SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2017
A prayer by Bishop Ruben Saenz, Jr., of the Great Plains Annual Conference, leading the United Methodist Church in “Praying Our Way Forward” for the week of September 3-9, 2017. Click here for a video by Bishop Saenz providing the context for this global prayer initiative.
We look to you, Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior, and Shepherd of the Church,
in this crucial season of discernment and search for your consoling and assuring grace that maintains the bonds of unity with you and each other for the sake of the Gospel and your glory.
We find ourselves as a United Methodist Church in a season contradicted by
faith and fear,
tearing and mending,
living and dying,
joy and mourning,
the hope for new open paths and the disappointment of dead ends,
leaving and staying,
debating and dialoguing,
urgency and patience,
gathering and letting go,
taking risks yet seeking safety,
comfort and discomfort,
openness and defensiveness,
the known and unknown,
order and chaos,
the particular and the universal,
abundance and scarcity,
dividing and uniting,
peace-making and aggression,
judgement and grace.
For the sake of your sorrowful passion,Have mercy on us, O, Lord, we pray.
For the sake of our glorious hope in your and our resurrection,
Have mercy on us, O, Lord, we pray.
For the sake of your saving mission in the world
Have mercy on us, O, Lord, we pray.
Let your Holy Spirit touch our souls gently, lightly, and sweetly like a drop of water into a sponge filling us with your abiding presence and love.
Empower the Bishop’s Commission on a Way Forward and the worldwide United Methodist congregations and peoples with your Holy Spirit to understand and desire your good and perfect will. Lead us to the attainment of good judgement, inner joy, tranquility, peace, and the bonds of unity in You and with one another for the sake of the world you love, forgave, died for, saved, and resurrected for.
Amen.
Copyright © 2017 The Upper Room, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
The Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007
Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
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The United Methodist Church Prays of Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Friday, 1 September 2017 "Pray for Friends"
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
Do One Thing for Friends
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2017
Do One Thing for Friends
- Organize a back-to-school celebration for your friends. Consider inviting someone who’s new this year to join you.
- Leave an encouraging, anonymous note in a friend’s backpack, locker, or desk.
- Play a friend’s favorite sport with him or her.
- Pray for friends you’re not seeing as much this school year.
- Pray for our international friends on the Commission on a Way Forward:
- Jacques Umembudi Akasa from the Democratic Republic of Congo,
- Helen Cunanan from the Philippines,
- David Field from Switzerland,
- Ciriaco Francisco from the Philippines,
- Aka Dago-Akribi Hortense from Côte d’Ivoire,
- Mazvita Machinga from Zimbabwe,
- Mande Guy Muyombo from the Democratic Republic of Congo,
- Eben Nhiwatiwa from Zimbabwe,
- Rosemarie Wenner from Germany,
- John Wesley Yohanna from Nigeria,
- Alfiado S. Zunguza from Mozambique, and
- David Yemba from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Adapted from Pockets, (September 2017), page 9. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Click here for “Singing the Spirit of Cuba“
Copyright © 2017 The Upper Room, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
The Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007
Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
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