All Saints Day Sundays have become among the most meaningful Sundays of our year in worship for me. Remembering those we have lost, who live now in the fulness of the presence of God brings tears of grief and joy intermingled. I pray we of this generation of faith will live with gratitude the lives we have been called to by God and be inspired by those gracious, faithful souls upon whose shoulders we stand. Thanks be to God.
O Lord,
In the power of the Holy Spirit,
make us fit carriers of The Gospel,
the Good News about Jesus.
Let us confess our sin and earnestly
beg to know the grace of God
that brings inner peace and reignites
our dreams of how your church,
our families, our towns
and your world should be.
Empower us to be dreamers and doers
of light not darkness
of life not death
of health not sickness
of love not hate
of service not power
of wholeness not loss
of peace not war
of hope not despair
of friendship not cynicism
of grace not guilt
of belonging not alienation
of reconciliation not estrangement
of moral purity not dissolution
of Christ-likeness not self-centeredness
of the image of God
and the hopes of God
and the good will of God
come true.
Please make us ready to carry the gospel,
even though we know it is shaped like the cross,
the ultimate answer to evil
and the means of our redemption.
Help us get ready for this, too, O Lord.
AMEN.
Grace and Peace,
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