God of hope and justice, we pause and give you thanks for these moments to come together as your gathered children. We gather this day to celebrate your presence in our lives and throughout creation. You are present to us in countless ways: a sun set, warm embrace, a song, and even in a mundane cup of shared water. You are always and everywhere present to us, and for this great gift we give you thanks.
Redeeming God for as present you are in our lives we are often not present in the lives of others. Forgive us when we spend more time in reality shows than in the reality of those in need or when we are full of other priorities when asked to give time to our neighbor but always have time to surf the internet fulfilling our personal desires. Forgive us of our own idolatry when we treat celebrities, cell phones, and even ourselves as gods. Give us the strength to say no to these gods so that we might be able to say yes to you the God of Life.
Providing God, in our neighborhoods and around the world there are people who are homeless, hungry and alone. Empower us to work with your Holy Spirit to find solutions for these problems. In cities and in nations there are people enslaved to consumerism, greed, and oppressive governments. Empower us to work with your Holy Spirit to rid these evil powers and help usher in a kingdom of generosity, selflessness and grace. We admit that we cannot do this alone, we need you, and at the same time we recognize that you need us to be your hands and feet. We celebrate that you call us to be your coworker in this world and on this day we renew this call on our lives. Give us the courage to live our lives as our great teacher Jesus, your Christ lived. Give us the courage to stand up against the evil in the world and encourage us to work to share the greatest power of all – Love. Finally, we give you thanks for the ability to worship in a country which gives us the freedom to do so. For things spoken and those things on our hearts which remain unspoken, we pray.
Redeeming God for as present you are in our lives we are often not present in the lives of others. Forgive us when we spend more time in reality shows than in the reality of those in need or when we are full of other priorities when asked to give time to our neighbor but always have time to surf the internet fulfilling our personal desires. Forgive us of our own idolatry when we treat celebrities, cell phones, and even ourselves as gods. Give us the strength to say no to these gods so that we might be able to say yes to you the God of Life.
Providing God, in our neighborhoods and around the world there are people who are homeless, hungry and alone. Empower us to work with your Holy Spirit to find solutions for these problems. In cities and in nations there are people enslaved to consumerism, greed, and oppressive governments. Empower us to work with your Holy Spirit to rid these evil powers and help usher in a kingdom of generosity, selflessness and grace. We admit that we cannot do this alone, we need you, and at the same time we recognize that you need us to be your hands and feet. We celebrate that you call us to be your coworker in this world and on this day we renew this call on our lives. Give us the courage to live our lives as our great teacher Jesus, your Christ lived. Give us the courage to stand up against the evil in the world and encourage us to work to share the greatest power of all – Love. Finally, we give you thanks for the ability to worship in a country which gives us the freedom to do so. For things spoken and those things on our hearts which remain unspoken, we pray.