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The Reverend Christine V. Hides
It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, O God, our refuge and our strength. You created this world and all that is from the glory of your steadfast love. And so we give you thanks for your abundant goodness, the shelter of your presence, the gifts of life and love, the gifts of relationships and a faith community where we can come as we are and who you created us to be. We give you thanks for the Lenten season in which you hold our questions, our doubts, and our fears as tenderly as you hold our joy and our hope as you lead us to the Easter banquet.
Knowing your faithfulness in our lives and assured that you hear our supplications, we trust you with the cares of our neighbors and the concerns of the world:
For all those who are in distress,
For all those who are spent with sorrow and grief,
For those whose strength is failing,
For those fleeing wildfires and disasters,
For those who live with the terrors of war, Lord, hear our prayers.
From nations divided making neighbors into enemies,
From leaders who worship worthless idols and misuse their wealth and power,
From those who use pride and contempt to tear down the humble, the called, and the qualified, Lord, deliver us. By your grace may all hardened hearts turn to you.
Holy are you, O God, and blessed is your son Jesus Christ, who lived and walked among us, revealing your presence and desire for this world through provocative parables and around tables filled with unlikely guests. He humbled himself to death on the cross, offering himself for the redemption of the world. Through Jesus Christ, humility becomes strength, love overcomes evil, life is victorious over death.
By your Spirit, nourish us at this table of abundant love, preserve and multiply our faith, grant us strength and courageous hearts to be your servants in this beautiful, struggling world, we join our voices with all those who follow Jesus Christ, praying as he teaches us: Our Father…. Amen.