Easter 6 | Year B

Sisters and brothers in Christ,
God invites us to bring our doubts and fears,
our joys and concerns, our petitions and praise,
and offer them for the earth and all its creatures.

God, you put us here on earth as embodied human beings,
For your glory and for our learning.
We experience you in all kinds of ways:
In nature,
In relationships,
In community,
In silence,
In sacredness.

Help us to seek you and find you,
In the places you’ve promised to be
And in the places we least expect you.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome.

O God, you have left a lot of hints about yourself along the way,
From stone tablets to still, small voices,
From prophets to angel messengers,
From subtle rainbows to dramatic rescues.

Then you sent Christ Jesus, the epitome of you, to teach us about yourself,
About your love,
About forgiveness,
And about resurrection.

We pray for the feeding of the hungry,
the clothing of the destitute,
the housing of the homeless,
the reformation of prisoners,
and the rehabilitation of those lost in addiction.

Bless every agency, church or government,
which is dedicated to the care of our disadvantaged sisters and brothers.
Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome,
Love shall overcome.

O God, help us to love one another,
Because love is from God;
And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
You are Love.
As Christ abides in you, and we abide in Christ,
So we abide in Love.

We meditate on all we’ve learned of you,
We meditate on the life and work of Christ;
So we ask that we may know more deeply, more fully,
The Love in which we abide.

Receive these prayers, O God,
and transform us through them,
that we may have eyes to see and hearts to understand
not only what you do on our behalf,
but what you call us to do
so that your kingdom will be brought to bear in glory.

We ask all of this through Christ, our Lord. Amen

Hear our prayer
Hear your people
Turn our hearts to you
Make us whole again

Hear our prayer
Hear your people
Turn our hearts to you
Make us one

Easter 3 | Year B

Holy and Mysterious God, the light of your love shines on, illuminating the places where you are present.  As the disciples pondered the stories of your appearance, you penetrated the darkness of their fear and doubt with your word of peace.  You showed them the appalling marks of evil pierced on your hands and feet.  You opened their minds to understand why you had to die to defeat such evil and death. Increase our understanding, we pray, and open our minds and hearts to receive you.

You have called us to follow in the way of your risen Son, and to care for those who are our companions, not only with words of comfort, but with acts of love. Seeking to be true friends of all, we offer our prayers on behalf of the church and the world.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

You hear us calling,
You hear us calling,
Abba Father.

We also keep company with the travelers on the Emmaus road who felt the strange burning of the truth and hope and love weaving into the sadness that consumed them on their walk. We find ourselves in the eternal movement between fear and faith, doubt and conviction, wonder and worry, and we trust that you are present with us, O God. We pray that like the disciples, we will be able to stand and tell the whole message about this life. 

We give thanks for those who:    

rise early in the morning to prepare food at countless soup kitchens around the world;
search the night streets for lost children and shepherd them to places of safety;
keep watch amidst the sick and dying in countless hospitals and in countless places.

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

You hear us calling,
You hear us calling,
Abba Father.

Bring to us O God, the sense of your living presence as we go into this new week.  Renew in your Church the faith you want us to have, the faith that is not afraid to reach out in your name and to share the treasure you have given us, that treasure which is greater than silver and gold.

Finally, O Lord, we ask that you would bless us at Sanctuary with vision for the future and reverence for the past.  Guide us each day as we minister to one another and to world for which you gave yourself.  Help us each day to bear witness to your name and to do that which you would have us do.  We ask it through Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen

Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy.