On a holiday weekend we remember the date on which our country declared its independence from its mother country. We thank God for the existence of the United States of America, for its history, and for its place in the world today. On this day we, along with every other congregation in Christendom, gather in unfamiliar circumstances because of a worldwide plague. Let us, with challenged convictions because of all the unique factors currently facing us, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
O Thou who art the God of all nations, we bow before Thee on a holiday weekend of our nation, asking for Thy blessings on all we have done which is in alignment with Thy purposes, for Thy guidance in what we are doing and shall yet do, and for Thy forgiveness in decisions and actions our nation has taken which were at cross purposes with Thy will for us. Bless all our leaders as they seek the best policies for our own people and for all the peoples of the world. Grant them wisdom, courage, humility, and broad perspectives in everything they seek to do. Bless all the citizens of the United States of America, especially those who have benefitted the least from being citizens. Through Thy spirit moving within our spirits, may their concerns become top concerns for all of us.
We pray for leaders of Christianity and all other religions. In many lands and in many cultures, many of them are faced with declining interest in what religion offers, and they may have become deeply discouraged by this decline. We pray for Thy presence within the leadership of non-profit organizations who are attempting to minister to people in great need because of the pandemic, and who lack the resources and the volunteers to reach out to the needy as effectively as they once did. We pray for governments throughout the world who feel that they have provided all the assistance they can afford to their citizens, and who are now powerless to do any more to help those who are fighting a losing battle against illness and adversity.
Lord God, we ask Thee to be with each of us as we attempt to live as easily as we can with other people whose behavior and actions disappoint or dismay us: with those in power whom we think misuse their power; with those close to us who have not measured up to what we think they should do; with individuals we have long admired whom we believe have let us down; and with ourselves, when we know we have failed to become the people we wanted to be. Grant us a forgiving spirit for the human foibles of everyone else and an abiding determination to change those features in our own behavior we detest and would like to disown, but cannot do so. Be with us on each step of our journeys, for without Thee we become lost and lonely. All our prayers we offer to Thee in the name of Christ Jesus, our earthly Lord and Master. Now we pray as he taught us, saying, Our Father….