Sunday, December 23, 2007
Offered by Joyce Shin, Associate Pastor

In all things, God, you work in wondrous ways. Everywhere we see signs of your life-giving, redeeming, and re-creating gifts to the world, and we are amazed.

We know that, on our own, we are unworthy to be recipients of these gifts, and yet you entrust us again and again with that which you hold most dear.

You have entrusted us with the care of your Son.

Who are we to care for your Son? We struggle so much with the responsibilities of stewardship. You have put us in charge of your creation, all things great and small, and yet we are more concerned with consuming what is good than we are with caring for it.

Help us, God, to put things in right order. As we await the coming of your Son, year after year, help us to prepare a home for Christ that is warm with love, well lit with joy, and secure in faith. Help us to create a society that protects the most vulnerable, our children, and provides the things they need to grow most fully into your glorious image. Help us to clean up the earth so that it can continue to be a life-giving dwelling place for persons everywhere and for generations to come.

You have entrusted us with the care of your gospel.

Who are we to carry out the ministry of Christ? We do not understand how the life of one person could change the world so thoroughly, could transform every heart it touches, could create a new heaven and a new earth. But we have heard the gospel of your Son, witnessed it in daily life, and have been moved by what we have heard and seen.
Empower us, God, that we might spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, not only spoken but sung with joy; not only sung but lived out with spirit.

We do not know why you have entrusted us with your wondrous works. We will never know. We are simply grateful that you are faithful to us, loving us, believing in us, and trusting us, risking everything for us.

In the name of your Son, for whom we wait, we pray the prayer he taught us: Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church