Prayers 8 21 2011
*Welcome! Welcome Rev. Steve Bills, ABC, Oregon
*Summer Series with Steve Bils on church affiliation, 11:30-12:30
*FCBC Sports Award Dinner, 5:30-8:00, Fellowship Hall
*Next Sunday, Annual Church Picnic & Outdoor Worship begins at 10:30, Ortega Park, Sunnyvale; Picnic tickets still available
*Ping Pong Tournament, Sept. 25, sign-up forms available today
9:10 Worship
*No 9:10 Worship next Sunday at FCBC
*College/YA Retreat at Happy Valley, Santa Cruz, Labor Day weekend; see Ian Heung and Donald Ma to register
10:20 Worship
*No 10:20 Worship next Sunday at FCBC
*Family Camp on “Birth Order” at Happy Valley, Labor Day Weekend; see Courtney Tong or Alan Fong to register
*Today we are being led in singing by the 9:10 Praise Team—Ian, Nate, and Shannon!
9:10 Worship
Commissioning Prayer for Nate Lee
Plan to visit Nate in March 2012. A small token for his pocket—olive wood cross from Bethlehem.
Let us pray. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on Nate Lee. Consecrate him for this one year of doing mission in the city of Chicago. Give him wisdom to discern the mind of Christ, compassion for human need, and love toward all those to whom he will be called to minister. Strengthen and nourish his faith. Make his immersion into the work of missions be meaningful and life changing in order that his work in your church be fruitful. We’ll pray for him every day and look forward to his return to bless us and inspire us with his experience. Protect him from all danger and to watch over his every step. May God’s Spirit be his this day and throughout the whole of his life. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
Prayer Concerns
*Miles Smith, accident last Sunday, recovering from multiple injuries but stable; Dan and Kris Smith, and Chen Family
*Search Committee will meet on August 29
*Somalia/Africa Hunger Relief Special Offering on Set. 11 and 18
Prayer of God’s People
Gracious Lord God, bless us with spiritual wakefulness as we come to worship you today. Open our eyes to your revelations. Stir our hearts to consider each other as your blessed children. May we hear, even if only as from afar, the singing of angels in our singing, the voice of heaven in our sharing, and the joy of salvation in our greetings.
Help us to be mindful of your presence in our ordeals and trials. While we are worried about the global economy with many people including our friends who are unemployed and underemployed, our retirement pensions losing their values, a heightened sense of anxiety and uncertainty about our future, we pray that we are also mindful of the great and tragic devastation of human life in Somalia, Ethiopia, and other African nations that are suffering from famine and hunger. We pray that when we receive our special offering in a couple of weeks, that whatever we can do to alleviate such unimaginable lost of human life, can bring hope and rescue.
As your church on earth and specifically in Chinatown, Lord, continue to bless us with an urgent sense of doing mission and ministry to win more to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Be with the Search Committee as they review applications from a group of dedicated servants of Christ to discern our new Associate Pastor of English-speaking Ministries. May this process be productive and your church strengthened by the work that we do here in the name of Christ. Be with and protect Nate Lee as he embarks on his Mission Year experience in Chicago this week. We look forward to hearing about his mission and the contributions that he will make with the work that he will do as well as the learnings that he will bring back to our church. Lord, continue calling us to engage in your mission both at home and in other countries.
When your children cry out and cry in the darkness for your kingdom to come and your will to be done, we pray for Miles Smith today as he continues to make slow but steady progress from his injuries after being hit by a car. Grant him mercy and a miracle. Be with Dan and Kris as they nurse their son back to health and to trust you, Lord for your comfort and support. Bless…
We pray all these things in the name of the Christ, the Anointed One, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, now and forever, who taught us to pray together, “Our Father…”
Benediction
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,
So that you may discern what is the will of God—
What is good and acceptable and perfect.
May the blessings of God be revealed in your life.
Go forward and proclaim God’s love! Amen.