Month: June 2024

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy Name.
Sing like never before, O my soul. I’ll worship Your holy Name.

Verse 1
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning;
It’s time to sing Your song again.
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, worship His holy Name.
Sing like never before, O my soul. I’ll worship Your holy Name.

Verse 2
You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger,
Your Name is great and Your heart is kind;
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing,
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

–        Matt Redman

Loving God, this morning we choose to bless you, to worship your Holy Name, and to give thanks for your love which you have lavished on us. We praise you that we are called your children; you have called us by name and you have promised to always be with us, to strengthen and hold us by your powerful right hand. God, lead us and lift us up, today and every day, and give us the strength and courage to trust in your promises.

Thank you God that we can be a part of a body of Christ-followers, that you hear and answer our prayers for each other. We praise you for your great mercy. We pray this morning for all who grieve the death of a loved one, whether this loss was recent or years ago. May the fullness of your presence bring comfort, healing, and hope. Where families have suffered separation, conflict, and broken relationships, God may you redeem and restore to wholeness.

We praise you for your healing physically, emotionally, and spiritually in the lives of many  whom we love.

Lord our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth,

You have set your glory above the heavens and throughout the earth,

above and below the seas and the oceans, the rivers and lakes,

in the birds of the air and the forests and meadows, mountains and valleys, and in the people all around us.

We are your people, the sheep of your generous pasture, and we bow our heads and hearts before you in praise, and in thanksgiving and petition.

Lord hear our prayers . . .

 . . . hear our prayers of thanksgiving for your grace and love poured upon us, for stability and security in our land, for healthcare and food, for prosperity and abundance, for freedom of worship.

These are privileges we enjoy at this time in this place – they are gifts we did not earn – and come with responsibility to use and share as you call us to. 

Lord hear our prayers for courage and compassion to live as you call us to, with generosity and warm, open, hearts and minds that hunger for your Kingdom to grow. 

Give us thirst for justice and longing for fairness; a craving to find ways to alleviate suffering; close at hand in relationship with the people around us, and around the world in the works that we support.

And Lord hear our prayers for this congregation, this flock of yours that is close to your heart, and such a blessing in our lives.

May your Holy Spirit be strong in our midst this morning – for Matthew to speak and share and be with us as you empower him, and for us to discern your guidance for future leadership of this part of your body.  We welcome and anticipate your light upon our path forward.

Hello God.  Thank you for granting us another week.  It has been another week of joy and celebration but also a week of sadness.  Despite the sadness, yet there is joy.  God forgive us for where we become too busy and anxious in our schedules that we forget to look around and see and appreciate all that we have in front of us.  We are thankful for our immediate families and the joys they bring.  We are thankful for our work, social and our Church families we encounter throughout the week.  We are thankful for all the cues in Nature that should make us aware of your presence and love.  Forgive us for when we miss these. Thank you for the ways you make us stop, pause and see these moments. 

In Colossians  1:16 we read “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

And in Matthew 6:28-29 (NIV)  Matthew  says these words “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

 God when the outlook seems bleak or challenging and we are anxious help us to try the Uplook.  Rather than battle all the torments of the day, our work experiences, family challenges, health scares help us to try the UPLOOK. 

Thank you for the many ways you have blessed us and kept us safe this week.  We have been many places and seen many things.  We are so thankful for that.  And even if we haven’t been able to travel we have witnessed your evidence in the people or nature around us.  For that we are thankful and give you praise. 

. 

We lift up our leaders whether locally, provincially or federally.  Continue to give them wisdom, energy and most importantly integrity in their roles. We are fortunate to live in a peaceful nation where we don’t worry about bombs and drones overhead.  Please hold close to you those that do.

We are thankful for the ways you have been guiding the life here at WMC for the past 50 years.  We anticipate the news that might be forthcoming in as far as a potential pastoral role.  We are excited and look forward to this advancement. We are also so blessed for our current pastors in Clare and Paul. Bless them in their service here.   We have many emotions and thoughts  that come with transitions here but help us to be patient, deliberate, and responsible in what lies ahead.  We know you already know the way.  Help us to understand and manage it as it unfolds.  Thank you for those that have done the heavy lifting here thus far.

O Creator God, as we gather for worship outdoors this morning we choose to give praise and thanks in worship for the beauty that we see and sense all around us. We give thanks for the music of birds, the freshness of the breeze, the beauty of sunshine reflecting off water, the gift of green grass and trees, and all of creation including all of humanity. Thank you for creating with wisdom, grace, and joy.

In praise we rejoice with David “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.² Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.³ For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.⁵ The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.⁶ Come, let us bow down in worship,  let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; ⁷ for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”
We praise you Lord!

We give thanks for the body of Christ and joy in the fact that as a body we can care for each other. You remind us to rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, and you call us to carry each other’s burdens and serve each other in love. Sometimes you lead us to pray for those in our world whom we have never met, however, this morning we choose to focus on those in this community of believers.

O God, we give you thanks for your sustaining grace and presence in the lives of those who grieve all forms of loss, and especially those who have experienced the death of a loved family member.