Prayers

General Prayers:

A: Let us pray,

C: O God, we know the way of love is through Your Son Jesus Christ. Inspire us to pour out that love to people everywhere: in our homes, our communities, our nation, our world. Amen.

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P: God calls us into relationship through Christ Jesus, promising to be with us, guide us, love us and save us. Step into that relationship now, and call on the name of God, sharing all things: praise and thanksgiving, uncertainties and sorrows, questions and requests, for God hears us, loves us and answers us.

(All share concerns, joys, requests, etc.)

After each prayer concern, all respond:

C: In your mercy, hear us, O God.

When all finished the pastor concludes...

P: Let us pray,

C: Dear God, your creative and loving power has brought us into being, fitting us for a life which is complete only through you. Grant us the joy of your creation, the knowledge of your will, the inspiration to understand, and the courage to lead our congregation. Inspire us to prophesy and create forms of worship so that all who come seeking you might be touched, challenged and filled by your Holy Spirit. Take and use our words and music, litanies and liturgies, rites and rituals to further your will. We ask this in the name of the one who brings us back into a right relationship with you, your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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P: O God of all, we thank you for the gift of life which you have given us in Christ Jesus, who in full divine knowledge became human, walked with us, lived with us, suffered with us and, in a sacrifice beyond comprehension, gave up immortality for death in order that we might regain the life we lost to sin. Teach us to honor all life, all creation, that we might be good stewards of what you have given into our care. Be with us if, like Christ, we are called to endure suffering and death in order that others might live; we ask this in Jesus' Name.

C: Amen.

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P: Even in the dark places of this world God's love lives in our hearts and shines in those around us, giving us the joy of knowing the immediacy of life. Taste and see that God is good.

C: Amen.

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Prayer from the Women’s Retreat of October 15-17, 2010

During the retreat we reflected on the ways in which we have been affected by members we have known, those still with us and others who are no longer in our midst. We spoke aloud of why they were so special to us and why we admired them. From that, we formulated the following prayer.

From the lives that have touched ours, past and present, we ask God’s help to embrace their qualities:

Devotion to God

Diakonia, the service of love and faith

Openness to sharing our lives with others

Willingness to be involved

Frankness with a humble spirit

Courage

Humor

A loving nature

To have the ability to take delight in the everyday

To be women and men of prayer

To have strength with kindness

To not regard age as a barrier to faith

To have the strength to find and retain faith through opposition

To be fun but firm, to be solid in faith and commitment

To have a quiet grace that walks with God.

Amen.

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A: God of love, you have brought us into community with people of every time and place through your Son Jesus Christ. We give you thanks and praise for this gift. Open the hearts of all your people that we may see our differences as a joyful expression of your never-ending creation. Instill in us a spirit of acceptance and understanding that we may be Christ to our nation and our world.

C: Amen.

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A: God of all the ages we call upon you and praise your name for you have reached across time and space and touched us with the gift of love.

C: Help us to be an Advent people, a people always waiting, always watching, always seeking signs of your love and favor. Open us to see the breaking through of your kingdom into our world so that we may cry out with all creation at the glory of our Lord. Amen.

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A: Let us pray. So marvelous are your works, O God!

C: So wondrous are your deeds. Hidden from our eyes, you move to save us. In the quietest of ways you set in motion the greatest of tasks. Intricately wrought, eternal in scope, human in execution, you bring your saving love to fulfillment through our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Empower us to carry that love with us and move us to do your will in this world. Amen.

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Offering Prayers:

A: Let us pray. O God,

C: We bring to you our goods, our work and our lives. Our praise and thanks are Yours alone for you are God. You alone give us life. You alone provide for our every need. Thanks be to God. Amen.

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A: Let us pray. Lord of Love,

C: You gave us the greatest gift of all, our Savior Jesus Christ. We ask that you accept the gifts we bring: our goods, our time and our talents. Use them as You will for your purpose. Thanks be to God. Amen.

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A: Let us pray,

C: God of all, thank you for the life you give me, the goods which you supplied to me, the power to make a difference in this world. Be with me in my daily tasks, my daily joys, my daily sorrows, so that every day, every minute belongs to you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

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A: Let us pray,

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A: We stand before you, O God, on the pathways of our lives, and offer you our thanks and praise.

C: God of all power and might, the world and all that is in it belongs to you. Our gratitude and devotion are yours for all the wonders of the sacred life you have bestowed in our care, for the skills, understanding and gifts you have given us to preserve that life. From you come all good things and out of our gratitude we accept those gifts and use them with joy and care in your name. Grant us the wisdom and knowledge to be your agents, to love and care for the world in all it's diversity, as you love and care for us, your children. Amen.

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A: O God of our being, we give you thanks and praise for the life you have given us.

C: You have created us and restored us, blessing us with more than we can ever name or ever repay. We offer to you, O God, these tokens of love and gratitude: our time, our talents, our possessions. Use them and us as you will for we are yours. Amen.

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A: Lord of all, we give you thanks and praise,

C: For you have richly blessed us in this nation with an overflowing wealth of health, peace, safety, and all things needed for our daily lives. By those blessings you entrust us with greater responsibility towards others less blessed. May we never take for granted what you have bestowed us, and always seek to share those blessings with those less fortunate. Amen.

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C: Amen.

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A: Let us pray,

C: God of all life, you have given us so much: family and friends, faith and hope, possessions and prosperity — more than we can ever know. Accept our thanks and praise. Grant that we may always be overflowing with your glory so that our lives become a song of praise to you. Amen.

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A: Let us pray,

C: O God of all grace, we thank you for the gifts you have given us: our lives, our talents, our goods. We return them to you so that you may use them and us for your purpose in this world. Let the glow of your fire shine in our souls that we may be your light to the world. Amen.

Sending Prayers:

A: Lord of all life and light, you sustain us with your very self, giving us food for our journey. Grace us with your continuing presence that we may be an active part of your work in our world, sharing the Easter message of Christ Jesus that all may come to know The Way, The Truth and The Life.

C: Amen.

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A: Lord of all life and light, you sustain us with your very self, giving us food for our journey. Grace us with your continuing presence that we may be an active part of your work in our world, sharing the message of Christ Jesus that all may come to know The Way, The Truth and The Life.

C: Amen.

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P: In the quiet of the our souls, in the comfort of your love we come to you, O Lord. We come for help; we come for wholeness; we come for forgiveness and love. For in the death of Christ is our death. In the life of Christ is our salvation. We live and die with Christ, our Lord.

All: Amen.

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P: God has filled you with the Holy Spirit and nourished you with the body and blood of Christ Jesus at this feast of love. May you become God's upright cup of blessing spilling out God's gifts to all the world. Go in peace and joy knowing you are a child of the risen God.

C: Amen.

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A: You have had mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;

C: According to your abundant mercy you have blotted out my transgressions. You have washed me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleansed me from my sin. You have hidden your face from my sins, and blotted out all my iniquities. You send me forth a new person. Amen.

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A: Let us pray,

C: Light of God Jesus Christ, you come to us in your meal of love. Nourish us that we may be an advent people: seeking the truth of your Word, instilled with a longing to see God. May we be infused with the presence of God which spills out into the world enriching everyone we meet in our daily activities, singing the glory of God in our lives. Amen.

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A: Let us pray.

C: Lord God, you have come to us through all the ages, joining us with your people in all times and places in one Holy Communion, through the body and blood of your Son, Jesus Christ. Come to us every hour of every day so that we may forever be in your loving care. Amen.

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A: Let us pray.

C: We thank you God of all for refreshing and renewing us, filling us with the joy and excitement of your all-encompassing love. Grant that we may live our lives in joyful service to you.

A: As we continue together on our walk of life in Christ, let us remember always to look for God, always alert and aware that we meet God wherever we go.

C: Amen

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