Pastoral Prayer for Baptism of the Lord Sunday (12 January 2014)

Holy God:

We thank you for the love and grace, the power and majesty, the humility and mercy you have shown through your Son Jesus.  We thank you that you have made yourself known to us through becoming one of us, that you have shown us that you love us more deeply than we can ever imagine and that you never leave us or forsake us.

Today, as we remember that our Lord was baptized by John in the Jordan river so long ago, we are grateful also that we have been able to share in baptism.  You called Jesus by name.  You spoke of your love for him.  You poured out your spirit upon him. You said that you were pleased with him.

Give us eyes to see and a heart to understand the gift of baptism as the sign of your heart toward Jesus being extended toward us.  Help us to hear your voice today.  Help each of us to hear you call us by name.  Help us to know that you are our father and that we are your beloved children.  Help us to hear you bless us, to know you find pleasure in us, that you are pleased with us just because you love us and we are your family.

And, holy God, pour out your spirit afresh upon each of us.  Fill us with power.  Help us to go from this place with a mission, with your joy in our hearts and your word on our lips.  May the same spirit who filled Jesus with the power to proclaim repentance and the coming of the Kingdom, the same spirit that empowered Jesus to heal the sick and set free the captives, may that same spirit overwhelm and empower us to do even greater works and to see your kingdom established in our community and the works of darkness destroyed.

Amen.

Pastoral Prayer for Epiphany Sunday (January 5, 2014)

Holy God:

We thank you for another day.  On this Sunday, we thank you for another year.  We set aside the failures and disappointments of a year past.  we set aside, also, the victories and joys of the past.  We are grateful for both the good and the bad that has come, for how you have used it and for all we have learned.  We are grateful that you have brought us through even to this day.  You have been faithful.  We thank you for your faithfulness.

But we will not live in a past that has already ceased to exist.  We live in the present of this day.  This day and this year are full of concerns and anxieties, but they are also full of hope and opportunity.  A change in the calendar is a sign of what is always before us--an opportunity through your cross and your son and your spirit to experience a new beginning.  Open our hearts to see a new world of your grace, and new kingdom of love.

Above all, open our hearts to see your son, to see in him the perfect expression of your heart.  You have left the glory of heaven to become a frail and humble human being so that we might see just how much you desire to be with us.  You meet us in our homes, our families, our workplaces, and schools.  You are with us in our lives’ transitions--births, deaths, marriages, graduations, divorces, moves, promotions, retirements.  You are with us in our anxieties and our celebrations, our laughter and our tears.  The coming of your son shows us that you are with us and shows us who you are when you show up.

So open our eyes to see him afresh, to see him everywhere and always.  Let all of our lives be about him and for him. May we desire to know nothing but him, and to know everything else we know in the light of his glory and grace.  May our lives reflect him.  May the world, the community, each person we meet know the heart of God a little better because they have seen the face of Jesus in the way we have reflected his glory.

Amen.