In Psalm 24 David wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” On a beautiful sunny day, when it appears as though spring may actually spring once again, we are reminded of how good the earth is, and how everything in it, including us, belongs to God. We join together in praise of a God who gives us life in abundance, and who makes it possible for everyone to share in that abundance, if we will but agree politically and economically on how to make that happen. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God of wondrous plenty.
Pastoral Prayer
We praise and thank Thee, O Lord our God, for all the blessings we have as residents of this astonishing and fruitful planet. We marvel at how delicate is the balance between a planet being too close or too far from the star which supplies its energy, and that of many possibilities, we are in the right place at the right time and at the right distance from our star, the sun. Every plant and tree is a gift to us from Thee, every animal and fish, the air we breathe the land we farm, and all the natural resources we use to sustain and enhance our lives. Teach us to live in greater gratitude for Thy bounty, and to use it more wisely for all Thy children all over the world, especially the poorest and the most readily overlooked.
We ask for Thy healing power to be with all who are afflicted with disease, illness, or pain, and especially with those who have suffered a long time with their afflictions. Grant them both hope and solace: hope, that things will somehow and in some way get better, and solace, that in the midst of their troubles, they can sense Thy presence with them. Bless those who grieve over the death of loved ones, and particularly we pray for one in our midst who hast lost her beloved husband. We pray also for all of us in his loss. Give to us the ability to look squarely at death, without being bowled over by it, and then to look past it, to what we trust is a life that transcends death with an eternal life, whatever that might mean.
We confess before Thee, Lord God, that we do not always do what we should. We make poor choices, we take wrong turns, we say things we should never have said, and we refrain from saying things we most surely should have said. We abhor thinking of ourselves as bad, but we admit that we do bad things. Forgive us, and help us also to forgive one another for the pain which we inflict on one another. Assist us as we try to live more like Jesus, who loved all, and gave himself up for all. Keep us from constantly counting the cost of discipleship, and instead enable us to plunge courageously into discipleship, whatever may be the cost. All these things we pray in the name of Jesus. Now we pray together the prayer he taught his original followers, saying, Our Father….