From Sunday, April 26, 2009...

Serving One Another in Love

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to accept you without condition.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to bear with you patiently.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to continually act with kindness toward you.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to release any jealousy or envy of you I am tempted to harbor.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to refrain from prideful boasting.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to live graciously with you without demanding my way. 

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to relate to you without being irritable or rude.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to keep no record when you wrong me.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to despise when anything unjust occurs to you.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to join in the celebration when the truth wins in your life.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to never ever lose hope in you.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to never ever give up on you.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to endure every difficult circumstance and failure with you.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of the Spirit to fiercely fight for your heart.

Because of all that Christ has done, is doing, and will do in me, I choose through the power of his Spirit to love any fear out of you.

 

From Sunday, February 8, 2009...

Help me, now and then, to measure myself

            not by my fears or failures,

                        however large,

            but by my faith and hope and love,

                        however small,

            that I may truly live this mortal gift

                        and be a source of life

                                    for those I carry in my heart,

            and, by your grace,

                        and naked to your presence,

            all my struggles, all my joys,

                        will be daily rehearsals for the eternal,

            lessons in what it means

                        to be human,

                           finite,

                              and yours.

 Ted Loder / Wrestling the Light

 

PRAYER NIGHT DECLARATIONS

In a culture disabled by disengagement, may we be a people of prayer.

Response: In Christ, we pray unceasingly.

In a culture wrestling with fear, may we be a people of faith.

Response: In Christ, we are a family of faith.

In a culture marked by indifference, may we be a people of compassion.

Response: In Christ, we are a community expressing Christ-like compassion.

In a culture tolerating injustice, may we be a people advocating for justice.

Response: In Christ, we are a force for justice.

In a culture where darkness presses in, may we be a people of light.
                                               
Response: In Christ, we are the light of the world.

In a culture drowning in disappointment and cynicism, may we be a people of joy.

Response: In Christ, we are a people personifying his joy.

In a culture that smells godless, may we be the fragrance of Christ.

Response: In Christ, we express his fragrance.

In a culture coping with conflict, may we be a people facilitating reconciliation.

Response: In Christ, we are ministers of reconciliation.

In a culture distraught with despair, may we be a people offering hope.

Response: In Christ, we are a people of hope.

In a culture polarized by a number of differing views, may we be a people making peace.

Response: In Christ, we are instruments of peace.

In a culture starving for spiritual life, may we be a people offering the bread of life.

Response: In Christ, we offer God’s life.

In a culture suffering from a lack of love, may we embody God’s unconditional love.

Response: In Christ, we live and move in God’s love.

 

From Kissing the Leper by Brad Jersak:

“…Jesus is saying: “You do not see me in others only because they become Christians, but because I became human. When I came in the flesh, I identified with every man, woman, and child on the planet, but especially with those who know nakedness, homelessness, poverty, imprisonment and torture. You see me in them when you remember that I literally became a peasant, a refugee, a prisoner. I live with the least, the lost, and the lowly; through them, you will meet me and come to know me, my heart and my ways.”

From Seasons of Your Heart: Prayer and Reflections by Macrina Wiederkehr:

Blessed are You Who Mourn, Consolation Shall Be Yours

What does it mean to mourn?
I asked those who were sorrowing
An old man stepped forward.

To mourn, he said, is to be given
a second heart
It is to care so deeply
that you show your ache in person.

To mourn is to be unashamed of tears
It is to be healed and broken
all in the same moment.

Blessed are you if you are so full of compassion
you see the need before it's spoken.

Blessed are you if you can offer to others
a heart that feels their sorrow
a heart that can wait quietly beside them
a heart that doesn't try to hurry the healing.

To mourn is to forget yourself for a moment
and get lost in someone else's pain
and then, to find yourself
in the very act of getting lost.

To mourn is to be an expert
in the miracle of being careful with another's pain.
It is to stand in solidarity
with the poor and persecuted of the world.
It is to stand in solidarity
with those who cannot help themselves.

To mourn is to join the song of the dying
and to be healed
by the song
and the death.

From God is Closer Than You Think by John Ortberg