Dear Lord, we thank You for this day, this church, and each other. We thank You for all of Your creation and for the senses You have given us to experience it. We thank You for the minds You have given us that seek to understand this world, our place in it, and the evidence it provides us each day of Your goodness and glory. We thank You for the hearts and souls You have placed in us that allow us to be filled with Your Spirit and with Your love.
As we gather here to worship You, to glorify You, to praise Your holy name and to thank You for Your generous gifts, we also come to ask for Your help and guidance.
We ask Lord, that You help us to make the most of Your creation, guiding us to care for it all, nurture it all, and share it all equally with everyone on this earth.
We ask, too, that when we see a world that is filled with violence, with pain, and with poverty, that You help us to know that You are still with us, that You have felt the pain of the world through the gift and sacrifice of Your son, and that we can abide in You for our comfort and support. Help us also to recognize the ways in which—with Your help and good will—we can conquer evil, build peace, soothe those in pain, and enact justice and equity for the poor.
We ask especially that You help those who suffer now from ill health or infirmity of any kind, so that they may feel Your loving presence and know hope.
Lord, this church community also thanks You for sending to us someone who might become our new pastor. Please send Your Holy Spirit to us all, this congregation and the candidate, so that we can discern together Your will for our future work together in this church and in this community.
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