Prayers 11 4 2012
*Welcome
*Special OGHS Offering for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts through ABC and Church World Service; 100% of funds will be used in the disaster; today and next Sunday
*Special Membership Meeting today, 1:30; consider the proposed Sunday morning schedule; one agenda meeting that we expect to be short
*Pastor Visal Sok’s installation, next Sunday, Nov. 11, 3:00; parents coming, Rev. Abraham Bates bringing the message; reception following
*2013 Pledges; please make a pledge/contribution to FCBC for next year
*All-Church Fall Clean-up; Saturday, Nov. 17, 8:30; at least 2 representatives from each of our fellowship groups
*Thanksgiving Luncheon tickets; available today
*Men’s Retreat, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, Redwood Glen; register with Nelson Wong
*Gift Planning emphasis today—Wendy Quan
Prayer Concerns
*Victims and tragedy from Hurricane Sandy
*Rosalind “Roz” Wong with cancer in the bones and liver; in hospice care; cousin of Butch Chan and good friends to Butch and Gayle and Fed and Carolyn Hee
*Tommy Lim’s mother of 101 years of age, passed last on Friday night; services are:
Prayer of God’s People
Lord Jesus, most of us gathered here today are not spectacular saints. We are ordinary Christians. Most of us will not be noted for our heroic feats of love; we will be remembered, if at all, for our ordinary, everyday fulfillment of our duties. Few of us will know the blessing of spectacular revelation and dramatic, divine visions; we will know you through the ordinary means of grace—reading scripture, listening to a sermon, singing a hymn, getting up on a Sunday morning and coming to church.
As ordinary Christians that we are, we are bold enough to approach you in worship, are brash enough to ask for your aid in our daily living, confident that you save the world by working through ordinary people to perform your extraordinary acts of mercy.
In the aftermath of seeing nature’s powerful storms that have created great and pressing needs in the East Coast, we pray for relief and restoration to daily life. May we give in our ordinary means to participate in your extraordinary acts of mercy.
This church that you have blessed us with for so many years continues to strive to remain faithful to your mission on earth and specifically in Chinatown. While there are matters of personal preferences and conveniences that are important, lead us, Lord to open our eyes to see the larger picture of your plan for our church. We pray for today’s Membership Meeting that will lead us to more meaningful worship, more reasonable Sunday school times, and ultimately, to be even more effective in reaching out to people to know the love of Christ in their lives. We pray that you will use us as ordinary people to participate in your extraordinary acts of loving-kindness for each other.
In our circles of friends, Lord, we have family and friends who are suffering and are in need of comfort. We pray for Rosalind Wong who is in hospice and that these days would be filled with conversations and memories that are blessings to everyone. Bless her and her husband Ed at this tender time. We pray for Tommy and Jimmy Lim and their entire family as they mourn the passing of Po Po Lim on Friday night. We are grateful when she had the opportunities to come to church and to confess that Jesus is her God. Bless the Lim family giving them the assurance that their loved one is with the Lord.
As you have blessed us with abundance and blessings beyond our imaginations, we pray that we would also have the giving heart to return a portion as a cheerful giver. Stir in us the passion to commit to the life-changing ministries of this church when we pledge to the work in 2013. Use us for evangelism. Gather us in fellowship. And together, let us go out into this needy world to bring Good News of Jesus Christ, whose name we pray and who taught us to pray together, “Our Father…”
The Lord’s Supper
Following Jesus isn’t about arriving somewhere—no specific destination, no station sign that says, “You have arrived.”
Following Jesus isn’t about attaining a specific, measurable goal, or understanding a truth.
Following Jesus is about following—about a movement; about days that haven’t happened, people one hasn’t met, places one hasn’t gone, and forgiveness one hasn’t requested—not yet.
Following Jesus starts wherever it starts but then goes on to the edge and around the corner. Clinging to the “hour I first believed” is never enough. Telling yesterday’s story and polishing yesterday’s truths are never enough.
Faith is a journey. It takes us beyond memory, beyond understanding, beyond comfort, beyond control. Faith is about a road, not a specific place on the road. Along the way, we will see new things, as Jesus promised, hear new words, reconsider old words. New companions will appear, and they will stretch us. New needs will require us to abandon former ways of perceiving reality.
We will feel tongue-tied, rootless and unsettled. And that is exactly where Jesus wants us to be. For then we can share Abraham’s journey to a land he had never seen, and Moses’ journey to a land that existed only as a promise, and the exiles’ return to a home they couldn’t find, and Jesus’ journey to a hill outside the city and then beyond their sight.
Benediction
Go west. God is walking with you.
Where you go, God goes.
Where you stay, God stays.
God’s people are our people!
God is God, and all shall be well. Amen.