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Prayer of the People, 8 March 2020

March 10, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father,

You have loved us first! Thank you for bringing us into your communion: the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We come before you busy – a lot to do, many concerns, pressured, and we want to pause to gaze upon You.  (Pause)

You have chosen to abide with us, to give us Your Spirit.  You love us well. Make us sponges that are able to receive the depth and truth of Your love, and when life squeezes us, we pray that as we allow You to fill us up, Your love is what comes out under pressure.

Lord, the world is anxious about the coronavirus.  People are grieving. In addition to washing our hands, we want our demeanours to be washed in Your love.  Perfect love, which only You have, casts out fear. So we receive Your deep, abiding love, and we ask for courage to show Your love to others.

Lord, we pray for health officials in China, Iran, Italy, here, and everywhere because there’s a pressure to manage and fix some things that no human can.  We ask that you prepare Your people to serve, support, encourage, and be present to the sick and dying.

Lord, we celebrate today as International Women’s Day, and thank you for women who gave birth to us, who instruct us and model a sincere faith, and who lead us.  We pray that all women will live into the potential You have created us with and that we would be women after Your own heart. For women who carry a heavy load, we ask that burdens will be lifted.  For those whose bodies are exploited, we cry out for justice. For those ignored and unseen, we pray that they will receive the respect, consideration, and opportunities needed to help them flourish. 

Lord, we cast down all of our anxieties on You because You care for us and because You are capable of dealing with them.  

We receive the Spirit of Jesus and choose to trust You and to walk in love.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.


Please join me in praying 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.

Prepared by Ellen and Craig O’Brien

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 1 March 2020

March 3, 2020 0 Comments

Trust God — based on Psalm 118:5-9

Heavenly Father,

We enter Your presence with Thanksgiving and Your courts with joy because we delight in Your love, goodness, and righteousness.  We focus all of our attention on You. Thank you for bringing us into the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We are thankful that when we call on You in distress, 
You answer us and set us in a wide open spaces. 

We call out to You today for those harmed by the coronavirus, the escalation in the Syrian conflict, the Delhi riots, and globally for migrants whose paths are blocked. Please comfort them and bring people who care into their lives.

Lord, we pray for justice in the Wet’suwet’en conflict; please let honour and respect prevail as the issues are more carefully considered. Lord, we ask for Your help, guidance, comfort, and just, so that people can experience life in wide open spaces.

Help all humanity walk in the communion of the Father, Son, and Spirit and know that You are for us, and that we do not have to live in fear.   

The Lord is for us and helps us.  Please Let Vanessa sense Your help for her and her family as they grieve their loss today. Show us ways to offer support.

(Please take a moment and pray for people God brings to your mind.)

Your Word, Lord reminds us: It is better for us to trust in you than to put confidence in humanity. We need each other, but there is no substitute for your love.

We deeply trust You and ask You to help our unbelief.  You are a righteous, good, beautiful, and true God. We rest in You and Your ways.

In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Please join me in praying 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.

Prepared by Ellen and Craig O’Brien

Prayer

Prayer of the People, 16 February 2020

February 18, 2020 0 Comments

Heavenly Father,

We delight in you and your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You have marked out for us a well-watered garden. As we walk with you our fellowship pulses  with life and yields much fruit. Thank you for the assurance and confidence we have with you through the life, death, and resurrection of Your Son Jesus Christ.

This morning we arose with the intention of praising you for the mighty works of your hand. The immensity of the universe beckons us as do the molecular wonders of our bodies. You have created with wisdom — and it is beautiful!

Oh that we would sit at your feet and learn from you. Teach us to consider our days and our ways with wisdom. Enlarge our vision of Jesus as Lord and form us into a people of your love, truth, and grace.

May the ways of your Kingdom be seen in the work of our hands and minds. Redeem our lives from despair and from deceit. We gladly stand with you for the redemption of people so we seek your righteousness in all things. We yearn for our full deliverance from the lies of satan and from the corruption of our rebellion.

Come Lord Jesus. Establish communities in our cities where there is:

healing from addiction.
trust in our relationships.
goodness in our governance.
and justice for those deprived of it.

Please bless the work of Vancouver Urban Ministries, Community of Hope, and the Athens Ministry Centre.

Come Lord Jesus. Establish churches in our cities where:

the good news of Jesus is shared among students.
the journey through doubt is heard.
the growing pains of growth are given grace.
the lonely find courage to connect.

Please bless the work of our Langara Oakridge Team here in Vancouver and of Canvas Church in Victoria.

Come Lord Jesus Come. May your Spirit blow through this garden and carry the fragrance of our fellowship beyond these walls. So we pray as you taught us:

(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.

Prayer

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Prayer of the People, 9 Feb 2020

February 12, 2020 0 Comments

Land + People

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for your love and mercy shown us through the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through Him you have brought us into your communion — the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We rejoice in your welcome and embrace. This has changed our lives. We take up the truth of the Gospel and the truth of your Word as a shield against the fiery darts of the enemy. What you say about us — dismantles the stories of guilt, shame, and fear that we have been telling ourselves.

Come Lord Jesus and walk with us.

Pour your love into our lives by your Holy Spirit so that peace rises up over anxiety. Give us compassion for people and a generosity of spirit toward them. Oh Lord, teach us the ways of peace so that we may not assume an enemy where there could have been a friend. We would lay down the old grudges that are destroying our souls and our capacities for friendship.

Come Lord Jesus and walk with us.

Oh Lord, your ancient enemy seems to work overtime seeking to dismantle your glory in Creation and blind us to your goodness. Forgive us Lord; we have given away the life-giving promises of your presence in exchange for cheap pleasures — but Oh how they have cost us. Save us through power of your life given in exchange for us.

Come Lord Jesus and walk with us.

We look past our fears of sickness and ask for you to comfort the families of those who have lost loved ones to this new coronavirus. Have mercy Lord.

We look past our fears for security and ask you to provide hospitable hearts and homes for the people fleeing violence in Idlib. Have mercy Lord.

We look past our fears for superiority and ask you to provide us with wisdom and respect for the limits, boundaries of Indigenous peoples. Have mercy Lord.

Oh how you love us Lord. Come, walk with us and teach us the ways of love.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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.


Prayer

How to save a city?

February 7, 2020 0 Comments

Do you know the parable of the poor wise man who saved a city?

I’m reading through the Bible again. I love the moments where the Word of God catches me by surprise. What I used to blaze through quickly I find myself pausing over, praying over, meditating over, and bringing deeper into the marrow of my existence.

This week the Teacher of Ecclesiastes caught me by surprise. Is there anything that could truly impress this person equipped with all the privilege required to sample life without fear of social consequence? And then there is. He is “impressed with a great example of wisdom.” It’s an account of a poor wise man who saved a city. I’m sure I blazed through it in my former readings.

13I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

17The quiet words of the wise are more
to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

18Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.

Ecclesiastes 9:13-18

When the church has a full-bodied vision of discipleship it will seek out men and women of Jesus who are full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. These wise folk may not be on the platform. We will probably need to get off the public ramparts and poke around in the corners of our congregations to find them.

We won’t elevate the wise unless we are willing to share life with those who seem “poor.” Unfortunately we seem to be more inclined to elevate the people who are able to make a good show. So many folks are looking for a leader who will save the day; yet, they love the shouts of a ruler who gives them reasons to feel good about being bad. Such a leader is “a ruler of fools” says the teacher. This kind of leader is puffed up and full of the celebrated strengths of humanity, willing to be combative and rushing to implement the weapons of war. One leader like this “destroys much good.” For this leader everything is about competition, being the survivor whose existence at the top must mean they were right, and who reflexively treats another’s commitment to righteousness and integrity as “weakness.” This leader shouts and will gain more applause from his or her congregation of fools.

Unfortunately our visions of leadership and even of discipleship do not lean toward the wisdom of Jesus. We are being trumped by our desire for a show. 

For any who lead and for any who have the ambition to serve (to make a difference) by being the person who invites people to do what they would never do unless a leader was present, this parable will strike deep into the desire for applause and position. Am I willing to be the poor wise man who saves a city but may be forgotten, unnamed, and even despised?

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

Leadership, Society

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