Sunday morning prayer

Stir, stir, stir

/ The Pastor

Holy and awesome God, you have called me to preach your Word to your people.  And this is an awesome calling; one that causes me to pause and wonder if I am being faithful.  So God, I ask that you may stir my heart that I may know your Spirit and therefore turn over the controls.  For if this task were left up to me I would surely bring it all to ruin.  

But this calling to preach your Word is not limited to Sunday morning.  And it’s not even limited to me as a pastor.  You have called all your people to preach your Word to everyone.  So in that light I ask that you may bless the children this morning as they preach your Word through their Christmas program.  

But also, bless each and everyone one of us as we head out into the world so that we may not fail to preach, but boldly share our faith whether called to be a pastor or not. For through faith in Jesus Christ, all believers are received into the priesthood of all believers and therefore we are called to preach. Stir our hearts continually so that we may give you glory, continually.

Loving and worthy God, we are here ~ stir, stir, stir…

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

The pastor -|—

Words

/ The Pastor

Most holy and awesome God, with simple but powerful words, you created the heavens and the earth.  
With spoken words you called your servants to prophesy and proclaim.  
With words you called forth Lazarus from bondage in a tomb.  
With words you proclaim forgiveness, life and salvation.
 And with words you create, build and maintain faith.  

How I am in awe of your Word, for your Word is lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Thank you God for your holy Word through Jesus Christ our Lord and King.

But Lord, I also ask that you may bless my words.  Too often we use words to bring people down through gossip and bearing false witness.  May our witness be true as it blesses and praises your holy name.  May we defend people, speak well of them and explain their actions in the kindest way.  May people see our worship of you through our words.

Dear Lord, may your name be praised throughout the whole world and may your word go out and do what it set out to do.  Bless this day and may our worship be pleasing to your ears.  In Jesus name I pray…

Amen!

Worship the Lord with all your heart for God is worthy.

The pastor -|—

Holy boldness

/ The Pastor

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

May the Holy Spirit rush into your life and lead you to boldly speak the name of Jesus without holding back.

May the Holy Spirit give you courage to face the world as the world is so much stronger.

May the Holy Spirit remind you what Jesus taught that you may teach others.

May the Holy Spirit lead you to places that you would never dream of going.

May the Holy Spirit be your guide as it did for those first disciples.

Let us pray…

Holy and Mighty God, it is difficult to admit that we are powerless and weak.  It is scary to think we are nothing but sheep in the midst of ravenous wolves. Oh God, restore our hope in you through Jesus.  Strengthen our faith that we may know your peace.  Open our eyes that we may see your power.  And send us forth in your name.  May we not rely on our ingenuity, creativity or intelligence but may we seek your wisdom in order to bring your peace into this world.  Loving God, you are the restorer of creation, not us.  May we be your instruments and give glory to your name.  Now may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, Oh God, our Rock, Redeemer and Restorer, Amen.

God bless you this day and always 🙂

The pastor -|—

Daddy

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted here but believe me ~ I have a good reason:

I’m a daddy!

On April 26 my wife and I adopted the cutest little baby girl you will ever see.  We received a call on the 23rd that this baby was born on April 18 and that the birth mother has selected us to raise her daughter.  We were overjoyed, scared, nervous, thankful and a host of other emotions.  My wife and I packed up and left for Houston on Wednesday, April 24 at 10:30 p.m.  We drove through the night and arrived in Houston on Thursday afternoon.  Our daughter was placed in our arms on Friday night.

Her name is Mayah Jo.  Mayah is a Hebrew name meaning “close to God“.  And considering the ups and downs and ups we have been on, Mayah’s name is very appropriate and meaningful to us.  Our prayer is that Mayah grows up to realize this for herself; that God is close to her.

My wife and I will be sharing more about this amazing experience on our adoption blog ~ Adopted as an Heir.  We haven’t updated there for a while but it is coming.  And because of some privacy issues with adoption I will not be posting pictures of Mayah online (but like I said, she is cute).  I may sound over-protective but I am O.K. with that.  So I hope you understand.

Wow ~ daddy ~ it just boggles my mind that I can be referred as that.
God is so good!
God is so awesome!
God is so faithful (even when I’m not)!

Let all people praise and worship Him.

Let’s prayer together…
Loving God…you are so good.  You are so awesome.  Even when times are tough and the road looks bleak, you are there.  Even when the valley is dark and long, even when the storms rage oh so strong, you are there. Even when the hurt hurts so bad and the outlook looks so dim, you are there.  On the highest mountain top and lowest valley, you are there.  Satan would have us forget your goodness in the midst of despair; trying to convince us that you are some cosmic bully.  Satan would have us forget you in the good times; trying to convince us that we don’t need You.  But the Good News is that you reign supreme and you have chosen us.  We belong to you and Satan has no claim on us.  Help us to see you near us in the dark and tough times.  Help us to see you near in the bright and joyous times.  You are close to us always and forever.  God, Oh God, you are so, so good and we praise your holy name.  Through Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

The Pastor a.k.a. Daddy -|—

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 -|—

 

Sunday morning prayer

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

Good morning all…long time no “see”.  I have been somewhat absent from regular blogging recently.  This past week it has been due to the fact that I have been recovering from a touch of food poisoning (don’t worry mom, I am alright) and the energy and drive to blog just hasn’t been there.  I am not sure what I ate, but for those who have never dealt with this before…well…it sucks (sorry for the language, but that’s how I feel about it).

Continuing education
Today I leave for St. Cloud, MN where I will be attending the SW MN Fall Theological conference.  This year our focus is on evangelism so I am really looking forward to what they have for us.  I should have Internet access up there so hopefully I can have some more blog entries for you this week.

Worship
October is mental illness awareness month.  It is a time to remember those who suffer from mental illness and brain disorders (i.e depression, bipolar, brain injuries, etc).  There is such a sigma out there about mental illness and I am willing to bet that most if not all people have been or know of someone who has or who has dealt with mental illness.  I have a friend who has dealt with depression.  She took medication sought and counseling to help her cope.  Today she is fine, but I remember back when she was really struggling, a friend of hers started getting after her about taking medication for depression.  My friend was told that she needed to have more faith and pray more.  That was not helpful to my friend, but it shows and gross misunderstanding that many people have about mental illness.

Depression, along with other mental illnesses are illnesses that need to be treated.  They are physical inflictions and we as the body of Christ need to be mindful of those who are struggling.  We need to be supportive and prayerful.  We need to be open and welcoming.  We need to be more understanding.  So today remember to pray for those struggling with mental illness and seek more information if need be to help you gain a better understand.

Prayer
Please join me in a word of prayer…

Healing God, today we come before you seeking understanding, compassion and empathy.  We seek these so we may better understand our brothers and sisters in Christ who struggle with mental illness.  We are created in your image and you desire no one to suffer.  Grant us eyes to see those who need your loving care ane grant us understanding, compassion and empathy to love those we sometimes push to the fringes.  Through Christ you have claimed ;  through Christ you have forgiven us; through Christ you have a place prepared for us in your mansion.  Gracious God, we give you thanks and praise.  In Christ name we pray, Amen.

Take care and God bless!

-edh-

Sunday morning prayer

/ The Pastor

Week 1 of post-marathon life is done and recovery is going well.  My legs are no longer sore.  I am still not supposed to do any running yet (that will start next week).  This week will involve some light weight lifting and some cross training (exercise bike).  I am looking forward to getting back in the saddle again and setting my sights on my next race in January at the Okoboji Winter Games 5k/10K run.  After that I plan to run the Fargo 1/2 marathon in May.  And after that…who knows.

This past week has been a light blogging week since I had a very short week.  On Wednesday night my wife and I headed to Wisconsin Dells to meet my parents and my sister and her family for a little vacation at a resort.  We got home last night.  Our time at the resort was fun and relaxing, but now I am ready to get back at it.

So with that, let’s get back into our routine and start today with a prayer.  Let us pray…
Loving and Creator God, you have prepared a lavish banquet and have chosen us to partake in this grand and eternal celebration.  But too often the trails , demands and temptations of this world distract us from the party that awaits us.  We often focus our attention on the now and forget the later.  Gracious God, turn our attention from our selfish selves and focus our sight on the cross where you gave your one and only Son so we may have life.  Help us see this amazing sacrifice so your glory may shine forth through our lives.  In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

Take care and have a very blessed day!

-edh-

Sunday morning prayer

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Hey there…long time no see.  No…it’s not that you haven’t been here for a while it’s that I haven’t stopped by my own blog for a couple days.  So please allow me to make excuses here:
(1) The busyness of September seemed to sneak up on me.
(2) The busyness of September seemed to sneak up on me.
…and (3) The busyness of September seemed to sneak up on me.

That is enough said on that.  I think I am beginning to get a hold of things now so you will see me a little more in the coming weeks.

Anyway…the Gospel text I am preaching on today comes from Matthew 18:21-35.  This is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.  Peter asks Jesus the question, “How many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me?  Seven times?“.  Jesus goes on to basically say, “You forgive continuously.   There is no number.”  Then we get this parable.  What hits me square in the face is the contrast in debts.  The debt God forgave me and the debt I often refuse to forgive others.  This is indeed a convicting parable.  The debt we owed God was a debt we could not hope to repay but yet God says, “I love you so much and I want so much to be in a relationship with you that I am going to forgive this debt of yours.”  Wow…that is an amazing God.  Let’s go and do likewise…forgiving others the sins they have committed against us; showing them Christ’s love.

Let’s pray…
Gracious and forgiving God, we can’t even begin to express how thankful we are for the forgiveness you show us in Jesus Christ.  We are so unworthy.  But yet you love us anyway.  Grant us strength to forgive others as you have forgiven us. So we may mend and nurture relationships with them as you do with us.  In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

-edh-