Sunday, April 10, 2011
Offered by Calum I. MacLeod, Executive Associate Pastor

O God, our good and gracious shepherd,
who catches us and saves us
with the surprising, irresistible gift of grace,
we give you thanks for how we see your grace
living and acting in our world and in our lives;
how we know your loving Spirit
in the astonishing sunrise of wonder:
the wonder of warm mornings and the promise of spring;
the wonder of the potential of life,
growing into fullness of life lived;
the wonder of life lived
leading us to the promise of life eternal,
rooted and grounded in our Lord and life-giver, Jesus Christ.

You call us to participate in the life you offer to the world, O God,
and as partners in the new order of life you have brought,
we pray for the world and your church,
that you would strengthen us and guide us.
May we live into a life of empathy,
ordering our lives according to your command
to treat the other as we would wish to be treated.
Open our hearts to respond to those who suffer;
open our ears to hear the cry of the oppressed and fearful.

We pray for the world in all its beauty and brokenness.
Let peace break out into the places of war,
hope insert itself into the places of desolation,
life assert its dominion over death.

We pray for the church
in all its names and all its places;
for its continuing usefulness
as a channel of grace and hope;
for its rescue from pretentiousness and pomposity
and from taking some things
more seriously than is healthy.

We commend to you our families and friends, Lord:
those who are happy and those who know sadness or fear.
Bless the sick with hope and healing,
comfort those who are close to death with the promise of your undying love,
Hear now, in silence, the deepest prayers in all of our hearts.

Strengthen us, O God, in the days of this coming week,
to show forth the wonder of your love and grace.

Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church