Sunday, September 28, 2008
Offered by Calum I. MacLeod, Acting Executive Associate Pastor

The headlines are ominous, the markets are nervous . . .
“Do not worry about tomorrow,” says Jesus.
Credit is crunched and mortgages are tight . . .
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain,” says the psalmist.
We worry about our stocks and shares, our IRAs, our 401(k)s . . .
“Look not to your own interests but to the interests of others,” says Paul.

So we gather here in this place on this Lord’s Day
not to escape from the exigencies of the world,
but to hear your Word in scripture, O God,
to encounter your Word in the living Spirit of Jesus Christ,
to live your Word as a gospel people gathered, called,
and sent—sent to bring hope and love and life to a world of hurt and fear and pain.

We give thanks for the gospel, which comforts and challenges us,
for community that nurtures and sustains us,
for Jesus Christ, our guide, our hero, our friend.

And it is because of our thanksgiving that we pray this day,
for you are the one who creates, provides, and sustains the world you love.

Yes, we pray for those who find themselves powerless
in the face of the current economic crisis;
but we pray too for those for whom economic crisis is a daily reality;
for the poorest and homeless, the hungry and helpless;
for those for whom a bailout is a meal, a job, an education, a hospital appointment.
Yes, we pray for people whose lives are turned upside down because the banks are struggling,
and we pray for those whose lives are turned upside down
because of war and hatred and bigotry and oppression.
And in the midst of it all, we offer prayers for ordinary concerns:
for those who are sad and lonely,
for sick people whose bodies struggle and whose mental conditions bring complexity.
Hear our prayer for the dying and the mourning
and for those we know personally whose concerns we offer up to you now in silence.
“Do not worry,” says the Lord; “I am with you till end of the world.”

Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church