Sunday morning prayer

Feeding time

/ The Pastor

Feed us O God as you have called us to feed others with your Word.
Comfort us O God as you have called us to comfort others with the Good News.  Speak to us O God as you have called us to speak words of hope.
Heal us O God as you have called us to heal others with your amazing grace.

As we enter this time of worship may our praises be pleasing to your ears and may our hearts be filled to overflowing.  May we leave our worries behind and be strengthened with your promises.  We enter this place to praise you and may we leave this place doing the same.  All glory and honor to you, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

This whole thing about feeding others has been on my heart this week as I reflect on the bombing at the Boston Marathon and the massive fertilizer plant explosion in Texas.  So many questions but only one answer will suffice…God.  I don’t know many of the “whys” of this world but I do know the Good News of God through Jesus Christ.  And sometimes, like a newborn baby, we simply need something as simple as “milk” ~ that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that all who believe in him may not perish but have eternal life.”  So let’s not theologize (Yes…I know that is not a word but I like  it) too much but rather let’s remember the basics.

God loves you!

Have a great and blessed day 🙂

The pastor -|—

EASTER!

/ The Pastor

CHRIST HAS RISEN!

HE HAS RISEN INDEED!

ALLELUIA!

Enough said 🙂

Have a great Easter day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let us pray,
Loving God, through the resurrection of Jesus, you son, you destroyed death and gave hope to the world.  May the words, “He has risen”, speak life to those gathered for worship that they may go out and speak these same words.  Bless those who preach and lead worship.  Bless those who lead music.  Bless those who work behind the scenes.  May you be glorified, may faith be created and/or strengthened and may our worship be pleasing in your sight.  Thank you, O God, for your awesome grace and mercy.  Through Jesus Christ our RISEN Lord and Savior, Amen!

The pastor -|—

Let us rejoice!

/ The Pastor

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it 🙂

Let us pray…

Holy God, we come before you in awe of you awesome love and grace. Mere words do not adequately express what you mean to us.  But we still come here this morning with various concerns and needs.  We come here with anxiety or worry; with illnesses or doubts.  At times we feel caged in and surrounded by the enemy.  But through Jesus you have overcome the world; you have defeated the enemy.  Please give us an overwhelming sense of this promise and instill in our hearts a peace that goes beyond all understanding.  May we know your awesome love and may you show us your amazing grace once again.  Please destroy all selfishness that we bring this morning so we may give you our complete attention; worshiping and praising your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.

We indeed have a great God.  May you be blessed as you worship our holy and awesome God.  May your faith be strengthened through His holy Word.  And may your fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ serve to lift one another up.

May God bless your day.

The pastor -|—

Worship and a baby soon…Come Holy Spirit

/ The Pastor

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Let us pray…

Ever-loving and grace-filled God, You bring us from death to life through Your Son Jesus Christ.  Through the cross you have offered forgiveness.  Strengthen our faith that we may turn away from sin and strive to be perfect as You are perfect.  And…when we fall because of our inability to be perfect in this life, show us compassion through Jesus’ sacrifice and bring healing to our souls. We are deserving of death but You have shown us mercy.  We are deserving of judgment but You have shown us grace.  We are deserving of condemnation but You have shown us love. May we find strength and hope in your unexplainable and incomprehensible love for us, through Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

I have a lot going on today.  Much is on my mind and heart.  A baby girl is due to be born soon; and soon we will be traveling to meet her and hopefully bring her home as our daughter.  It’s hard to not to be completely submerged in thinking about all that needs to be done. In the mean time, though, I have two worship services to prepare for and a people to deliver God’s Word to.  What a perfect moment for Satan to use something “good” to distract me from something that is more important.

Come Holy Spirit.

May Your Word, O God, be proclaimed this morning.  May You, O God, be glorified and worshiped.  May You, O God, receive all praise.

Hopefully soon, my friends, I will have good news to share with you.  In the mean time…may God bless your day 🙂

The pastor -|—

Praying

/ The Pastor

I have been on a roll recently, writing prayers…

Praise be to God!

Maybe this is coming out of the spiritual discipline I have taken on this Lent: Using a prayer journal.  It is amazing what happens when you just let go and not force something out, but just let your spirit pray; talking and listening to God.  I’m still trying to get used to handwriting my prayers in my journal, but I am finding that I am enjoying this more and more.  The hand cramps force me to slow down, and I need that.

The following prayer is one I wrote to be used as the prayer before I preach the sermon on Feb 24th.  In the back of my mind I was thinking about Psalm 27.  I wrote and posted a prayer based on that Psalm the other day.

So let us go to God in prayer as we prepare for worship…

Father in heaven, you are a holy and awesome God.  You are worthy of all praise and worship.  You are faithful and full of grace.  In you there is shelter and life.  In you there is salvation.  May we seek your face in the midst of fear.  May we seek your shelter in the midst of storms.  And may we dwell in your house forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ you have conquered all that would besiege us and promised us a future; you have promised us life through faith in Jesus Christ.  Strengthen our faith in the face of fears and may we always seek you.  Now may the words of my mouth and the mediation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Oh God, our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

May God bless your day 🙂

The pastor -|—

Because you say so

/ The Pastor

Do we really need another reason?

Awesome and holy God, to look around is to see your awesome power and your holiness.  But too often we are blinded by our own short-sightedness.  We are distracted by our limited abilities and flawed wisdom.  If only we were to stop and listen and look would we see your faithfulness and strength and power.  You are holy.  You and you alone see the whole and complete picture.  May we respond to your voice; may we walk by faith and not by sight; may we marvel at the glory of your name.  Because you say so God, may we follow.  Because you say so may we listen.  Because you say so may we trust. Now may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our Rock and Redeemer, Amen.

May God bless your day 🙂

The pastor -|—

Use us

/ The Pastor

A morning prayer as you prepare for your day.  May you know the blessings of God and wonders of his awesome love.  Let us pray…

Loving and gracious Father…you have given us a mighty task; to use our spiritual gifts for the common good.  But too often we are swayed by the world to promote ourselves therefore misusing those gifts.  Please grant us the faith to see what you have done for us so that we may do everything in our power to use what you have given us for the common good.  May we not be so selfish, conceited, arrogant or puffed up that we miss golden opportunities to advance the Gospel.  And…as we use our gifts, may you be glorified in all that we do and say.

Awesome God ~ I lift up to you this morning all who preach your Word.  May they be faithful to the Word and proclaim your promises through Jesus Christ with boldness and confidence. May those servants not conform to the world but be instruments that transform the world by the renewing of hearts and minds.

Faithful God ~ I also lift up to you all those who will hear your Word this morning.  Create faith where it is lacking; strengthen faith where it is weak; renew faith where it has grown stale.  May the power of your Word do its thing as it leads us out to advance the Gospel.

Oh God, you are an awesome God.  You saved us.  You remade us.  You gave us hope through Jesus Christ.  May you be glorified for you are worthy.  All praise, worship and honor be to you, Oh God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

The pastor -|—

Morning preparations

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Loving and gracious God, I come before you today ready to worship.  Not just during the “organized” time with others but right now and every minute after this.  And as I come ready to worship I come ready to hear a word from you.  May my heart be ready to receive so that you may be glorified in my life.

Lord God, I also lift up to you all those called to preach your word; those pastors and lay ministers preparing to lead worship.  May they be faithful in their task and bold to proclaim your word.  It is too often tempting to tame things down so we might appeal better to others, but may we not be swayed by man but be led by your Spirit.

Faithful God, I also lift up to you all others who are preparing for this day.  May they, through your Spirit, remember what you have done for them in Jesus and be led to worship; for you are worthy.  

O God, you are so worthy.

Thank you for your grace; for it is through your grace that we may have any hope beyond this life.  Thank you for your love; for it is through your love that you offer us forgiveness.  Thank you for your mercy; for it is through your mercy that we are saved.

O God, you are so worthy.  May your name be praised always and forever.  In Jesus name I pray…Amen!

May God bless your day 🙂

The pastor -|—

 

Bad start but God reigns

/ The Pastor

I got off to a bad start this morning.  This is going to sound like a broken record to those of you that have followed this blog for a while but my stupid “smart clock” set itself back an hour this morning for daylight saving time.  I’ve had this clock for 8 years so one would think I would have learned my lesson…but no.

You see…after I got this clock the government thought it would be funny to change the date of daylight saving time.  The problem…my clock is still operating under the old date.

“Why don’t you get a new clock?”

That is a very good question…one that has a very good answer.  The clock was a wedding gift and hence my wife has an emotional attachment to it.  I love my wife dearly but I don’t understand the attachment to the clock.  So…we keep it, but one of these days my hammer is going to “accidently” fall on that clock 🙂

In any case…because of my unfortunate incident this morning I got off to a bad start.  My routine was totally disrupted and I stated my day irritated.  I don’t like starting my day that way.  So I got ready in a hurry; shoved breakfast down my throat and ran off to my office.

It wasn’t until I made it to the sanctuary that I realized that I hadn’t greeted God yet this morning 😦

So I stopped my hurrying.
Calmed down.
And prayed.

Amazing what difference it makes when one realizes that GOD is in control not some stupid “smart clock”.  Satan took his best shot at me this morning but God got the upper hand.  Satan tried to disrupt my worship and sermon prep but God will be glorified.

Nice try Satan…you lost 🙂

Praise God always and forever!!!

edh -|—

My whole self – a prayer

/ The Pastor

Loving God, today is about you…actually, everyday; every moment, is about you, but today is different… 

Today we gather for corporate worship.
Today we gather to sing our praises and offer our thanks to you.
Today we will hear your Word read and proclaimed.
Today we will confess our sins and hear about your forgiveness.

And what makes all of this even more special is that we get to do this with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ…and maybe some others who do not happen to know you but still find themselves at worship.

So much going on.
So much to think about.
But so many distractions.

Loving God…you are worthy of my whole self.  Please do not let Satan take a part of me away; for I want to give every part to you. I want to worship you with my whole being.  I want to focus my entire attention on your love.

Calm my heart, energize my spirit, tune my hears and sharpen my eyes that you are all I see, hear and think about.  

O Lord my God, you are worthy and awesome.

May my life be an act of worship to you…in Jesus name I pray.

AMEN!

edh -|—