Prayers 8 14 2011
*Welcome
*Summer Series—Rev. Debbie Lee on community organizing for immigrant rights—hotel workers; special guests
*Next Sunday—Rev. Steve Bills, Executive Minister of ABC, Oregon will be preaching and leading Summer Series
*Family Camp, College/YA Retreat, and Church Picnic tickets
*For our special music today, we have Alvin Tong, Charles and Anita Yong from our 11:30 congregation leading a couple of songs
Prayer Concerns
*Famine and hunger in Somalia and other parts of Africa
*Pastoral Search deadline for application is tomorrow; the committee will meet on August 29 to review applications
*Robert Mah’s grandmother, Wai Ching Mah passed on August 11; she was 97; funeral services will be at McAvoy, O’Hara on Geary and 10th Avenue; Saturday, August 20, 1:00/1:30
*US soldiers who perished in Afghanistan; one of the Seals was the grandson of Rev. Roy Herndon, a long-time ABC pastor here in Northern California
Prayer of God’s People
Dear God, here we are, once more bowing our heads and opening our hearts and minds to you in prayer. We come first of all with our gratitude for your many blessings, those times in the past week when you have been with us; inspiring and strengthening us through the Holy Spirit. We see this in the way we care for our families, reach out to our neighbors, and bear witness of our faith in our workplaces.
We come with our many concerns as well; for ourselves and for others, for our country and for the world. We lift up to you our loved ones and friends who are ill, praying that they will be restored and sent back to work with us in sharing your love. We pray for those who protect and serve us as soldiers so far away from home and placed at great risk and harm. Comfort the many families who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and give them peace. Guide and strengthen those who lead us, in our cities and states and in Washington that they look beyond self-interest and seek the good and welfare of all peoples. We pray for hope and life-saving supplies to reach Somalia and other parts of starving Africa that every child and every person who dies as the result of inequities may have been the one who could have found an answer to cancer or discover a new energy source or write a new novel. We pray for the injustices that happen in our own city and look forward to learning more about what we can do for the wellbeing of hotel workers and newcomers in our communities.
As we face a new week, continue to walk with us into our homes, offices, school—wherever we are called, so that we might feel your presence and know that whatever burdens we bear or tasks that challenge us, we can do all things through Christ. Be with Robert Mah and his family this week as they remember the long and faithful life of his grandmother.
Lord, your embrace and reach are beyond our own. As your faithful followers, help us to be a part of your expansive reach to receive all sinners and to reach out to all outcasts. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth and the life. Amen.
Benediction
Reach out in Christ’s name.
Embrace the world in God’s love.
Receive all of God’s children in the Holy Spirit.
And Jesus will say, “Beloved, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”
Amen.