Opening Prayers/Prayers of Adoration on Peace
For the joy of your presence
Changing and renewing us
Day by day,
We offer you our praise.
For the blessing you bring us,
The outpouring of your love
Day by day,
We offer you our praise.
For peace beyond understanding,
Blesséd assurance
Day by day
We offer you our praise.
For the Word that endures,
Teaches and challenges,
Generation to generation,
We offer you our praise.
John Birch, Faith and Worship
Almighty God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You taught us to pray not
only for ourselves but for people everywhere:
so now hear us as we pray for others,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.
We ask that You inspire Your whole church in power, unity, and peace.
Grant that all who trust you may obey your Word,
and live together in love.
As we pray for the world, we ask that You lead all nations
in the way of Your true justice and righteous goodwill.
Direct those who govern, that they may rule fairly, maintain order,
help those in need, and defend the oppressed;
so this world may know your rule and experience true peace.
God, our heavenly Father
and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:
We praise and thank you today and always!
You are worthy of our praise
simply for who You are:
You are good and You are strong,
You are gracious, just and loving.
As we confront this world that lacks hope,
a world caught up in war, hunger, poverty and
spiritual emptiness,
in Your great mercy You freely give us a new birth
into the living hope
through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
There is no darkness so great
that your light is not greater still.
There is no conflict so disruptive
that your peace cannot quell it.
There is no death so final,
that your resurrection life
cannot break its icy grip. And, …
There is no thief so sneaky or strong
that he can steal the inheritance you give
that can never perish, spoil or fade—
kept in heaven for us.
Therefore, we rightly worship You!
However, we are quick to trust
our strength more than yours,
our wisdom more than yours,
our abilities more than yours,
our resources more than yours.
our love more than yours.
And our misplaced trust in ourselves
has led us into sin.
Inspired by Psalm 27
All: Oh Lord, my Light, my Life, my Joy, my Peace—with you I find refuge from danger, shelter from the storms in my life. You are good and you do good. You are the Strength of my life, and I look to you for power. On this Lord’s Day, as we worship you in spirit and in truth, there is one thing that we seek: You. We want to worship You. We want to tell You and each other how great and mighty and gentle and kind You have been to us. We gaze upon Your beauty, not because our eyes are worthy to behold You; we gaze upon Your beauty, not because we are sinless like You; no, we gaze upon Your beauty because You have called us, washed away our sins through the blood of Christ, and You have raised us with Him to new life through His resurrection. Since You have been so gracious to us, we do not doubt that You will bring us safely home into the arms of our Savior, in whose name we pray, Amen.
Submitted by Dustin Ray
Shall
The time is now, for you have called, O God
The place is now, for you have spoken
Yes, it is a wilderness, a desert even
So dry, so rough, so uneven
Yes, the gap is so very wide between the high and the low
But, you have called
You have spoken
Not an if or when or maybe
Not even a try
You have spoken shall
Every valley shall be lifted
Every mountain shall be made low
The uneven shall be made level
The rough shall be made smooth
So we will persevere in this wilderness of preparing
We will not forge a path or blaze a trail but make a highway
A highway for your coming
For your glory, O God shall be revealed in this place
And all shall see it
All shall see it together
Shall © 2018 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, www.revlisad.com