Day 190 | Friday, 25 September 2020

Day 190 - Audio Version

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​Day 190  |  Friday, 25 September 2020

 A Beginning: Hope
“There is something deeper than trouble.  It is mercy.  God's amazing grace; carrying, lifting, holding us in all seasons.  There is something more powerful than despair.  It is mercy. God's amazing love; seeing us through dark nights, waves of sadness, mountains of grief.  There is something longer lasting than pain.  It is mercy.  God's healing touch; bringing us hope, leading us to joy, teaching us to sing.”

 An Invocation:
“We come in prayer to you, O God. As we worship you and as our citizens are in prayer, may it be a time of sincerity and of deep communion with you. Keep us from practicing the forms of religion instead of seeking the power of Christ. Through your dynamic Spirit may we find the strength needed for every occasion in life. Amen.”

 A Prayer of confession:
“We come humbly before you, O Lord, confessing that we need spiritual renewal. Putting Band-Aids on the sins of our spirits will not do, Lord. We know that we need a thorough overhaul, a total reconstruction of our spirits that once came so fresh from your creative hand. Our minds need adjusting that they may be more in tune with the truths that come from you. Our emotions need to be fine-tuned that they may repel anger and resonate with kindness.

Our hearts need to throb with sincere caring and love for all of your children of whatever race, whatever social standing. Our hands and feet need to be guided into your service, O God, that we may work to solve earth's problems rather than be the creators of them.  In short, we need total renewal, O God, and only you can adequately give us this blessing. Therefore, we await the ministry of your Holy Spirit. Amen.”

 An Affirmation of Faith: The Wisdom of God
(Luke 9:24; 13:30; Matthew 5:44; 2 Corinthians 12:9; 1 Corinthians 1:20-25)
“We believe these "foolish" mysteries of God's kingdom: that those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for Christ's sake will save it; that some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last; that we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us; that Christ's power is made perfect in our weakness.

We believe that God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For we believe that God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.”
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 A Prayer “Our World”
“God of power and might, we come to this time from the world in hopes that you give us discernment and peace. Our world is filled with strife and greed - we pray for the victims of war, our government, the forgotten, the lost.  Help us to be a people who make a difference, not only through our prayers, our votes and our hopes, but also by our witness to the world. Teach us to treat others as we would be treated. Keep us from depersonalizing those we don't know and treating them as statistics. Help us to remember that each person has feeling and hope and no one is so foreign that he or she deserves to be forgotten. Grant us the wisdom and power to take from this time the will to make a difference where we are and wherever we might be in this world, as you have made a difference in us. Amen.”