Embedded Files
Prayer grows in us
not because of the technique or discipline
in which we pray;
it grows because of our willingness
to open ourselves again and again,
in times of darkness
as well as in times of enlightenment,
to the One who continues
to love the world into being.
- Mark Yaconelli
A Blessing for the Weak
...in a world that only admires the strong - by Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber
Blessed are they who doubt. Those who aren’t sure, who can still be surprised.
Blessed are they who are spiritually impoverished and therefore not so certain about everything that they no longer take in new information.
Blessed are those who have nothing to offer. Blessed are the preschoolers who cut in line at communion. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.
Blessed are they for whom death is not an abstraction.
Blessed are they who have buried their loved ones, for whom tears could fill an ocean. Blessed are they who have loved enough to know what loss feels like.
Blessed are the mothers of the miscarried.
Blessed are they who don’t have the luxury of taking things for granted anymore.
Blessed are they who can’t fall apart because they have to keep it together for everyone else.
Blessed are those who “still aren’t over it yet.”
Blessed are those who mourn. You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.
Blessed are those who no one else notices. The kids who sit alone at middle-school lunch tables. The laundry guys at the hospital. The sex workers and the night-shift street sweepers.
Blessed are the forgotten. Blessed are the closeted.
Blessed are the unemployed, the unimpressive, the underrepresented.
Blessed are the teens who have to figure out ways to hide the new cuts on their arms. Blessed are the meek.
You are of heaven and Jesus blesses you.
Blessed are the wrongly accused, the ones who never catch a break, the ones for whom life is hard - for Jesus chose to surround himself with people like them.
Blessed are those without documentation. Blessed are the ones without lobbyists.
Blessed are foster kids and special-ed kids and every other kid who just wants to feel safe and loved.
Blessed are those who make terrible business decisions for the sake of people.
Blessed are the burned-out social workers and the overworked teachers and the pro bono case takers.
Blessed are the kids who step between the bullies and the weak. Blessed are they who hear that they are forgiven.
Blessed is everyone who has ever forgiven me when I didn’t deserve it.
Blessed are the merciful, for they totally get it.
Prayer for January 18, 2026
God, we thank you for the gifts of mind, heart, and spirit which were uniquely Murray’s. We thank you for his welcoming presence and wisdom. For the good that entered the world through him, and for the ways he pointed us toward Christ and loving one another well, we are thankful. You know our memories, share in our grief, and see our tears. You know the weight of our sadness in the death of Murray. We invite you into this mix of feelings - all the things left undone, the words left unsaid, and the silence where his voice and presence used to be. May we sense you here, with us in this liminal space, where our hearts are broken but our hope remains in you. Amen.
Your Presence in Times of Change - Murray Baker
You are the God who promises to journey with us.
You are the God who lived among us.
You are the God who teaches softly as we travel.
Many parts of our lives blind us to your presence. Open our eyes.
Confusion seems to reign at so many points. Settle our minds.
Pain accompanies so many of our stages in this life. Give us comfort.
Loss seems to be a process that moves us on.
Help us to pause and grieve the loss.
Help us to invite you into the next step.
Comfort is our guiding principle.
Comfort so often keeps us from learning or moving.
Thank you for the many blessings of each phase of our lives.
Help us not to make these our God.
Help us to see that a life of learning and growth is a life of change.
Help us to see the beauty in this.
Help us past the inertia of the comfortable and the known.
Our seasons of life are both a comfort and a step to the future.
Help us to grieve properly the past and to look with gratitude to a future that is different.
Give us your peace in those liminal times of uncertainty.
Times where we can grieve and plan.
Times where we can wait on you.
Times where we can learn from you.
In this world our next step is never certain or even pleasant.
But your presence is the stability that we all need.
Your presence is the guarantee for the future.
Your presence is the strength we need to move on.
Your presence is the guarantee that learning, and growth await us.
Amen.
Benediction for January 11, 2026
God of Compassion by Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber (shortened)
Image credit: Natee Jindakum from ภาพของ
God of compassion,
Bless your human creatures.
Bless our rocky marriages and our college-age kids who smoke too much pot.
Bless the person at work whom we love to hate.
Bless the chronically sick.
Bless the one who has no one.
Bless what we call insignificant
and which you call magnificent.
Bless it all and love what only you can love:
the ugly, abandoned, and unsanitary
in the wash of humanity
upon which you have nothing
but a gleaming compassion
when we have none.
God of Compassion,
thank you for seeing us.
For seeing our loneliness and our bravery.
For seeing the times
we can't say what we need to.
For seeing the ones who have never felt like they are enough, but whom you know already are and always have been.
For seeing the moments
when we are more than we thought we could be.
For seeing what no one else can or will.
Thank you for seeing as beautiful
what we call ugly.
In your compassion, teach us to see each other.
Give us one to another.
Make us one in this fractured world
And help us to know that when we do not have enough compassion for the road ahead,
that you do, and that is enough.
Amen.
Benediction for January 4, 2026
by Ted Loder
Image credit: optop
God of history and of my heart,
so much has happened to me
during these whirlwind days:
I’ve known death and birth;
I’ve been brave and scared;
I’ve hurt, I’ve helped;
I’ve been honest, I’ve lied;
I’ve destroyed, I’ve created;
I’ve been with people, I’ve been lonely;
I’ve been loyal, I’ve betrayed;
I’ve decided, I’ve waffled;
I’ve laughed and I’ve cried.
You know my frail heart and my frayed history –
and now another day begins.
O God, help me to believe in beginnings
and in my beginning again,
no matter how often I’ve failed before.
Help me to make beginnings:
to begin going out of my weary mind
into fresh dreams,
daring to make my own bold tracks
in the land of now;
to begin forgiving
that I may experience mercy;
to begin questioning the unquestionable
that I may know truth
to begin disciplining
that I may create beauty;
to begin sacrificing
that I may make peace;
to begin loving
that I may realize joy.
Help me to be a beginning to others,
to be a singer to the songless,
a storyteller to the aimless,
a befriender of the friendless;
to become a beginning of hope
for the despairing,
of assurance for the doubting,
of reconciliation for the divided;
to become a beginning of freedom for the oppressed,
of comfort for the sorrowing,
of friendship for the forgotten;
to become a beginning of beauty
for the forlorn,
of sweetness for the soured,
of gentleness for the angry,
of wholeness for the broken,
of peace for the frightened and violent of the earth.
Help me to believe in beginnings,
to make a beginning,
to be a beginning,
so that I may not just grow old,
but grow new
each day of this wild, amazing life
you call me to live
with the passion of Jesus Christ.
Benediction for Christmas Eve
by Kate Bowler
Image credit: TrueCreatives
A Blessing for Beginning Again
God, could this be the year when we see it?
The goodness that is coming, like starlight from a distant time?
Could this be the year when we sense it?
That the springtime of the soul will one day last forever?
Could this be the year when we notice
the inbreaking of your coming promises?
Promises full of blessing:
of truth so clear, so bright that every shadowy lie must flee away.
Of compassion so deep, so strong that everyone is encircled in its embrace.
Of restoration so complete, so beautiful that there is gladness everywhere.
And of justice so satisfying and so right, that all will be well.
May this year be the new beginning, as we learn to live by the light of your coming promises.
Glimpsing the world through tears,
while also seeing something sacred shining through too.
Our Truth. Our Light. Our Promise incarnate.
Amen.
Benediction for Sunday, December 21st
by Kate Bowler
Image credit: Stefanie Heilein
A Blessing for the Coming of Justice - Kate Bowler
Blessed are we, starting to see
the height and depth and breadth
of God’s love that includes all of us,
even the not-so-perfect.
Blessed are you, Mary, for saying yes
to the big risk of being God’s dwelling place.
Blessed are we, like Mary,
starting to sing our own songs of joy
at the thought
that maybe this Advent we too can start to trust it,
to risk it, to live it out,
the love that decides to love first,
before it is earned or deserved,
the love that your incarnation embodies to the full.
Blessed are we, breathing
in the truth that we belong,
and so does everybody else.
Blessed are we who remember joy’s surprise,
who find it still waiting, disguised as grace.
Blessed are we who open our hands again,
to receive what love has already given.
Benediction for Sunday, December 14th
by Kate Bowler
Image credit: Vladimir Srajber
Blessed are you, Mary,
who said yes to a future no one else could see.
Blessed are we, trembling at the thought
that God might use us too.
Blessed are we, bone-tired,
who realize we can’t conjure peace.
Blessed are we who find it instead—
in Emmanuel, God with us.
For Christ, our peace,
is coming again into this weary world.
Blessed are we who light the candle of peace,
though the world is restless.
Blessed are we who choose song over silence,
courage over comfort.
Blessed are we, the restless ones,
striving and exhausted,
who discover that peace was never a prize to win,
but a God who will not let us go.
Reflection & Benediction for Eucharist Sunday, December 7th
by Karla Drader
Image credit: imagecore
Silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given
The Light of the world stepped into the darkness
To be with us
To share our sorrows and our joys
To share himself.
At this table, all are welcome.
At this table, all is welcome.
So let’s come to the table with all that we have
And receive all that Jesus gives.
To this table, we bring
Our lost hopes
Our expired dreams
Our quiet grief
Our disappointments
Our waiting
At this table we receive
Embrace and belonging
New hope, new promises
Comfort and healing
As we are seen and filled
Come now,
Release what is not needed.
Receive what is freely given.
O God with us,
May we have open eyes
and open hearts
to receive what you give us.
May we have the patience
to keep pace with you.
May your kingdom come here
May your will be done here
God with us, Prince of Peace.
Prayer for Sunday, November 30th
adapted from Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie
Image credit: Jimmy Liao
Benediction from John O'Donohue:
May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire
That disturbs you when you have settled for something safe.
May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease
To discover the new direction your longing wants you to take.
May you come to accept your longing as divine urgency.
May you know the urgency with which God longs for you.
Blessing for Sunday, November 23th
adapted from Illustrated Ministry
Image credit: Hakan Erenler
Immanuel, God-with-us and God of our ancestors,
From generation to generation you have walked among us,
You were here before us, and You will be here after we leave.
As generations of Jesus-followers, we join a great cloud of witnesses.
Together we remember our God who is with us, telling the stories again and again, acknowledging your goodness and faithfulness and the guiding, helpful influence of others in our lives.
Amen.
Nexus Family, we are not alone. We walk behind generations of elders
who know the path well. We walk beside other pilgrims who will support us when we are weak. And we guide the way for others who will find footing in the footprints we leave behind. We go forth in the confidence of Emmanuel, Our God is with us. And so is our great family of faith.
Blessing for Sunday, November 16th
BLESSING OF THE WELL - Jan Richardson
Image credit: Sushil Shrestha
A Samaritan woman came to draw water,
and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." -JOHN 4:7
If you stand at the edge of this blessing
and call down into it,
you will hear your words return to you.
If you lean in and listen close,
you will hear this blessing
give the story of your life
back to you.
Quiet your voice.
Quiet your judgment.
Quiet the way
you always tell your story to yourself.
Quiet all these
and you will hear the whole of it
and the hollows of it:
the spaces in the telling,
the gaps where you hesitate to go.
Sit at the rim of this blessing.
Press your ear to its lip,
its sides, its curves
that were carved out long ago
by those whose thirst
drove them deep,
those who dug into the layers
with only their hands
and hope.
Rest yourself
beside this blessing
and you will begin to hear
the sound of water entering the gaps.
Still yourself
and you will feel it
rising up within you,
filling every emptiness,
springing forth anew.
Benediction for Sunday, November 9th
A MORNING OFFERING - John O'Donohue
Image credit: Connor De-Maurie
I bless the night that nourished my heart
To set the ghosts of longing free
Into the flow and figure of dream
That went to harvest from the dark
Bread for the hunger no one sees.
All that is eternal in me
Welcomes the wonder of this day,
The field of brightness it creates
Offering time for each thing
To arise and illuminate.
I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath
The tent of thought where I shelter
Waves of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.
May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.
May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.
Liturgy for Embracing Both Joy & Sorrow for Sunday, Nov 2
(from “Every Moment Holy Vol 2: Death, Grief & Hope” by Douglas McKelvey)
Image credit: Vladimir Srajber
Do not be distant, God,
lest I find this burden of loss too heavy,
and shrink from the necessary experience of my grief.
Do not be distant, God,
lest I become so mired in yesterday’s hurts,
that I miss entirely the living gifts
this day might hold.
Let me neither ignore my pain,
pretending all is okay when it isn’t,
nor coddle and magnify my pain,
so I dull my capacity to experience
all that remains good in this life.
For joy that denies sorrow
is neither hard-won, nor true, nor eternal.
It is not real joy at all.
And sorrow that refuses to make space
for the return of joy and hope,
in the end becomes nothing more
than a temple for the worship
of my own woundedness.
So give me strength, O God,
to feel this grief deeply,
never to hide my heart from it.
And give me also hope enough
to remain open to surprising encounters with joy,
as one on a woodland path
might stumble suddenly
into dapplings of golden light.
Amidst the pain that lades these days,
give me courage, God;
courage to live them fully, to love
and to allow myself to be loved,
to remember, grieve, and honor what was,
to live with thanksgiving in what is,
and to invest in the hope of what will be.
Be at work gilding these long heartbreaks
with the advent of new joys, good friendships,
true fellowships, unexpected delights.
Remind me again and again
of your goodness, your presence, your promises.
For this is who we are:
a people of The Promise—
a people shaped in the image of the God
whose very being generates all joy in the universe,
yet who also weeps and grieves its brokenness.
So we, your children,
are also at liberty to lament our losses,
even as we simultaneously rejoice
in the hope of their coming restoration.
Let me learn now to do this
as naturally as the inhale and exhale
of a single breath:
To breathe out sorrow…to breathe in joy.
To breathe out lament…to breathe in hope.
To breathe out pain…to breathe in comfort.
To breathe out sorrow…to breathe in joy.
In one hand I grasp the burden of my grief,
while with the other I reach
for the hope of grief’s redemption.
And here, between the tension of the two,
between what was and what will be,
in the very is of now,
let my heart be surprised by,
shaped by, warmed by, remade by,
the same joy that forever wells within
and radiates from your heart, O God.
Amen.
Benediction for Sunday, Oct 26
by Karla Drader
Image credit: pixdelux
May we sense our belonging
so deeply in our bones
That we gladly, relentlessly
add more chairs to the table.
May we know so completely
that all of us is loved
That we fully accept one another.
May we feel the Divine embrace and share it
May we hear the sacred song and sing it
May we move in the world, assured of our future
And joyfully co-create it.
Amen.
Benediction for Sunday, Oct 19
Gerard Kelly
Image credit: Rain Shower by dalton00
May you always know
where the road home begins
and have the courage to walk the first mile.
May you never be too far from a lifeline
and never too far gone to dial.
May you know that the God who pursues you
is a hunter whose bullets bleed mercy.
May artful accidents of grace
explode at every turn of your journey.
May you trip over truth and fall headlong into hope.
May redemption rain down all around you.
May God's glory catch you napping
and God's story catch your breath
and God's gratuity perpetually astound you.
May choices you thought you'd made at random
turn out to be the key to moving on.
May the darkness that sometimes surrounds you
prove to be the moment before dawn.
May you bathe in the light of a prodigal sun
and be nourished by a generous earth.
May the struggles you meet make you stronger
and even old wounds bring new wonders to birth.
May you trip over truth and fall headlong into hope.
May redemption rain down all around you.
May God's glory catch you napping
and God's story catch your breath
and God's gratuity perpetually astound you.
May the unplanned kindnesses of strangers
bring to mind a long-forgotten song.
May the unexpected kisses
of a star-filled sky
remind you of where you belong.
And even if you never return
to find peace amongst those
who have so loved and so hurt you,
may you seek your soul's redeemer
and connect with your creator and make your home
with the Father who waits for you.
May you trip over truth and fall headlong into hope.
May redemption rain down all around you.
May God's glory catch you napping
and God's story catch your breath
and God's gratuity perpetually astound you.
Benediction for Sunday, Oct 12
(from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" adapted by Brad Watson)
Image credit: Karla Drader
Nexus community, you seek a great fortune,
you who are now in chains.
You will find a fortune,
though it will not be the one you seek.
First, first,
you must travel a long and difficult road,
a road fraught with peril.
You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell.
You shall see...goats... on top of cows.
and, oh, so many startlements.
I cannot tell you how long this road shall be,
but fear not the obstacles in your path,
for fate has vouchsafed your reward.
Though the road may wind,
yea, your hearts grow weary,
still shall ye follow them,
even unto your salvation.
Benediction for Sunday, October 5
by Brad Watson
Image credit: panic_attack from Getty Images
Go now in the hope that your story is not finished.
That what feels like rags may yet become the soil of resurrection.
May Christ meet you in small beginnings,
May the Spirit sustain you in your hidden middle chapters,
And may the God who wastes nothing
Lead you from rags to riches,
From death to life,
From despair to hope.
Amen
Benediction for Sunday, September 28
By Brad Watson
Image credit: Ekaterina Astakhova from Pexels
Go now in the courage of Christ,
the One who entered the house of the strong man,
who tied up the powers of sin and death,
and who broke their grip forever.
Do not be afraid of the monsters that whisper in the shadows—
for they are not people, nor are they stronger than love.
Name them, face them, and know that in Jesus,
they will not have the final word.
May you walk this week with eyes open to your battle,
with hearts steady in the Spirit’s strength,
and with hope rooted in the God
who has already swallowed death in victory.
Go in peace,
to live inside the one true story—
the story of life’s monsters overcome by love.
Amen.
Prayer for Baptism Sunday, September 21
Image credit: Ave Calvar Martinez from Pexels
Thank you God, for your presence, your love, and your grace. We pray that the Holy Spirit would guide our lives, strengthening our hearts, giving us the courage to persevere, and the gift of joy and wonder in each day, encouraging us in our walk with Jesus, and in our various communities. Amen.
We are not alone. We walk behind generations of elders who know the path well. We walk beside others who will support us when we are weak. And we guide the way for others who will find footing in the footprints we leave behind. We go forth in the confidence of Emmanuel, Our God is with us. And so is our great family of faith. (from Illustrated Ministry)
Prayer for Sunday, September 14
from John O'Donohue’s Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
Image credit:Johannes Plenio from Pexels
God of rhythm, stillness, beauty
Draw us to take the time to listen and imagine
To notice and hear the gentle voice at the heart of our lives
Deeper and surer than all the other voices
of disappointment, unease, self-criticism, bleakness.
Draw us to the holiness of learning to hear the voice of our soul
Always there, with surprises and discoveries that will continue to unfold.
Draw us to enter this gentleness
To perceive the subtle changes of tone and quality in our daily rhythm -
The shifts in what consumes us - our time, attention and energy.
Move us from hunger for the next event, experience or achievement.
Teach us to come down from the treadmill and walk on the earth.
Give us a new respect for ourselves and others
May we learn to see how wonderfully precious this one life is.
May we see reality, not settling for illusion,
No more squandering ourselves on things that deplete us.
Fill us, God, Source of life, with energy and passion
For your way of Life and Love and Light.
Amen.
Nexus, for this season and always,
May we be a church, not of walls that keep people out,
But as doors that are open wide.
May we, collectively, be a threshold of welcome,
a passage into grace,
the welcome of Christ,
a way in for the weary, the searching, and the misunderstood.
And may the God who opened the door of life in Christ
guide our steps,
so that through us,
others may find their way home.
Go in peace, to be the door.
Back to School
God, our friend who is always with us, Be with us as we ride the bus, as we walk, as we buckle seat belts, zip-up jackets, and tie shoes. Be with us as we meet new people and do new activities. However we get there, and whatever we wear, bless this journey into something new. For the grown-ups going back to school, With-Us God, be with them too. Thank you for our teachers, helpers, caregivers, and leaders, and for all they do to help us learn and grow.
God of fresh starts and new beginnings, we bring ourselves, our big feelings, our questions and hopes and fears, to you. Be with us through it all. There are endless possibilities of what this new year might bring— of what we might learn, who we might meet, and who we might become. (Eliza Mills & Kate Bowler)
New Work
May your new work inspire your heart
May your doing flow out of your being,
Your identity as Child of God
As you step into the grace of beginning, as you offer your gifts, May your work be faithful and honest
May your work bless others and may it also bless you.
Blessing on the space and the people you will encounter - both the difficult and the delightful,
Blessing on the interruptions and frustrating set backs,
Blessing on the projects and days that seem to flow easily. God be near you. (Karla Drader & John O'Donohue)
Relationships
May you never be isolated but know the embrace of soul friendships & community. May you be blessed with good friends, treasure them and learn to be a good friend to yourself, living from that place in your soul where there is love, warmth, and generosity. (John O'Donohue)
Difficult Times & Loss
Even as you wait for answers that may not come,
for hope that seems hard to find,
May you have solitude enough for solace,
and company enough for comfort,
people to be with who know how to slip quietly under the burden of this grief and shoulder it with you without much to say
May you love well, in these difficult circumstances,
and may you be well loved.
Along your way, though the truth of it all may feel unimaginable.
May you be shown how to live when you’ve lost the things you cannot get back.
May you experience God as your home and refuge
When life’s unthinkable fragility is too difficult to hold.
May God take hold of the fear, and you with it, and lead you through. (from Kate Bowler)
Nexus, whatever the season is in which you find yourself, may your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.
And may you have the power to understand,
with all God’s people, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ - Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Eph 3:17-19). Amen
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