spirit. (pause)
Forgive us Lord
From all self-righteousness. (pause)
Forgive us Lord
From the neglect of our covenants. (pause)
Forgive us Lord
From ingratitude and selfishness. (pause)
Forgive us Lord
From lukewarmness. (pause)
Forgive us Lord
From all indifference to your meritorious life and death. (pause)
"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Joel 2:12-12
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and every shall be, world without end, AMEN.
Reading of the Daily Texts
Take time now to pray for the needs of the world, your neighbors, fellow church members, your family, and yourself.
As you taught your disciples to pray, so we pray together:
Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name.Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins,as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and for ever. Amen
Our God is faithful and just. In the person of Jesus Christ, God continues his covenant of love and grace.
It is through the sacrifice of the Son that the promises of God are fulfilled.
(Adapted from the Liturgy for Lent I)
Gracious Savior, by your holy incarnation and birth,
Bless us and comfort us, gracious Lord and God.
By your pure and blameless childhood,
Bless us and comfort us, gracious Lord and God.
By your willing obedience,
Bless us and comfort us, gracious Lord and God.
By your humility, meekness, and patience,
Bless us and comfort us, gracious Lord and God.
By your faithfulness in your earthly calling,
Bless us and comfort us, gracious Lord and God.
By your fasting and temptation,
Bless us and comfort us, gracious Lord and God.
By your perfect life before God and humanity,
Bless us and comfort us, gracious Lord and God.
By your tears and agony, your crown of thorns and cross,
Lead us to repentance of our sins.
By your willing sacrifice of yourself even unto death,
Make known to us the mystery of your love.
Into your open arms stretched out upon the cross,
Receive us all.
You have made God known to us, so that the love with which he has loved you may be in us,
And you in us.
Christ, and him crucified,
Remain our confession of faith. Amen.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
First Week in Lent
Mid-Day Prayers
For the 1st Week in Lent
Watchword for the Week:
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8
In this Lenten season, Loving God, you call us to a time of reflection and contemplation.
This is a time to ponder where our wandering steps have separated us from you.
This is a time to consider all of who we are, and where you want us to be.
This is a time to establish a proper relationship with you.
O Lord, we so want to be upright in heart.
May your comforting spirit allow us to unburden our souls.
Psalm 25:1-10
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
6 Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
Confession of Sin
If we confess our sins God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In full assurance of faith, let us confess our sins.
Gracious God, this season of Holy Lent calls us home to you. As we have wandered in our spiritual lives we now hear your invitation to return to you. As such Lent challenges us to look within ourselves and examine the priorities in our lives, as well as the ways in which those priorities have influenced our choices. Loving God, we easily see that our ways are not your ways, and for that we are sorry, and we seek to repent. Your ways are loving and gracious, yet we nurse selfish attitudes and practice only a selective distribution of grace. Forgive us for the ways in which we have put up barriers between you and us, and have tried to keep you from looking deep into our hearts. We have done this by refusing to take a look at ourselves for fear of what we might find. Help us to know that our return to you is also a return to our true selves. We trust, O Lord, in your steadfast love.
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.Friends, believe the good news of the Gospel.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. AMEN.
Reading of the Daily Texts
Prayers of the Community of Faith (spoken and silent)
Let us pray together:
Creator of all humanity, we call you Holy, and seek to worship you all the days of our lives. We pray that the ways of your heavenly kingdom may be made real in the world that surrounds us. May the bread that we need for today be made available for us and all who are hungry; and may you forgive us, just as we are able to forgive those who have sinned against us. In the time of moral testing, may we listen first for your voice calling to us. This world, and all that is in it, always has been and always will be yours, help us to lose ourselves to you and your kingdom. Help us to find who we truly are as we walk in your light. Amen.
Throughout this Lenten journey, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
We thank you, Lord Jesus, not only for the privilege of believing in you, but of suffering for you as well, so that we may also be glorified with you.
Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since as members of the body we were called to peace. And let us be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. Whatever we do, therefore, whether in word or deed, let us do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Amen.
For the 1st Week in Lent
Watchword for the Week:
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8
In this Lenten season, Loving God, you call us to a time of reflection and contemplation.
This is a time to ponder where our wandering steps have separated us from you.
This is a time to consider all of who we are, and where you want us to be.
This is a time to establish a proper relationship with you.
O Lord, we so want to be upright in heart.
May your comforting spirit allow us to unburden our souls.
Psalm 25:1-10
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
6 Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
Confession of Sin
If we confess our sins God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In full assurance of faith, let us confess our sins.
Gracious God, this season of Holy Lent calls us home to you. As we have wandered in our spiritual lives we now hear your invitation to return to you. As such Lent challenges us to look within ourselves and examine the priorities in our lives, as well as the ways in which those priorities have influenced our choices. Loving God, we easily see that our ways are not your ways, and for that we are sorry, and we seek to repent. Your ways are loving and gracious, yet we nurse selfish attitudes and practice only a selective distribution of grace. Forgive us for the ways in which we have put up barriers between you and us, and have tried to keep you from looking deep into our hearts. We have done this by refusing to take a look at ourselves for fear of what we might find. Help us to know that our return to you is also a return to our true selves. We trust, O Lord, in your steadfast love.
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow, and courage to continue the journey.Friends, believe the good news of the Gospel.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. AMEN.
Reading of the Daily Texts
Prayers of the Community of Faith (spoken and silent)
Let us pray together:
Creator of all humanity, we call you Holy, and seek to worship you all the days of our lives. We pray that the ways of your heavenly kingdom may be made real in the world that surrounds us. May the bread that we need for today be made available for us and all who are hungry; and may you forgive us, just as we are able to forgive those who have sinned against us. In the time of moral testing, may we listen first for your voice calling to us. This world, and all that is in it, always has been and always will be yours, help us to lose ourselves to you and your kingdom. Help us to find who we truly are as we walk in your light. Amen.
Throughout this Lenten journey, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
We thank you, Lord Jesus, not only for the privilege of believing in you, but of suffering for you as well, so that we may also be glorified with you.
Let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since as members of the body we were called to peace. And let us be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. Whatever we do, therefore, whether in word or deed, let us do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Amen.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Watchword for the Week:
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as servants for Jesus' sake. 2 Corinthians 4:5
We praise you, O God; we acknowledge you to be the Lord.
All the earth worships you, the Father everlasting.
To you all angels cry aloud; the heavens, and all of the powers in them.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Psalm 50:1-6
1 The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!"
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.
Confession of Sin
New life is only possible when we bring to the cross those parts of our existing lives that need healing and transformation. Together then, let us confess our sins.
We are deeply moved gracious God that you would welcome us to your throne of grace. With humility we gather to praise and adore you. We ask now that you hear us as we pray.
Forgive us Lord:
· For the times when we forget to proclaim you as Lord with our lives.
· For the times when we feel that our personal well being and comfort are more important than the proclamation of your Gospel.
· For the times we have assumed that the Church is here to serve us.
· For the times when we take the weight of the world upon our shoulders, thinking that we are the sacrificial lamb needed to save it.
· For the times when we feel that our answers are the only ones that will solve the problem at hand.
Awaken us to know that it is your wisdom that is most needed, not ours. Make us aware that it is your sacrifice that saves the world, not ours. Help us to proclaim the Gospel of grace though all that we do and say.
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow and courage to continue the journey.Friends, believe the good news of the Gospel.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. AMEN.
Reading of the Daily Texts
Prayers of the Community of Faith (spoken and silent)
Let us affirm the faith that we seek to proclaim:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
How shall we live in response to our faith?
We will seek to have our lives reflect God’s love for us and for the world.
Our God is merciful, gracious, faithful, and righteous.
May these attributes be found in our words and actions.
God sent Jesus Christ into the world not to condemn it, but to save it.
And we are thankful for Christ’s love for all humankind.
Jesus said: Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.
Empower us, Holy Spirit, to take up this mission today.
As we do so, may the Grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be and abide with us now and forever more. AMEN.
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as servants for Jesus' sake. 2 Corinthians 4:5
We praise you, O God; we acknowledge you to be the Lord.
All the earth worships you, the Father everlasting.
To you all angels cry aloud; the heavens, and all of the powers in them.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Psalm 50:1-6
1 The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!"
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.
Confession of Sin
New life is only possible when we bring to the cross those parts of our existing lives that need healing and transformation. Together then, let us confess our sins.
We are deeply moved gracious God that you would welcome us to your throne of grace. With humility we gather to praise and adore you. We ask now that you hear us as we pray.
Forgive us Lord:
· For the times when we forget to proclaim you as Lord with our lives.
· For the times when we feel that our personal well being and comfort are more important than the proclamation of your Gospel.
· For the times we have assumed that the Church is here to serve us.
· For the times when we take the weight of the world upon our shoulders, thinking that we are the sacrificial lamb needed to save it.
· For the times when we feel that our answers are the only ones that will solve the problem at hand.
Awaken us to know that it is your wisdom that is most needed, not ours. Make us aware that it is your sacrifice that saves the world, not ours. Help us to proclaim the Gospel of grace though all that we do and say.
The good news in Christ is that when we face ourselves and God with the awareness of our need, we are given grace to grow and courage to continue the journey.Friends, believe the good news of the Gospel.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. AMEN.
Reading of the Daily Texts
Prayers of the Community of Faith (spoken and silent)
Let us affirm the faith that we seek to proclaim:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
How shall we live in response to our faith?
We will seek to have our lives reflect God’s love for us and for the world.
Our God is merciful, gracious, faithful, and righteous.
May these attributes be found in our words and actions.
God sent Jesus Christ into the world not to condemn it, but to save it.
And we are thankful for Christ’s love for all humankind.
Jesus said: Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.
Empower us, Holy Spirit, to take up this mission today.
As we do so, may the Grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be and abide with us now and forever more. AMEN.
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