Christmas Baggage.

I can’t remember when Gabrielle and I last went shopping together in the city centre.  But this we did the other day.   After a while we temporarily split up to pursue our own interests and inevitably I ended up in Fopp.  I used to call it my cultural Bermuda Triangle.  Whenever I went there all my money seemed to disappear.  All these CDs and DVDs and books and you just know you have to have this one or that one or your life will be seriously diminished.  

Amazingly I didn’t buy anything but I came away with something else.   The sound system was playing ‘Tiger Feet’ by Mud circa. 1974.  And I was away to discos long ago not least the annual Christmas Dance at school.  

Mud were one of those groups that teenage sophisticates felt obliged to despise.  Teenyboppers peddling bubble-gum music to the less enlightened.  But deep down we knew that at the Annual Christmas Dance we couldn’t have done with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen.  Come in Mud!  And Sweet!  And Slade!  And even the Rubettes!   This was their night.  

And there I was the other day in Fopp on a cold, grey, miserable Glasgow day deliberately lingering among the displays of CDs, DVDs and books until the fade out in ‘Tiger Feet.’  If it hadn’t been for my mask a co-shopper would have seen me mouthing the words while in my head I was going through all the dance floor moves that once dazzled my contemporaries. Transported I was to the days of feather-cuts, flairs, tank-tops and platform shoes.    All of which scandalised my parents and made the wearing all the sweeter.   Ah the seventies . . .

Maybe it was the Season that did it.  We all carry some Christmas baggage and sometimes it drops, bursts open and out flies the memories whether delightful or painful.   Over the years I suppose I’ve tended to de-sentimentalise Christmas.  I’ve been involved with too many people who at so many levels find it a very painful experience.  Organised fun, nostalgic music and sugary movies are just too much to bear when going through your worst of times.  

On the other hand, it’s hard to think of the birth of a baby born in difficult circumstances , as Jesus was, and not feel something.  The recent cases of horrific child-abuse that have been at the top of our news bulletins recently have been greeted with understandable outrage.   And many a tear has been shed as the stories unfold.  Nothing stirs the emotions so much as crimes against the vulnerable.  Jesus was not abused as a baby or as child growing up.  But in these states He was vulnerable and the wonder is that this is how God chose to reveal Himself to humankind.  There is a place for the loving gaze on the manger but also for the sense of awe that Almighty God is as close to us as any child we have known and loved.  The carols that spill out from shopping mall sound systems have an unfathomable theology: 

‘Lo! within a manger lies

 He who built the starry skies.’

‘Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

 Hail the Incarnate Deity . . .’  

It is said that the original purpose of the Christmas crib was to enable us to reach into those depths of God’s coming amongst us.  It is attributed to Francis of Assisi.  This was never intended to be a Christmas decoration but a focus for people’s thoughts that they might grasp something of the depths of God’s love for us ‘thus to come from highest bliss/ Down to such a world as this.’    

This is something that can unite us all whether we delight in Christmas or dread it.   John Betjeman’s poem is so often quoted because it sums up what Christmas is for those who believe:

’The maker of the stars and sea

 Became a child on earth for me.’  

However we feel about Christmas 2021 we can find hope in a God who is on our side.  

Prayers For The Week 20

  “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favour again?  Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?  Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”  Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.  I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.  I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”  (Psalm 77: 7-12)

We can connect with the ancient voice of faith as he experiences disappointment and despondency:

In the struggle back to what we recognise as normal;

In the impact of the pandemic on our lives and the lives of those we love;

In the prospect of future days and the challenges we face as your Church.

But that same voice of faith calls us to the deeds of long ago when You came with power among Your people to raise them up and take them forward.  

In time there would be voices of faith calling believers to  the Cross where the worst of human impulses were displayed and yet was the means whereby Your loving purpose for humankind was fulfilled.  

So bring us to the Cross.

Where in the midst of our struggles we can be assured of Your presence;

Where in our weakness we can be made strong;

Where in our sin we can be forgiven;

Where even in face of death we have hope.  

We thank you that even as the gaze of our Risen Lord reveals what needs to be changed still it holds for us a vision of what we can be and what we will be.  

We thank you that even as we share the brokenness of humanity still by your grace we can show the fruit of the Spirit.

We thank you that even as Your Church seems to falter and diminish still You hold before us the promise that the earth will never be without a witness to Christ.  

We thank you for those we have known now at rest who recognised their inadequacy and yet looked to the Spirit to renew and revitalise.  

We pray for the world-wide Church that she will be powerful in her proclamation and consistent in her living.

We pray for the world that in a time when our limitations are recognised that the need for a Saviour will be intensified.  

We pray for our nation enjoying new freedoms but required still to be cautious.  

We pray for doctors, dentists, nurses and others in the medical world under constant pressure.

We pray for those whose work is to keep us safe: police offers, fire-fighters, government officials, locally and nationally.

We pray for those restricted by pain, burdened by anxiety, desolated by loss.

Prayers For The Week 19

 

Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts!

We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.  (Psalm 65: 4)

The day begins and many ways open up to us

Places we can go, people we can see, things we can do.

But on this day followers of Jesus feel the pull of Your Spirit.

Our minds have become fixed on Him and we have chosen to be in this place in anticipation of good things filling our lives.  

We open up our hearts to:

The fellowship the Spirit creates for us;

The fulfilment of Jesus’ promise that He is present in our midst;

The assurance that from Him flows forgiveness for our sins, strength for the challenges of this day, and hope for the unknown days that lie ahead.  

We join with the ancient people of Israel who gathered with confidence that despite the shadows that might fall on their lives good things await those whose hearts a
re turned to God.

We join with the early Christian communities whose hearts were so focussed on the sacrifice of Jesus that they knew that nothing would hinder the flow of love from the heart of God the Father.  

We join with brothers and sisters throughout the world who wait in expectation for Your Voice to speak to us in the depths and for Your Spirit to take us forward and to energise us in the building of Your Kingdom.  

Father, you have set before us the eternal example of self-giving in Jesus Your Son and we praise You today that this has brought us forgiveness, renewal and the promise of a place in Your eternal Kingdom.  

We praise you for those we know who have reflected this self-giving in their lives and have been a blessing to us in practical help, encouraging words and prayerful support.

We praise you especially for those who are now beyond our sight, our touch and our call but who have so much for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom in their time.

May Your Church throughout the world be a giving people, offering time, talents and money to make known the story of Jesus and the transformative power of His love.

May the nations of the world who can afford to give show a new generosity to those whose homes have been destroyed,  to those who cannot feed their families, to those denied justice.

May our own nation benefit from the Christian witness that continues in our midst so that laws and institutions may be shaped according to Your will.

May those whose health is failing, whose employment is threatened, whose finances are strained, whose care for a loved one has become overwhelming - may all of those receive what is needed to renew hope and faith.

May those within our families and amongst our friends be blessed, kept safe, and aware of the love of Jesus which no circumstance can erase.  

Prayers For The Week 18

 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.  (Psalm 54: 4)

We thank you for the ancient voices of faith who turn us towards You in those times when our resources are strained.  

In times when pain distracts us and turns us in on ourselves:

‘Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.’ 

In times of anxiety when we are caught up in a whirlwind of emotion:

‘Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.’

In times when bitter experience threatens to take God away from us, even then help us to persist in saying:

‘Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.’

Father, enable us to see that all of this is the experience of Jesus, born as one of us, our brother, our friend, who is heaven today carries the pain, the emotion, the anguish that so often falls to us.

The One who in the power of His Spirit comes to us when we need help to sustain us and take us forward in strength and in hope.  

Forgive us our lack of faith in His Spirit and bring us now the assurance that whatever our sins of word, of thought, of deed, we are sustained and set free to renew our walk in His ways.  

We praise you that you have called us to be a people together,

Who can praise You with one voice for Your blessings to us,

Who can look to one another for inspiration and encouragement,

Who can share the great commission to tell the story of Jesus and serve those in need.  

We praise you for those in the past who were faithful in responding to the call, who came through the challenges of their time, who believed through their own personal suffering, even death, and now enjoy their place in the eternal Kingdom.  

We pray for the life of the Church throughout the world, that whatever the circumstances there will always be reason for thanksgiving.

We pray for our world, so broken, so divided, so much in need of a Saviour who forgives, heals, unites and satisfies.

We pray for our nation, pressing on with so much pain behind us and so much unknown before us, may our hope be grounded in what You alone promise.  

We pray for those whose pain, anxiety and loss we carry with us today in the faith that Your eye is upon them and Your love is reaching out to them.  

Prayers For The Week 17

 ‘Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

 Do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

 When they carry out their wicked schemes.’  (Psalm 37: 7)

So often the tide of darkness sweeps over the earth.  

Plans that will be hurtful to others.

Policies that will benefit only the privileged.

Promises made without commitment to see them through.

Pleas for food, housing, and justice that will remain unheard.

But the ancient voice of faith calls us to be still before the Lord, to resist the pull into darkness and to wait patiently.

So
we pray for grace to acknowledge Your control over all, to trust in your ways, to be sure within ourselves that love, justice and peace will not sleep forever.

And may it begin in us.  

For too often we have added to the darkness with our words, our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions.  

Forgive us.

As we wait for the Lord let this be combined with our commitment to let our lives reflect your love, your goodness, your justice.  

We thank you for your Church

Where we have heard the story of Jesus,

Where faithful people have shown the love of Christ to those on need.

We thank you especially for those now at rest who were faithful to the end and have left us with an example of commitment and perseverance.

We pray that your Church throughout the world would never be in disarray because of human prejudice and that barriers overcome in christ would never be reinforced.

We pray for the world that no one would ever be disadvantaged because of race, faith, gender or class.

We pray for our nation that we might have your perspective on the things that divide us and learn to appreciate the things that unite us.  

We pray for those who suffer intolerance and pray that they would find strong in the One who was despised and rejected.  

We pray for those known to us whose quality of life has been affected by pain, anxiety, bereavement and ask that the Holy Spirit would be close to reassure and revitalise.  

Prayers For The Week 16

We come to you, O Father, Creator of our lives.

We come to sing your praises for blessings you provide.

You give us strength in weakness, you give us hope in pain,

You give your truth to bring us back to your will again.

You never will forsake us, your grasp of us is sure,

Your purpose is to cleanse us until our lives are pure.

 

We come to you, O Jesus, the Saviour of our lives.

We come to sing your praises, our Brother and our Guide.

You came to live amongst us, to share our joy and tears,

You healed the body broken and calmed the mind in fear.

Your death has brought forgiveness, new life for those who fall

Your triumph over death is shared with those who hear your call.

 

We come to you, O Spirit, the Power in our lives.

We come to sing your praises, God’s Presence by our side. 

You come to help us worship, to raise our spirits high,

You come to show us clearly where paths of service lie.

Reveal the truth of Christ to us and form in us His mind!

Bring forth the love and peace of Christ to share with all mankind!

Lord God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to you be praise and glory for ever. We rejoice, Father, that in your great love you sent your one and only Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. We ask that your Church may always witness to your presence and your love and that you will guide all preachers of your word so that they may lead your people to know and to love you. We ask you to continue to bless Fergus in his ministry to us here at St. Paul’s and Baldernock.                                                                                           

We bring to your love the suffering and sorrow of our world. We pray for all who are scorned or rejected and who suffer from the cruelty and wickedness of others. We remember those living in areas of war and violence and suffering attacks on their communities, such as the peoples of Israel and Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan and so many other countries. We ask your blessing on the efforts of all individuals and organisations working for peace and reconciliation and providing help for those in need.  Give wisdom to those responsible for combating the pandemic so that good decisions are made, especially in countries like India. We pray for those who have lost loved ones and for all who are ill at home, in care homes or in hospitals. May they be comforted and supported. We remember people involved in accidents or acts of cruelty and violence this week. We bring before you all who live in fear or feel that they can no longer cope with life. We ask your blessing on doctors, nurses, care and social workers, teachers, police officers, members of the emergency services and all on whose caring and commitment we depend.  

 Finally we thank you for our loved ones and friends, for those who enrich our lives through their goodness and example. You love them more than we can ever do and you know their deepest needs, and we pray that you will bless and protect them. We ask you to help us through your Holy Spirit to keep close to you in the coming week, Amen.        

Thanks to Robin Easton for the prayers for others.
 

Prayers For The Week 15

 Where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy.  (Psalm 65: 8)

God our Father,

We close our eyes in sleep in the knowledge that Your Spirit fills the Universe; that your Spirit sustains the witness of Your Church; that Your Spirit is working in the lives of Your people to comfort, to strengthen, to establish  Your Word.

We move into a new day with the prospect of being drawn deeper into Your Love, of extending our understanding of Your ways, of responding to the call to serve.  

So draw us closer to Yourself and enable us to sing songs of joy, the praise of a grateful people who know God through Jesus Christ, who have been touched by His sacrifice, renewed by His resurrection and inspired by His promises.  

Forgive us that so often we cut off the sources of joy.

Neglecting the Word that keeps us close to You.

Ignoring the promptings of Your Spirit to forgive others.

Setting aside opportunities to support others in time of need.

Father, if You held on to our failure where would be our hope?

But You have assured us in Jesus that sin is not victorious over us, that calling to mind our failure is not a mark of despair but the beginning of renewed aspiration.

So help us to believe that You are on our side as we now go forward to face the challenges of the days ahead. 

Heavenly father once again we find ourselves in your presence this morning and we are safe in the knowledge that you are with us. As we celebrate Pentecost we know that your spirit moves amongst us and because of that we get to know you just that bit better. We know that you find joy among us as we see your absolute power, your incredible knowledge and your everlasting love.

We pray this morning for those in our congregations who need you: a healing spirit, a loving father and a consoling friend. 

We pray for our brothers and sisters touched by illness, affected by a bereavement and isolated by loneliness .

We pray for those who feel that they have no need of your love, those who stand in the boundaries between belief and disbelief and we ask that you enable us to draw them closer to you and closer to understanding.

We pray especially for this year's General Assembly. 

The year past has been a different year and a different Assembly and we pray for the outgoing Moderator Martin Fair. 

We pray for the new Moderator Jim Wallace and ask that you be with him and all who are making decisions about the church this year. 

Go with Jim Wallace as he travels through this country and abroad representing our national church , give him wisdom and strength for the job ahead.

Father we pray today for those in every church in the land, give us a vision that will take some out of their comfort zone and lead us into new ways of serving you, to be beacons of hope in world that has changed

We pray for those we recognise as key workers. Those who selflessly administer care, who enable life to go on and allow families to continue to exist. 

We pray for those who work for peace abroad in war zones and even at home where there is conflict. 

We especially pray for those who work for peace where there seems to be no peace possible like Syria, Pakistan and places where the church is our concern.

We pray for Israel and for calm, we pray for India and for healing and 

Father this prayer for others this morning is heavy and encumbered but we know you are a God who cares and a God who is bigger than anything else in this world. 

Thanks to Alex McEwan who provided the prayers for others.

Prayers For The Week 14

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.  (Psalm 27: 13-14)

God our Father,

In these days 

We are asked to be confident in those who govern, in those who administer, in those who research.

We are asked to be confident in one another that we will follow guidance and show consideration.

We are asked to be confident that we will find a way through Covid-19 and regain our quality of life.

We do not despise the skills and expertise of men and women who seek to bring us hope.

But on this day we lift our hearts to the God revealed in Jesus and place our confidence in Him.

The God who was one of us, who experienced the pressures of human living, who knew the limitations of our being, who even knew the death that is our final destiny.  

The God who showed that in the midst of brokenness goodness and love are possible.

The God who assures us that even in death His purpose continues.

This is the God who reveals Himself in the land of the living, the God for whom we wait.

He alone can strengthen us from within as we go forward in faith.  

Our loving heavenly Father, on hearing your Word again this morning, we acknowledge that we are indeed in the presence of a loving, holy and powerful God, who thought us worthy enough to leave all the splendour of heaven and come down to live among us, that we might come to know you as our Lord and Saviour.  Help us to hold fast to the truths and promises in your Word, not only for this life but for the life to come because of our faith and trust in you.

Father, we bring before you our loved ones and ask that you will draw them to yourself.  We pray for our friends asking you to minister to them at their point of need.  

Father, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it has reminded us of the fragility of life.   All of us have watched heart-breaking images on our television screens, read reports in our newspapers of India, Brazil and other countries and we have felt so helpless in the face of such a deadly virus.  Then we remember we can do something – we can pray – we can bring the people, their situations and their loved ones to you in prayer, asking for your help, power and love to walk the difficult road with them.   We also pray for the medical personnel who work in difficult, understaffed and under-resourced countries where the people are not just fighting the virus but are malnourished, scared and without hope.  

Father, our world is so vast, so unequal in that so many people live in countries where they do not have enough food or clean water, no proper government, many random acts of violence resulting in death, and the people themselves feel that they do not matter.  We are also aware of people who live in countries where there is no peace, and, this morning, we pray for Israel and ask that things will not further escalate.  Father, the situations we have prayed for this morning are complex and multi-layered and too big for us to solve on our own and we give them over to you asking that you will intervene and bring peace, intervene and bring equality, intervene and bring hope to the despairing. 

Prayers For The Week 13

 Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and for evermore.

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.  (Psalm 113: 2-3)

We join our hearts to praise the Lord who created the Universe, who sustains the Universe, who has it in His heart to renew the Universe.

The Lord who is present in every moment, who knows when every sparrow falls, who has counted every hair, who has clothed every flower.

We stand in awe before our God and know that in His height, His depth, His breadth there is too much for our minds to grasp.

But still by His grace connection is possible through His Son who comes to us as an unborn child, as a cradled baby, as a questioning adolescent, as a carpenter’s son, as a preacher and healer, as an executed criminal,

Who says to us ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father.’  

The Father in the days of celebration, in the days of challenge, the days of grief and suffering, the days of triumph over the darkness.

The Father with us from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.

The Father with us now, revealed by the Son, brought near by the Holy Spirit,

To bless us with His forgiveness, His strength, His peace.

‘Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and for evermore.’   Amen.  

We thank you that Jesus has called us aside to inspire our love, to reveal our gifts, to enable us to serve wholeheartedly. 

We thank you for the assurance that there is a place for all of us in the great plan which will climax in the coming of Your Kingdom.

We thank you for the bond we have with men and women    who have heard the call and walk with us sharing our burdens and inspiring our service.

We thank you for the bond we have with those who have fought the good fight, who have finished the race, who have kept the faith and now enjoy the crown of righteousness.

As we go forward in this life of faith: 

We hold in our hearts our fellow Christians throughout the world who live to tell the story of Jesus and share His love with those in need.

We hold in our hearts the nations of the world under pressure due to hunger, drought, homelessness and strained resources in the struggle against Covid 19.

We hold in our hearts our own nation and those newly elected in the parliament of Scotland as they prepare for the challenges ahead.

We hold in our hearts neighbours, friends, family members who face challenges due to ill-health, uncertainty at work, bereavement, faltering faith.  

Nomadland

 A character in a Bob Dylan song is described as ‘always on the outside of whatever side there was’.  That fits Fern who is the central character of Nomadland.  From bits and pieces gathered through the film we get a picture of a life that was ‘always on the outside’ from the earliest years, always willing to kick over the traces.  So when in her early sixties she finds herself widowed, unemployed and the community around her evaporating she takes to the road and becomes part of a new community of people perpetually on the move.  These are the ‘nomads’ who live in vans, park in designated places and live on seasonal work.  

The movie has a slow paced documentary style enhanced by the inclusion of real-life nomads.  We are very much the observers as Fern makes new friends, finds work and struggles with her ageing ‘rig’.  It’s the latter challenge that creates a tension for Fern that is never resolved.  If she is to keep her rig on the road she needs a large sum of money.  She asks her sister who is wealthy, enjoys a privileged lifestyle, whose husband is involved is business which Fern considers less than honourable.  They are part of the ‘system’ Fern wants no part of and yet she remains dependant on their generosity.  She promises to pay back but you wonder how.  

It’s the hook many of us wriggle on.  There is so much that is wrong in the world and while we hold fast to a vision of the way it should be,  it is not going to change any time soon.   In the meantime, we make the changes we can and live with the compromises we have to make.  

Fern is hardly off the screen and Frances McDormand carries her well.  She combines the edginess, vulnerability and warmth that make for an arresting character and leaves you hoping that while there will always be people on the outside they will have an impact on the rest of us for the better.  

Prayers For The Week 12

 One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord,  are loving.  (Psalm 62: 11-12a). 

What else do we wish to hear on this Lord’s Day?

That while we feel our energy diminish, that while we feel our concentration faltering, that while our emotions rise and fall,

You, O God, are strong.

You provide the unchanging centre of our lives to revitalise us, to focus our minds more surely, to stabilise us in the ever-changing circumstances of our lives.  

And You, O Lord, are loving.

You will allow nothing to stem the flow of Your love into our lives,

Not pain, not disappointment, not failure, not even death.

Nothing will ever separate us from your love,

And you have shown this in Jesus,

Who comes to us as the Risen Lord but bearing the wounds that say Your love shines even in the deepest darkness.

What else do we wish to know on this Lord’s Day?

So stay with us as we gather as your people, that in our prayers, in the silences, in the music and in the Word read and preached we may experience Your presence, hear the Voice that proclaims forgiveness, receive the assurance that Your goodness and Your love goes before us into the unknown future.  

Father, we have sometimes spoken of the daily grind,  we have sometimes dreaded the prospect of the day ahead, we have sometimes given in to thoughts of meaninglessness.  

But you have shown us that while all of this is real to us there is also the reality of the Risen Lord in our midst, to ease the burden, to lighten the path, to assure us that no life lived in faith is insignificant.  

We thank you that we have seen this faith in others who  have trusted in Your goodness and love to the end and now know the fulfilment of that faith in the eternal presence of the Risen Lord.  

Let that same faith glow in the hearts of all Your people throughout the world, that their worship and their daily living would be witness to the Resurrection.

Let the nations be transformed in the power of the Resurrection, that peace, justice, compassion will be realities and not just aspirations.

Let the Resurrection be the hope of those nations that suffer most from Covid-19 particularly remembering India and Brazil.

Let our nation experience the impact of Resurrection in her care of those whose quality of life has been destroyed by addiction, violence and abuse.  

Let the Risen Lord be the companion of those we know who have been stricken by the virus, those who care for the sick, those who seek to bring comfort to the bereaved.

Prayers For the Week 11

Restore us, O Lord God almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.  (Psalms 81: 1)

Just as we are we come to You.

Sometimes tired, weary and worn,

Always in need of your strength that is never exhausted,

Always in need of Your love that is never extinguished,

Always in need of your purpose that never loses its momentum.

You have it in your being to restore us when we feel we have fallen away,

So remind us in this moment of the goodness that flows from you:  that strength, that love, that purpose.

Open up our lives to receive this goodness, 

To experience within us what is most needed to take us forward as a more loving, more faithful, more committed people.

O Lord, restore us, make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.  

Heal the long-standing hurts that sour our spirits.

Give us a sense of perspective in our suffering.

Grant us the faith that endures through loss, failure and disappointment.  

In all things may we know that Jesus stands among us in His risen power and desires only that we have peace.

We thank you that in Your Word voices of faith speak to us across the millennia,

Telling us of their struggles: their failure, their faithlessness, their doubt.

And yet sharing their conviction that they carried all of this in the presence of a loving and faithful God.  

We thank you that this was made plain in the resurrection of Jesus, who bore the wounds of His human experience, and stood with those who feared they were coming to the end of their resources.  

We thank you that this same Jesus seeks to draw near to us in this moment and desires that we have peace in Him, peace with one another, and that we live for peace in our nation and the world.

Bless your Church throughout the world that she would bear witness to the resurrection faith in the midst of war, tragedy and want.

Bless the leaders of the nations that they will see their accountability not only to their people but to the One who is the source of justice and peace.

Bless our own nation with a concern for the weak and vulnerable, with a desire to overcome division, with a renewed motivation to build.

Bless all those in the front-line of service in our national life, especially those in the medical world so often stretched to the limit.  

Bless those we know who are anxious; those who seem to be losing heart; those who are in constant pain; those undergoing challenging treatment; those bereaved.