Prayers 8 5 2012
*Welcome!
*Summer Series with Mike Socia and Redwood Glen Update
*
Prayer Concerns
*Success of Youth Camp
Prayer of God’s People
Gracious God, we are thankful for the beauty of your creation around us and the beauty that we see in one another. We pray that you will find your central place in our lives as well as in this church that have been built on the love and commandment of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
During these summer days when we would like to slow down and to rest for awhile, we pray that you would grant us the mercies to do that. In so doing, we may also become refreshed and recharged to continue to carry out your kingdom work on earth as we know it is in heaven. We thank you for the life-changing ministry of Youth Camp and the support that we received from all who make this possible that youth and young people would know your sacrificial love that we have in Jesus Christ our Savior. We pray that those who made first-time decisions as well as those who rededicated themselves to Christ will walk faithfully toward a public profession of faith.
Dear Lord, have mercy on us when we continue to pray for peace around the world so that all your children may grow up and serve you according to your plans for them. As we are often thrilled by what we cheer for at this year’s London Olympics when over 200 nations have come together to play competitively but in the spirit of respect and cooperation, we are left with the hope to pray for that kind of love and peace to last forever. Grant us the courage to work together for the ultimate good of all humankind.
Loving God, we pray for our loved ones and those who have become our circle of friends who may be in need of your healing miracles and the promise of a new day. Be with… Show us that when we have given up and lost all hope that in you, O God, all things are possible. Reveal to us again that in Christ, you have knitted us together when we were once strangers and aliens to each other. Lead us to trust you with our lives and to work together to praise your name.
All these things both spoken as well as those that are buried deeply in our souls, we lift up to you in prayer as we pray the prayer that Jesus Christ taught us to say, “Our Father…”
The Lord’s Supper
There’s a story about a man selling Christmas trees. A poor couple showed up, late in the season, in search of a tree. There wasn’t much left on the lot, and certainly nothing in their price range (which was next to nothing).
Finally, the poor couple came up with a Scotch pine that looked okay on one side, but was bare on the other. Nearby was a similar tree that was much the same. They asked the man if he’d sell them both trees for $3. Realizing he wasn’t likely to sell either sad-looking tree for any price, the man agreed.
A few days later, the man was walking down the street and saw a beautiful tree in the couple’s apartment window. It was thick, full, well-rounded. He knocked on the door and asked them where it had come from.
They told him how they had placed the two trees close together where the branches were thin, and had interwoven the good branches.
So the man who sold the trees said, “So that’s the secret. You take two trees that aren’t perfect, that have flaws, that might even be homely, that maybe nobody else would want. If you put them together just right, you can come up with something really beautiful.”
Just like when two deformed trees are brought together, their good branches inter connecting and inter-woven together make a beautiful tree, we as individuals with our imperfections and weaknesses can come together in relationship in the name of Jesus Christ, we are indeed beautiful.
Benediction
Dear Friends, lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
With humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love,
Making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Go and celebrate the interconnections we have in Jesus Christ. Amen.