Sunday, May 18, 2008
Offered by John W. Vest, Associate Pastor

As we come to prayer, we are mindful of this day being Confirmation Sunday. It is also Dedication Commemoration Sunday here at Fourth Presbyterian Church. Beginning with this building’s dedication on the third Sunday in May 1914, under the leadership of Pastor Dr. John Timothy Stone, the congregation continues to annually remember that occasion and give thanks.

Gracious God of our whole lives,
we give you thanks this morning
for gifts of love and grace
that span the entirety of our experience.
We thank you for the wonders of creation
and this beautiful world you have entrusted to our care.
We thank you for new life
and for loving families
and for faithful friends.
We thank you for your love that binds us all together;
help us to share that love with others,
even as we are loved so wonderfully by you.
Lord of compassion, be with those who are sick and dying
and those who care for them.
Help them to feel your presence in their lives,
and may they experience the comfort and peace
that only you can bring.
Faithful God, we celebrate lives that have come to an end,
and we rejoice in the hope of eternal life
we have in Christ Jesus.
In life and in death and in everything in between,
our lives are full of transitions, God,
changes and passages,
beginnings and ends,
new journeys and continuing adventures.
This morning, God, as we mark another year of ministry in this sacred space,
we thank you for a new generation of this congregation,
faithful youth who boldly proclaim their faith in words and in actions,
standing before this congregation
to answer your call in their hearts.
Almighty God, continue to bless them with your grace,
and as this congregation is born anew
by their entrance into this fold,
may your church be strengthened by their presence,
that all of us may proclaim with boldness,
in word and in deed,
the good news of Jesus Christ.
Even now, dear God, we who are gathered here this morning
join our voices together in prayer,
following our teacher and our friend
in these simple yet life-changing words:

Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church