We gather in worship of God who, it has long been claimed, is everywhere. He is in the beauty of the sunrise, in the ever-ready smile of a year-old baby, in the unexpected kindness of people toward friends and acquaintances. He is also in tragedies and accidents and warfare, in sorrow and sadness and pain. There is nothing we can experience from which God is ever absent. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God of divine omnipresence.
Pastoral Prayer
All praise be to Thee, Lord God , who art the Father of us all, for all Thy blessings to us, blessings without number. All praise be to Thee for creating the world, and for creating it good. Praise be to Thee for not giving up on Thy sons and daughters when we fail to do Thy will and we break Thy laws. We marvel at Thy loving-kindness, which sustains us through whatever trials may come our way.
We ask Thee to enlarge our vision to the breadth and height and depth of Thy love. We confess that we become so involved with our own concerns that far too often we fail to see the larger picture. Help us to perceive Thee in people or situations in which otherwise we might conclude could not possibly illustrate Thy grace and goodness. Teach us that even in those whom we believe most strongly resist Thee and Thy laws that there may be a genuine commitment which thus far has managed to escape our notice. Enable us to see Thy creative purposes in events which seem to be the antithesis of Thy purposes for the world, but which nevertheless can work out for good in the end. Surprise us by Thy tolerance of people or things we are loathe to tolerate, so that we are convinced we have many things yet to learn about the true nature of both divinity and discipleship.
We pray for people who are currently crying out to Thee with unique problems which have assaulted their lives: the suddenly seriously sick, the shattered of spirit, the stymied of direction, the flounderers and the befuddled and the bereft. We pray also for those who are struggling to avert the virus, or who have been afflicted by it and are in deep fear because of it. Give strength to the faint of heart or body, hope to the destitute, and faith to those who feel crushed by circumstances. Those of us whose lives are relatively carefree thank Thee for the multitude of our blessings, and ask Thee to help us to be a blessing to others. All our prayers we make in the name of Jesus, who has given us the clearest vision into the enormity of Thine essence. Now we pray as Jesus taught his original disciples, saying, Our Father….