The tradition declares that a man stood on a mountaintop, and God reached down and inscribed ten commandments into two stone tablets. The law of Moses, the Torah, has influenced believers for the past three thousand years. Do we find God’s law to be a blessing, or a burden? In worship we seek better to understand what God wants of us, and how we can respond to His law working in our lives. Therefore let us, with renewed confidence, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
O Thou who hast created the universe, this planet, and everything in it, we thank Thee for the care Thou hast given to Thy creation from its beginning billions of years ago. We praise Thee for the exquisite patience Thou hast shown in the evolution of the continents and oceans, and all the fish and animals which inhabit the earth. Most of all, we thank Thee for Thy love in creating human beings, and for allowing us to experience Thee in our lives, however incompletely and obscurely that may be. Give us hearts always to sing Thy praises for all Thy blessings, and to reflect those blessings in how we choose to live our lives.
We pray for all the soldiers who are serving in Ukraine, the many Ukrainian volunteers and the many conscripts, the many conscripted Russians, and all the mercenaries who are being paid by both sides to wage war against people for whom they have no real animosity whatever. We pray as well for all those who are seeking to bring peace to a land being illegally and unmercifully destroyed: diplomats, military advisers from neutral countries, and workers in many non-governmental organizations. Strengthen all of these people who ultimately are pawns in the hands of much larger players for the difficult days ahead as they seek to adjust again to civilian life once the war ends. We particularly pray Thy presence to infuse those who have lost family members in this war, and who face that loss with greatly varying outlooks and anxieties. Guide our nation’s political and military leaders, especially our President, as they seek to make the best plans for a difficult future. Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.
We pray for all who currently see Thy biblical laws not to be an aid in their lives, but an impediment. Negate the guilt of the guilty, obliterate the fears of the fearful, and turn the dread of those who are terrified of Thee into a healthy and happy relationship. Grant recovery to the sick, hope to the downcast, faith to those who flounder, and trust to people who make skepticism their primary method of operation in life. All these things we ask in the name of Jesus, by whose life and ministry have we been brought into Thy family. Now we pray as he taught us, saying, Our Father….