Prayers 3 11 2012
*Welcome! With the time change, you are on time!
*Women’s Retreat at San Damiano this weekend
*AFC Offering this month
*Pastoral Search Update—only 2 candidates, one declined to pursue the possibility; meeting next Sunday
*Live in Harmony this year on May 27, Day of Pentecost; register with Wendy Quan of your interest to participate in a musical piece
*3 on 3 Basketball tournament this afternoon at the YMCA
*Senior Center this Wednesday with Danny Lee talking about the “National Dollar Store,” 12:00; see Anna and Dick Wong to register
Prayer Concerns
*CCU Softball Committee member, Gordon Lee from Cornerstone died on March 9 after suffering from a stroke about a week ago; Gordon was a young man with a big heart; Services will be at Cypress Lawn on March 17, time to be determined
*My first cousin, Melvin Ang who retired after working in foreign service with the State Dept. succumbed to fighting cancer in the past 1 ½ years on March 6; there will be a Memorial Service on Saturday, March 24, 11:00 AM at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in San Rafael followed by a luncheon in their home; in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to FCBC
*David Wong felled and sustained some facial cuts
*Fred Hee was in UCSF with low hemoglobin and high creatinine but since returned home
*Helen Poon’s husband, Chung Yau Poon is in St. Francis ICU with inflammation of the lung
Prayer of God’s People
O God, we come before you with word and song, with thanksgiving and praise. We come to honor you without fretting, without attention to time, in rest. Speak to us in silence and sound. May we hear you in this place in action, in word, in all that we see and hear and say, in what is known, and in what will be revealed.
Lord, our hearts are burdened by sadness and worry when family and friends are no longer with us or experiencing troubling health concerns. We lift up for your tender mercies and healing grace, Fred Hee, Chung Yau Poon, and David Wong today. Grant them hope and encouragement of wellness. We pray for the families and friends whose loved ones have departed from this world but have continued their journey with you in the next. Be with the family of Gordon Lee who gave unselfishly to youth who played the game of softball. May he be playing catch with you today. Bless Wende Ang and her family as they grieved the passing of my cousin, Melvin Ang who spent his entire life striving to bring better understanding and respect among people and between nations. We pray for Helen Poon’s husband, Chung Yau Poon for recovery and healing.
Dear God, we pray for the ongoing mission of transformation of lives and social systems that will be according to your will and purpose for the world. Guide the Search Committee as they decide who may be the servant to join in faithful ministry with us today. Bless the women at the retreat this weekend that their experience of renewal and deepening faith would provide them with a commitment for ministry. And challenge us, Lord, to be mindful of the home mission fields in the United States where the Good News of Jesus Christ needs to be preached and persons to be saved. Lead us to give to the America for Christ Offering that will strengthen our ability to advance you kingdom work.
In this season of Lent, we ask for your forgiveness when we expect others to obey when we don’t. We hold others to the letter of the law, while we ourselves cling to what we try to justify as being more knowledgeable. Forgive us, Lord when we think that our human wisdom is sufficient to know your will and lead us to believe that the foolishness of the cross is truer than human wisdom or human strength. We pray all of these things in the name of Christ the Lord who taught us to pray together, “Our Father…”
Benediction
May you be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of God.
Let us go and boast in the Lord for God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom,
And God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Amen.