Prayers 1 10 2010
*Welcome; introduce visitors
*Next Sunday—Disaster Drill, 2:00-4:00, practice emergency response and become familiar with rescue procedures and supplies; contact Nelson Wong
*CCU Thanksgiving Dinner, 5:00, Far East; see Dick Wong
*Deacons approved the User Agreement Partnership with the YMCA yesterday; opportunities for you to become familiar with the details; the hope is for the membership to approve at the Annual Meeting on Feb. 7th
Prayer Concerns
Prayer of God’s People
Let it be your words we proclaim, God who dispels the babble that confuses us. Let it be your love we share, God who cannot be touched by the hatreds that divide us. Let it be your light we reflect, God who takes no part in the darkness that hides your will in this weary world. Let it be you we worship and pray, and not the vain things that pass away. God of light, God of love, the living Word, Architect and Creator of the eternal kingdom, we pray for your presence today in our time together.
We pray in thanksgiving for the brave decision that the Deacons made yesterday to recommend the partnership with the YMCA to the whole congregation to consider. As good neighbors and partners in our Chinatown community, we pray that whatever may happen that it is your will be done. We want to expand our life-changing ministries farther than we have ever done in the past so that the Good News of Jesus Christ is known in every heart that we know. We ask for your continuing guidance and wisdom on this exciting possibility as we proceed to the next step. We give thanks for the many who have shepherd this project on our behalf.
On this Sunday of Epiphany when your revelations in the world are known to us, we pray for those in our church and our communities to hear your voice, to sense your presence, to see your creatively wonderful signs that you are real for us. We pray for those who need your presence especially during times of doubt and uncertainty, times of illness and poor health, times of aimlessness and times of fear. Be with…
God is saying to you, because you are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you, I will do whatever it takes to free you! Do not fear, for I am with you. We lift up all these thoughts and prayers in the name of our Lord who taught us to pray together, “Our Father…”
Offering
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
Let us pray. May this offering be received in the Spirit with which it was given. May the faithful witness every widow’s mite magnify our whole offering. May the steadfast love of our savior Jesus Christ guide the focus on how to spend these offerings for your work. May your will be done, God of Giving, in every aspect of the ministry we share. In Christ, we pray. Amen.
Benediction
God has called the many to become the one church, a model of God’s reign. As we depart, let us remember to share all that God has given to us in the name of Jesus Christ, so we may fully participate in all that God has for us.
Get ready. The model church is leaving the station! Amen.