Suffering?! Why?! - 2 Corinthians 1v1-11

 

Father
We hate suffering. We hate pain.
Thank you for the comfort of your presence
Thank you for the comfort given by your people.
Thank you for the hope of deliverance.
Thank you for the hope of resurrection.
Thank you that your Son experienced extreme suffering for us.
We pray that you would make us fully reliant on you.
Make us to seek you with all we are.
Make us to love you as the desire of our hearts.
Make us to know you as the craving of our souls.
Thank you for the expectation of resurrection from the dead and may we not fail to pray for the deliverance of those in suffering.
Amen

 

Resurrection

Darkness.
Foggy despair.
Tears from broken love direct faltering steps
To find emptiness
It is empty!
Not there but there
Not dead but alive
Not eclosion, nor emergence
Better – resurrection!
Existence altered
Tragedy transformed
Life from darkness
Light from despair
Hope released!
Resurrection!

 

The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ
Philippians 3:1-11

Our Father,

May we take joy in the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.
May we glory in Christ,
May we worship by the Spirit.
May we put no confidence in the flesh.
May we gain the righteousness of Christ by faith,
And in so doing to attain to the resurrection of the dead.
Amen

Hope is Born - Christmas 2018 - 1 Peter 1:3-9

Father of Jesus,

You deserve our praise,

You have showered us with mercy,

Injected life into our dead souls,

Given us a sure and living hope,

Through the cosmic act of the resurrection of your Son.

Now our inheritance is sure,

We are shielded by your power,

And we are filled with joy.

Though now we suffer,

We are being refined,

Proven genuine;

So that you will be praised, honoured and glorified when Jesus is revealed.

You have filled us with joy,

For we are receiving the goal of our faith the salvation of our souls.

Easter - Resurrection - John 20

Father, 

Thank you that it is true.

And that it changes everything forever.

Thank you that we can live by believing that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.

Please may today be the watershed moment where the cross and resurrection become embedded in our souls; 

And our hearts turned from fence-sitting mediocrity to radical love for you.

Amen

Romans 4:1-25

Father,

You raised Jesus from the dead.

He was delivered up for our trespasses.

He was raised for our justification.

We believe it is true.

Though we do not see it,

We trust that you have credited us with righteousness.

Against all hope, like Abraham, we believe,

Keep us from wavering;

Keep us fully persuaded that you have the power to do what you have promised.

So that soon when we stand before you,

It will be a day of rejoicing and not of judgement.

In Christ’s name alone we pray.

Amen

Easter Blessing

May God the Father, who raised Christ from the dead, open to us the gates of everlasting life.

May God the Son, who in bursting from the grave won a glorious victory, give us joy as we share the Easter faith.

May God the Holy Spirit, who filled the disciples with the life of the risen Lord, empower us for witness and fill us with the peace of God.

May the rule of God the Trinity remind us not to be afraid but instead to go and live in peace rejoicing that Jesus Christ is risen.

Amen