GREETING (quote from Augustine’s “Confessions”)
“O Beauty, so ancient and so new,
you were with us, but we not with you.”
Together we have traveled so far.
Alone we stumble without our north star.
We again fix eyes and heart on you.
our destination to bring back into view.
HYMN 131 “We Gather Together”
PSALM 106
PRAYER
(Consider some of the following concerns of people for prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Follow with your personal prayer list.)
Presenting ourselves before God Personal victory
Our worship of God National victory
Our service to God Foreign enemies
Remembering God’s powerful help Enemies among us
Our forgetting God’s powerful help War
Choosing God God’s strength
We chose God – now what? Our weakness
God chose us first Having land that God has given us
Those who chose other gods Our home
Our local government leadership Staying righteous in God’s sight
Our national government leadership ______________________________
Our local church leaders ______________________________
Our national and world church leaders ______________________________
THE LORD'S PRAYER
SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)
Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.
Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.
Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.
Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.
PRAYER
Omnipotent God, we stand before you, ready to fight in your holy war.
We want to win everyone to Christ, eliminating their hideous, hateful gods,
but we do not attack these gods, trusting your love to win away their worshipers.
Though the world is not a safe place, nor gentle with Adam’s children,
we want to conquer in a way that takes a step forward for Eve’s progeny,
using not bombs and bullets, but the most advanced weapon in your arsenal, love.
If love were first in everyone’s heart; then we would live for each other.
If love ruled, land ownership would end and boundaries would be obsolete.
If the world were more loving, toddlers could grow up to see their grandchildren.
Let Jesus be our Joshua, and let his love conquer our mean selfishness.
Let him melt away our greed and teach us generosity and compassion for all.
Let faithful people everywhere take up the weapon of steadfast, self-giving love.
Then all children can enjoy living in this world, and the world to come.
We can share learning, industry, medicine, technology, and natural resources.
Your one command will be written on our hearts and lived out in our daily lives.
And your heart will be glad, and your steadfast love forever celebrated.
Your long-suffering patience and Christ’s loving sacrifice will be rewarded,
when all your children learn to live love for you and one another in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
SILENCE AND COMMITMENT
(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)
HYMN 698 “God of the Ages”
CLOSING PRAYER
You have covenanted with us, Creator and Almighty God;
and we know you are faithful to all your words.
We enjoy inexhaustible blessings because of your covenant,
and for your favor and gifts we are truly thankful.
We recognize our failures in keeping covenant with you,
and we are determined today to turn that around.
Let your Holy Spirit take possession of our minds and hearts,
so that we please you in all we think, say or do. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
