Faith, Grace, and Hope

God, our father in heaven, Your name is special. The whole world wants your good works. Let them happen here, just like they do in heaven. Give us today exactly what we need- not too much and not too little. Forgive us where we've messed up and Help us forgive the people who've hurt us- our bodies or our feelings. Remind us that you are always with us especially when we are afraid. The entire universe, all the power, and the most glory go to you, because you are the only God. Amen

Matthew 6:7-21  God of all people and places, you dwell in heaven and you walk with your creation. Your name is holy. Your deeds are amazing. Your name is the source of all hope, joy, and consolation. Your name is holy. Your deeds are amazing. Your ultimate reign is that for which we dare to long. Your name is holy. Your deeds are amazing. Grant us what we need for today and the courage to share it with others. Your name is holy. Your deeds are amazing. Dissolve the guilt and shame of our sins in forgiveness and strengthen us to do the same for others. Your name is holy. Your deeds are amazing. Do not allow us to be waylaid by the forces that oppose you. Your name is holy. Your deeds are amazing. At the end of all things, draw us to yourself through Christ. Your name is holy. Your deeds are amazing. People like solutions. There is hardly anything more aggravating than not being abl...

Our God in heaven, Holy parent of all black, brown, olive, tan, and peach children, Holy is your name. It is for praise and glory, not to be used lightly. Your kingdom come, We dare to ask for the day of justice Your will be done, We dare to ask to be used for your purposes On earth as in heaven, May it be so, Lord. Give us this day our daily bread, And stop our hands from taking more than our share Forgive us our sins, For they are legion As we forgive those who sin against us, For they are legion Lead us not into temptation, For we are prone to anger, to frustration, to laziness, to despair, But deliver us from evil, From the forces that oppose you- wherever they exist For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory- You alone are God. Everything is yours. Amen. Amen . Excerpted from a post (by me) at RevGalBlogPals

Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors .             The most frequent conversation I have around this petition is which word people prefer: some like trespasses, some like sins, and some like debts. Let’s think about them for a minute.             Trespass… a trespass is occupying a space that one does not have the right to be. A person who abuses another person physically or emotionally is clearly trespassing… using and misusing space that is not theirs.             Sin… a sin is an attempt at power, an effort to control a situation or another person. Sinning might happen through trying to manipulate with words or power or it might be a sneaky way of cutting corners or even gossiping. A shared conversation about a person who is not in the room, which is not positive or uplifting, is about fee...

Give us this day our daily bread . Hundreds of millions of people pray the Lord’s Prayer today. Tens of millions will pray it tomorrow. We all say it. We all say, “ Give us this day our daily bread .” Millions of people say this and yet there are still hungry people. There are people who do not have enough. People who are unable to make ends meet. People who will go to bed tonight with growling stomachs. Children who will go without eating because they depend on the school lunch program for a meal each day and now it’s summer. Most of us have enough. In fact, most of us have more than enough. And most of us are not hungry right now, unless we happened to skip breakfast today. And yet we pray, Give us this day our daily bread . We pray it and we pray in concert with all people around the world. It is not Give me or Give my family . It is Give us . We are praying with people who believe like us, who are living faithfully in God’s promises… we are prayin...

Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven . What is the Kingdom of God? Jesus gives many descriptions of the kingdom, particularly through his parables. While some of his stories are metaphors beyond our understanding, some are very clear in their explanations. Whether or not we want to accept his message about the expansiveness of the kingdom or its openness is a different story.  In particular, the kingdom is a place of welcome, no tears, no dying, growth in mind and spirit, forgiveness, justice, and inclusion. What is heaven like? Specifically, how is heaven different from earth? In the most specific sense, given our knowns, unknowns, and unknown unknowns, heaven is the place [right now] where God’s kingdom, Christ’s reign, the Spirit’s effects, are all fully realized. It is the place of the healing of the nations, the river of life, where death and sin have no power. However, since we are not yet there… more correctly, ...

I wrote this to be read by our congregational president when I was out sick on Holy Trinity Sunday, which also marked the start of our Lord's Prayer sermon series.  I am not with you because I am at home, sick. The illness is not a mystery. It is just something that I am waiting to finish. Being sick is a little like a puzzle. With enough information, we can solve the puzzle and, usually, things work out. Of course, we know situations where people were sick and did not get well in the way we had hoped. Nevertheless, we almost always pursue the solution- the full solution, the answers to all our questions. No stones are left unturned. Questions are answered. Puzzles are solved. We like solutions. There is hardly anything more aggravating than not being able to fix something or know an answer. In this room, right now, with the human knowledge plus the technological benefit of smart phones- there are many questions that could be answered, many problems tha...