Prayers 12 7 2008
*Membership Meeting today, 1:30, testimonies form candidates for Baptism, election of officers, board and committee members, and the adoption of the 2009 revised Proposed Budget; pork buns and tea available before the meeting
*2009 Canvass Pledge to support next year’s church’s ministry
*Next Sunday worship is 9:30 Joint English Worship with Baptism; Sidewalk Reception immediately after the service from 11:00-11:30
*Christmas Eve Candlelight Service on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 7:30
Prayer Concerns
*Walter Owyang, friend of the church has been diagnosed with lung cancer
Prayer of God’s People
Come to us, Lord Jesus, and bring us the gift of new insight. Let us not leave this place today unchallenged by the prophet’s call to change, to repent. Thank you Lord, for sending prophets to us. In every era there have been spokespersons you sent to your people to bring a message that we didn’t welcome. The prophets of old—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Micah—spoke words of judgment to your people. You sent John the Baptist to tell your people to repent and change their ways. Even today, we don’t find it easy to welcome those whose message tells us to change what we are doing. Thank you, God, for loving us enough to transform us. Forgive us when we turn away from you believing that we are in control when we are not. Help us to give our pride to you so we might live fully in your grace.
Lord, we are truly blessed with a vibrant congregation that is willing to trust their lives on you to meet all of their needs and to define who we are. We pray for the four young adults who will be sharing their Christian testimonies this afternoon as the next step toward a lifetime of faithful discipleship. Guide our church and instill in us the wisdom of your plan to envision new strategies and start programs and to share this wonderful ministry with Pastor Peter Lee as we elect new officers, board and committee members and adopt the budget for 2009. Grant us the opportunity to serve you once again in the coming of the New Year.
God, we pray that your spirit will rest on all who need you. Be with our friend, Walter Owyang and his wife Ginny in this time of great concern and worry. Encourage Walter at this time as he fights cancer in his body and that Ginny will have the strength to comfort and support him in the days ahead. Be with…
In this beautiful season of Advent waiting and pondering the meaning of the birth of our Savior once again in our lives and for the world, we seek your mercy and pray for your grace. All these prayers we pray in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together, saying, “Our Father…”
The Lord’s Supper
Come to this table, not because you must but because you may; come to testify not that you are righteous but that you sincerely love our Lord Jesus Christ and desire to be his true disciples.
Come not because you are strong, but because you are weak; not because you have any claim on heaven’s reward, but because in your frailty and sin you stand in constant need of heaven’s mercy and help; come, not to express an opinion, but to seek a Presence and to pray for a Spirit; come not because you have all the answers but that in this season of Advent to anticipate the Good News to all people that come from Christ the Lord.
And now that the Supper of the Lord is spread before you, lift up your minds and hearts above all selfish fears and cares. Let this bread and this cup be to you the witness and signs of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray. Our Father, who has made known to us in Christ, we pray that we may feel your presence here today and that your Spirit and way of life may be real to us. We thank you for these symbols of our Lord’s broken body and shed blood which remind us that he gave his life that we may see in him your love for us. Help us to know that in your love we have grace and mercy through which all of our repented sins are forgiven and by which our lives may be transformed with newness. We come before you remembering that even as you love and forgive us, so ought we to love and forgive one another. Strengthen our faith in Christ and help us to be consecrated in the way of him. Amen.
Benediction
Be comforted by the tender words spoken to God’s people.
Be challenged by the prophet’s call to repentance.
Be faithful to God who has called you to pray and who is now sending you to serve.
Receive the blessing of God—the Creator, Savior, and Spirit.
May God’s peace be with you.