Join us tomorrow for our Noon Hour of Prayer -- Here are the words that will guide us...... Opening Prayer: (unison) O God of life, who chooses creation over chaos and new beginnings over emptiness, we bring to you the disorder of our nations and world and the emptiness of our lives and relationships. Bless us and the nations with the grace of creativity. Bless us and all people with the hope of new beginnings. (John Philip Newell, Celtic Treasure: Daily Scripture & Prayer, 2005) Music to Center our Souls Ephesians 4:25—5:2 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Reflection: The fear that drives the police to act on their assumptions causing the death of young black men also erodes our relationships with one another. This erosion becomes normalized as structural violence. It is evident in practices of suspicion toward the “other” (people from other countries, other racial/ethnic groups, other religions), in practices of wealth accumulation that create and perpetuate economic inequality, and in practices of preemption that cause people and nations to react with force as a first resort. The challenge of our culture is that there seems increasingly to be a deficit of empathy, a surplus of fear, and a willingness to sacrifice the future for the present. As followers of Jesus, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, to treat others with respect and dignity, and to ensure that their basic human needs are met. In Silence: Pray for healing of cultural practices such as violence in entertainment media that impact us, all of us. Pray for the disempowered and bullied. Unison Prayer: Loving God, help us to create a culture of peace. Lead us from falsehood to truth, from apathy to empathy, from fear to trust. Help us to build the beloved community you planned for us to dwell in on earth. Amen Hymn Sharing our Joys and Concerns and Intercessions: Prayer of the People: Show us your mercy, O Lord; Let your people sing with joy. Give peace, O Lord, in all the world; For only in you can we live in safety. Lord, keep this nation under your care; And guide us in the way of justice and truth. Let your way be known upon earth; Your saving health among all nations. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten; Nor the hope of the poor be taken away. Create in us clean hearts, O God; And sustain us with your Holy Spirit as we pray the prayer you taught us saying (The Lord’s prayer) Amen God Sends us Forth With a Blessing: Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20,21)
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 05:40:03 +0000