Call to Worship - September 27, 2015
The cross is the universal symbol for the Christian faith. There are crosses on or in nearly every church in Christendom, and many crosses in many of them. It is a very familiar, powerful, beloved, and odd symbol. What does the cross mean? What should it mean? That will be the issue we address in our worship today as we sing about, pray about, and think about the cross. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
In our country we have been uniquely blessed during this past week by the presence among us of a great and good man, Pope Francis I. We thank Thee for Thy grace which flows so visibly through his life, for the inclusivity of his spirit, for the extraordinary kindness of his actions, and for the humble nature he has brought to the most important office in Christianity. He has asked us to pray for him, and happily we do that, Lord God. Bless this man who is such a blessing to the world. Give him the energy to fulfill the demands of his daily schedule, the wisdom to tread his way among many conflicting factions within Catholicism, and the stamina to continue in his singular ecumenical ministry for as many years as humanly, and divinely, possible. Viva il Papa’, Lord God; long live Pope Francis.
We pray as well for the ecumenical Roman Catholic Church as it extends its outreach in virtually every land on earth. We ask Thee to inspire more men and women to become priests and nuns in Mother Church, to re-commit the many millions of Catholic lay people who have drifted away from the Church, and to guide the leadership of the Church of Rome to take the difficult but necessary positions to make these other things happen. We who are Protestants confess that we would ultimately likely not be Christians at all were it not for the Catholic Church.
And as we pray for the Catholic Church, we pray also for all Churches and denominations and branches within the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ. Grant vision to those who have lost it, hope to those who believe it has eluded them for far too long, and trust that because Thou art the Lord of the Church. that in the end, all somehow will turn out well. Keep us from giving in to despair, and instead may we learn more gracefully and eagerly to accept the leading of Thy spirit among us. These things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, whom we believe to be the Head of the Church. Now we pray together as Jesus first taught his first disciples, saying, Our Father….