Please feel free to join in the prayers we prayed in worship Sunday, April 22, 2023:
Loving God,
you have created everything that is,
stars, moon, sun, and sky,
oceans, forests, hills, and plains,
everything that moves and breathes.
Into every bit of your creation
you have breathed life.
You’ve created us for life
lived in community with each other and all creation.
And in Resurrection,
you have brought us into life,
abundant life, now and forever,
life stronger than any power,
stronger even than death.
We give you thanks and praise.
In Jesus Christ you have walked weary roads with us,
and we know you listen to our prayers,
and so we bring to you the concerns of our heart.
Even as we give you thanks for the beauty of your creation,
we pray for your help to heal the damage we have done to your world.
For a world in climate crisis, we pray for re-creation.
Mend and reshape our ways of living,
that we might no longer exploit the earth,
but rather love it as you do,
with tender, sustaining care.
We pray for freedom from every system that oppresses,
and especially for an end to systemic American racism.
Continue to show us the ways we participate in systems that harm,
help us to stop,
give us the humility and the courage
to join in the work of repair,
following the lead and wisdom of those who have been harmed the most.
We pray for all who are hungry, for food enough and more.
For those who are unhoused, shelter.
For those who are ailing in body or spirit, healing.
For those who are lonely, connection.
For those who grieve, comfort.
We give thanks especially today
for the long and loving life of Mary Anne Cowperthwaite,
for all the ways she graced and blessed this community.
May we surround her family with comfort as they grieve,
as we grieve,
and may we find hope together
in your sure promise of Resurrection.
Open our hearts this week
so that we might experience glimpses of life,
your life
in a hand to hold,
in a healing word,
in the bright hope of a sunrise,
in the stocking of a fridge and the sharing of a feast,
in the fresh scent of springtime,
in the warmth of this community,
in your insistent invitation to serve,
in good news for the poor,
in release for the captive,
in all the ways that you
set the whole world free.
In every moment,
may we experience and participate and share
in your Resurrection life.
Connected to each other, and all those who have gone before, and all those who will follow, and all creation,
with everyone who has ever called your name,
we join our voices with theirs,
praying the prayer that Jesus taught, saying:
Our Father/Mother, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Photo Credit: Studio Dekoravson, used with permission via Unsplash
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