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Prayer of the People, 11 Dec 2020

December 14, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father, 

It’s December in Vancouver. As the darkness of longer nights envelops us we keep the lights on longer. Fortunately the light of your love never goes out, but we would have been blind to it, except for the grace of faith in Jesus — the Light of the World. By this grace you have included us in your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank you!

For each one of us there have been messengers of your grace who provided us with clues to your goodness and who have announced your good news. Thank you for these friends of yours who have treated us according to your own faithful love.

We were soul sick with an incurable disease. But you have provided the balm that heals us. 
We were soul weary weighed down by idols received with false promises. But you have provided our deliverance.
We were sucked of all joy but you have set before us the joyful reality of your Kingdom and your Holy Spirit keeps pouring your love into our lives.

Praise be to you, the lover and shepherd of our souls!

We lift up to you the many who accompany us through life in this city but do not know your Son. Oh Lord that you would be born in them and bring them to faith in You which is  eternal life.

We lift up to you the Shamattawa First Nation in northern Manitoba as they deal with an outbreak of Covid 19. Please bring healing. Please grant them peace over the anxiety that accompanies this menace. Please let them feel loved not forgotten, cared for not abandoned.

We lift up to you our brothers and sisters working in this City and across the globe. May their worship of you be accompanied by complete surrender to you. Grant them wisdom to serve people and steward your gifts through their work. May your goodness saturate their workplaces and amplify your abundant blessings for all.

Oh Lord Come. Come Lord Jesus Come. 

(Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer.)
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever.
Amen.

This prayer was part of the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast on 11 Dec 2020.

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 4 Dec 2020

December 7, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father, 

You have brought us into your communion — the communion of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We praise you for this grace. You have brought us from the darkness and into your light. Now may you enlighten our minds. Now May your word give light to our paths.

Praise you! Our souls glorify You; You are magnificent! You delivered us from slavery and into freedom from sin at such great cost. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for taking up flesh. Thank you for laying  down your life for us at the cross. Oh Jesus we glorify you!

Our senses we so numb — we did not know were slaves to sin till the good news quickened our conscience and we grieved the death we could not shake off. Now you are making us new creations. Now our trust is in you. Now we have a hunger for your Word and a desire to do your will.

Come Lord Jesus. Have mercy on us. Grant us the joy of your salvation and lead us in how to live in view of your great promises: we must live as you lived.

Heavenly Father, we are concerned — for the tasks we have taken up weigh on us. Help us with our studies. This world you have made is so beautiful! There’s more to it than facts and figures — yet there are a lot of those to learn! Help us develop the skills to steward what you have entrusted to us, help us develop the character needed for courageous love.

Lord we lift up people whose dignity and glory as dearly loved and precious creations of God has been forgotten. We lift up the refugees from Tigray, Syria, and Myanmar. Please send your kindness to these dear people and free them from hate and despair.

A generation is rising up that desires morality but is not sure yet of the One from whom it proceeds. Oh, Lord grow this desire. Let your peace reign so we would all walk in the joy of your love and delight. Reveal Yourself to them in the night and in the day ‘till hearts are softened and the Holy Spirit has His way.

(Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer.)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

This prayer was part of the Origin Church Weekend Broadcast, 4 Dec 2020.

Prayer

Is this an apology?

December 3, 2020 2 Comments

My wife and I have taken to walking in the dark. It’s seems to be our only way to keep exercising as winter approaches, the daylight hours shorten, and the pandemic keeps us out of the gym.

I stopped in my tracks and laughed out loud the other night as we entered the intersection of 33rd and Ontario here in Vancouver. We both stopped to take a picture of the new banners at the corner of what used to be the community known as Little Mountain Housing.

If you don’t know about the sale of public land that had been dedicated to provided affordable housing in our city you can read about it, but you won’t learn much about the deal. Instead all that we know for sure is that there has been a long wait to realize any real gains for our city from the deal.

I’m not sure if Holburn is apologizing for the long wait; but I think they are. We should all take notice.

I was reading this very morning from Psalm 12 and the phrase in verse 5 captured me: “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

The issue remains, public lands have been sold that were dedicated to providing stability to the poor and vulnerable in our city. This land right in the heart of our municipality was set aside to provide housing stability and therefore opportunities for those who were vulnerable. I know that’s idealistic. I don’t romanticize the situation that existed there and that exists today in our city for those on the verge of homelessness. But I fear that Hoblurn’s promoted ambition to create “elevated lifestyles” is an idealism that does not include the poor.

I welcome correction.

Change, Society

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Prayer of the People, 27 Nov 2020

November 30, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father, 

In the space between now and what we are hoping for, we are thankful that you walk with us. In fact you go before us and have prepared a place us, but you are also leading the way for today if we will listen. Teach us Lord and tune our hearts to the whispers of your Spirit. You have given us to your Son Jesus Christ that we might live in the communion of your Kingdom and your fellowship— the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We praise you and rejoice in your promise. But, how long Lord?
Sometimes the quiet is not so quiet because of the anxieties of our souls.
Sometimes the quiet is not so quiet because of the anger in our streets.
Sometimes the quiet is not so quiet because of the alienation on our screens.

For some of us the silence we have been driven towards hurts like shoes that are too tight.
We feel worn. We are missing each other and we are missing a sense of ease.

Oh Lord send your Spirit to us and grant us courage to surrender fully.

Release us from harmful patterns of thinking and feeling and acting that have ensnared us.
Bind up the wounds that irritate and remind us of our shame.
Oh Lord heal us.

We lift up students at universities and colleges as they draw near to the end of this term. Help them, Lord, to study with you. Help them delight in your Creation. Grant them wisdom from above so that their sense of worth and wellbeing does not reside in the marks but in what you think of them. 

We lift up to you our friends at the Athens Ministry Centre in Athens, Greece. Bless them as we enter this season of Advent. Open hearts across the world toward those on the journey for refuge. Fortify your servants sharing their lives and the Gospel with your love and hope and faith. Oh Lord, please move in close to the vulnerable who feel caught in the snare of the wicked; provide them a way out and a way into safety and healing.

Lord we need you. We wait on you. We listen for you. We love you.

(Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer.)

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one;
for yours is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, 
forever. 
Amen.

This Prayer was part of the first Sunday of Advent Weekend Broadcast on 27 Nov 2020, Origin Church.


Prayer

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Lasting as a Pastor

November 25, 2020 0 Comments

Very few of us get to pastor the same congregation for 40 years. The word “same” is misleading. For although some pastors may serve the same congregation by name and place, she or he will discover quickly the congregation is always changing. It’s getting older. It’s getting younger. Folks are moving away. Folks are moving in. It’s responsive to leadership. It’s leading you.

The congregation is always changing.

Even Moses knew his congregation was changing. Grumpy periods were a sure sign that departures were coming soon. Demands came as regularly as hungry bellies in the morning. Mutiny drove him to cry out to God. And most of the congregation wasn’t always interested in getting as close to God as he was. What mattered most to Moses wasn’t at the top of their minds.

The congregation is always changing.

Such change can be wearisome. Moses didn’t just survive on his call. (Exodus 4) He survived on the Presence of God. A tent became a meeting spot when the daily demands didn’t permit 40 day retreats. The Presence of God came to him in the pillar of cloud. And they talked as friends, face to face, presence to presence. They were friends because God came down.

The pastors are always changing.

We can descend into the selfish shadows of our of hearts or we can enter into the wild wonder of God. Sure, Moses stayed with this exodus congregation for forty years. But surely he didn’t remain the same. I believe he was marked by these humble requests in responses to God for the next forty years: teach me your ways, go with us, and show me your glory. (Exodus 33)

God met him. God taught him. God went with them. God showed him his glory.

Who can remain steady through all the years?

And so I pray: Teach me your ways. Go with us. Show me your glory.

Change, Church

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