We gather in praise of a God who is supremely worthy to be praised. We come at His bidding, not because we are uniquely qualified to do so, but because He is uniquely qualified to call us. In worship we are reminded continuously of the grace and goodness of God, and we are moved to thank Him because of His kindness toward us. It is our privilege to join together in gratitude to the One who has given us life and love. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
Having come through another highly and closely contested election, O God, we ask for Thy guidance in leading all of us through the next four years. Grant to the American populace a spirit of equanimity, and especially to the President and Members of Congress a willingness to compromise for the many necessary decisions which face us. We pray that all the individuals who have been elected may not perceive their election to be an individual mandate, but that instead they have been elected collectively to work together with everyone in Congress to seek a mandate for the best and wisest choices facing our people. We pray also for the candidates who lost their election, asking that Thou wouldst inspire them in them ways for other pursuits, and that the experience of political loss will not be for them a great personal loss.
We pray for family members everywhere who are faced with major decisions which must be made or discussions which must be faced, and there is little or no agreement as a starting place for those discussions. Grant equanimity of spirit those who find it very difficult to broach subjects they know will cause disagreements, but which must be addressed nonetheless. Help us in the relationships of blood or marriage to be as open and honest as we are with those with whom we have established relationships of choice. May all who love us the most and whom we love the most be as candid as we are with those with whom we have evolved close mutual friendships.
We ask Thy forgiveness for all the times we have wronged those around us, and for the selfishness of both our thoughts and our actions. We pray for anyone we have hurt through our behavior. We remember also those who recently have suffered major setbacks in life: through the death of a loved one, the onslaught of an illness, anxieties caused by certain relatives or friends being in harm’s way, psychological dips prompted for no discernible reason but which take their toll anyway, and for battles with a relentless and utterly apathetic virus. Uphold all of us in all our needs, O Thou who art a loving and grace-filled God. These things we pray in the name of Jesus, now praying together as he taught his followers, saying, Our Father….