Sunday, May 15, 2011
Offered by Joyce Shin, Associate Pastor

Almighty God, we are truly in awe of you. We marvel at your mighty acts, which set you apart from us. When we witness all you have created and accomplished, we wonder, what are we to you? And yet you continue to care for us, to love us, to empower us, and to entrust us.

You have entrusted us with the care of your creation. We are to be stewards of the earth and shepherds of your people; we are to treat creation with caution and wonder, gratitude and care. Forgive us, God, for our shortsighted plans and wasteful practices. Forgive us for our slowness to change even when so much is at stake.

You have entrusted us with the task of spreading the gospel. You depend upon us to tell the story of your Son, lest your Son’s life and death, his labor and love, be in vain. Help us to trust that the words we speak will be well received and will take root in peoples’ hearts.

You have entrusted us with the gift of fellowship. It is in the simplest acts of hospitality that we come to know and be known. Help us to make and take time for one another, to give generously and receive openly, to be gentle in our gestures and kind in our deeds.

You have entrusted us, O God, to make difficult decisions. Give us discerning hearts so that we can know the difference between right and wrong, between that which builds up and that which tears down. Make us mindful of all those on whom our decisions will bear, for we want more than anything to be a force for good in this world. When we cannot agree on the right course to take, do all you can, O Lord, to keep us yoked together until that time when, through the working of your Spirit, we can, all of us, rejoice in what you have made possible.

Though you, O Lord, have entrusted us with so much, and though we marvel at it, our trust rests ultimately in you. No other is worthy of the praise we sing and the prayers we make. As your Son taught us, we too pray to you: Our Father . . .

Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church