Prayers 2 2 2014
*Welcome!
*Church Annual Meeting—Special day in the life of the church—annual reports, new directory, dedication of church leaders, memorials, and state of the church report; you thought it was the Super Bowl but it’s really the annual church meeting! 1:00 PM with time for you to see the game
*Reception Ministry, 3:00-5:00, 2nd time to attract those in SF for Chinese New Year and holiday—not for football fans!
*Honoring James Chuck, Saturday, 1:30-3:30 at ABSW; all are welcome to attend; FCBC sponsored reception at 3:30; parking is limited so plan accordingly
*Next Sunday, Jan. 9th, Joint English worship at 11:20 since the YMCA will be sponsoring their annual Chinese New Year Run; no 10:00 Worship service
*All-Church Event, Saturday, March 22, 9:00-3:30 at SF Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, 30 minutes from SF; registration materials available today, Lunch for $5.00; no other better event than to come to this All-Church Event!
*Inquirers Class to begin in just 3 weeks from today; any interests in learning more about Baptism and church membership, please see me
*Basic Bible Class; learn how the Bible came to be; begin
Prayer Concerns
Prayer of God’s People
Holy God, we cannot fully imagine the realm of which Jesus speaks, a world where the lion and lamb lie down together, where hungry are truly filled, where poor in spirit, humble, and peacemakers of the earth are given attention and honor. But we long for the fulfillment of that which Jesus unfolds before us. And we pray, O God, that having seen from Christ’s perspective, we may be so changed in heart and mind that our lives may truly follow in his way.
In this season of celebrating a New Year, we pray that our lives are not lived out for prosperity to ourselves but for the welfare and the commonwealth of all people. We pray that we may have good health and long life but never at the expense of those who may be vulnerable or may need a compassionate hand. We hope that our families and children would grow in harmony and in kind spirits only when we are mindful of those who wish to belong and may this church family become such a hospitable place for all strangers and people of the world. We wish each other a happy new year that would bring healing and wholeness in the world.
Thank you, Lord for the life and vitality of this church to celebrate yet another year of faithful service and discipleship in San Francisco and to the ends of the earth. With the sacrificial contributions of every person, young and old, English-speaking and Cantonese-speaking, we are able to achieve faithful work in the name of Jesus Christ. Bless our church and all of its members, dear God and may we continue to remain a Light of Life to people who seek Christ’s light in a darkened world.
While we pray for ourselves to have new spiritual eyesight that enables to see the world from your perspective, O God, that there is a new world coming, we also pray for others. Release for those who feel caught in society’s web. Hope for those who are disillusioned with the world as it is, that they catch God’s vision in Christ. And full satisfaction and holy wholeness for those hungering in spirit or body, and for those suffering or sorrowing. Be with…
In the name of Christ Jesus who taught us to pray, “Our Father…”
Benediction
The blessing of God, our Creator, who bids us to see him from the bottom upwards:
of Jesus, the Christ,
who shows us how to see;
of the Holy Spirit,
who enables our seeing God’s new world
be upon us.
Amen.
The Lord’s Supper
We live in a world that is incredibly diverse. Look at how different that we are without even going outside. We have different gifts that are all needed to become one community. We can’t have everyone under the lion’s head and no one being the tail. We can’t have an US Hockey Team if all were goalkeepers. We can’t have a choir if everyone wants to be the director. We are constantly being made aware of the glorious diversity that is written into the structure of the universe we inhabit.
Our granddaughter Story recently told us that we are all astronauts because the earth is in outer space. There is not just one planet or one star; there are galaxies of all sorts. When we look at the world from Story’s perspective, we see that our glorious diversity is reflecting the image of God. God is diversity in unity; the three in one that we call Trinity. Whatever our race, gender, education and social or economic status, we have infinite worth, making us precious in God’s sight.
When Jesus on the mountain preached his sermon that we have come to refer to as the Beatitudes, Jesus is teaching us that with him, we are entering a new world based on our characteristics first and foremost. Our rich diversity after all is a gift from God but when God sees the universe and we are a part of that great expanse, God sees like Story that we are all astronauts trying to become God’s new world.