Monday, March 31, 2014

Monday Music - I Press On





I press on to take hold of that
For which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
I press on to take hold of that
For which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

I press on through thick & thin
I press on every day
I press on through the lose & win
For I know He's the Way

I press on to take hold of that
For which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

"I Press On" by Dave Burkum (based on Philippians 3:12), from Fireside: Worship & Scripture Songs, © Copyright 2006 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Forgive Us Our Sins

Gracious Father, thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ, the true bread of heaven which gives life to the world. Fill us with this bread that we might take hold of the life he gives.

Forgive us our sins, O God. And as you have shown us mercy, make us able to be forgiving and merciful to others. Help us to turn away from what is wrong and to do what is right. Help us to escape temptation.

Holy Father, open the eyes of our hearts and enlighten us in order that we may know the hope to which you have called us. Show us your goodness, and transform us by your great and saving power.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Friday, March 28, 2014

Friday Favorites - FIKA


One of the gifts we gave to each of our sons and their sweethearts this past Christmas, was a voucher for a double-date with Cheri and me. We thought it would be nice to give the kids an experience instead of stuff. More importantly, we thought it would be a pretty sneaky way to get the kids to take some time for fun with mom and dad.

This past Sunday, we had a double-date lunch outing with our oldest son and his wife. The restaurant we went to FIKA at the American-Swedish Institute. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was bright and casual. We will definitely be making more visits in the months ahead.
In Sweden, fika is a daily break, traditionally involving coffee and treats. In truth, fika is about much more than caffeine and carbohydrates; it's a Swedish social institution, where friends gather to chat about life and current events.

FIKA at the American Swedish Institute is an award winning café that brings the best of new Nordic-inspired cuisine to Minneapolis-St.Paul. Led by Chef Dustin Thompson, FIKA offers a seasonally-inspired menu dedicated to regional ingredients and Nordic traditions.  

Guests can enjoy espresso, house made pastries, artful salads and modern interpretations of open-face sandwiches all while enjoying the full view of the historic Turnblad Mansion.  -- American Swedish Institute Website
GO TO THE FIKA WEBSITE

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Thursday Thinking - Lenten Grief

Today I will be officiating the memorial service for a dear friend who died last week. I grieve her passing, but I do not grieve as those who have no hope (1Thes. 4:13). I mourn the loss that is ours–her family and friends, but I give thanks for the gain that is hers.

These thoughtful words from the Thin Places Blog are especially appropriate for today:
Lent is a good time for grief. It is a good time to set our sights on Good Friday, on that day when God himself experienced the wrenching reality of death, when God himself suffered with us as fully as he possibly could. It is a good time to feel the pain of separation, to feel the sadness and anger of losing someone beloved. 

And it is also a good time to look ahead to the boundary that God offers to those who grieve–the boundary line of the resurrection, of our celebration on Easter morning. Grief will not end, not this side of heaven anyway. But Easter gives us a reason to hold on to hope in the midst of all the sorrow.

One day, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Rev. 21:4). Until then, may Lenten mourning prepare us for Easter hope.
These words from next Sunday's sermon text are also on my mind today...
Psalm 42:1-8
As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Wednesday Words - Home

 
 It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home,
A heap o’ sun an’ shadder, an’ ye sometimes have t’ roam
Afore ye really ’preciate the things ye lef’ behind,
An’ hunger fer ’em somehow, with ’em allus on yer mind.
It don’t make any differunce how rich ye get t’ be,
How much yer chairs an’ tables cost, how great yer luxury;
It ain’t home t’ ye, though it be the palace of a king,
Until somehow yer soul is sort o’ wrapped round everything.

Home ain’t a place that gold can buy or get up in a minute;
Afore it’s home there’s got t’ be a heap o’ livin’ in it;
Within the walls there’s got t’ be some babies born, and then
Right there ye’ve got t’ bring ‘em up t’ women good, an’ men;
And gradjerly, as time goes on, ye find ye wouldn’t part
With anything they ever used—they’ve grown into yer heart:
The old high chairs, the playthings, too, the little shoes they wore
Ye hoard; an’ if ye could ye’d keep the thumbmarks on the door.

Ye’ve got t’ weep t’ make it home, ye’ve got t’ sit an’ sigh
An’ watch beside a loved one’s bed, an’ know that Death is nigh;
An’ in the stillness o’ the night t’ see Death’s angel come,
An’ close the eyes o’ her that smiled, an’ leave her sweet voice dumb.
Fer these are scenes that grip the heart, an’ when yer tears are dried,
Ye find the home is dearer than it was, an’ sanctified;
An’ tuggin’ at ye always are the pleasant memories
O’ her that was an’ is no more—ye can’t escape from these.

Ye’ve got t’ sing an’ dance fer years, ye’ve got t’ romp an’ play,
An’ learn t’ love the things ye have by usin’ ’em each day;
Even the roses ’round the porch must blossom year by year
Afore they ’come a part o’ ye, suggestin’ someone dear
Who used t’ love ’em long ago, an’ trained ’em jes’ t’ run
The way they do, so’s they would get the early mornin’ sun;
Ye’ve got t’ love each brick an’ stone from cellar up t’ dome:
It takes a heap o’ livin’ in a house t’ make it home.
 
"Home" by Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959).

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Tuesday Tomes - Great Houses

It's moving week at our house. We're saying "Good-bye" to a pretty great house in Arden Hills. We're saying "Hello" to a pretty great little condo in Roseville. We won't have much time for reading over the next few days, so a picture book might be just the thing for this week's Tuesday Tome.

For many years, Cheri and I have enjoyed driving around the Summit Avenue and Crocus Hill areas of St. Paul. Those old houses are big enough for five or six families! And now, thanks to a new book, The Great Houses of Summit Avenue, we can see what those mansions are like on the inside. They're fun to look at, but not something we would ever want to live in (as if we ever could).

So if you enjoy driving around and looking at houses, take a peek at some of the Summit Avenue houses we decided to pass on. If the book price is a little too summit-avenuey for your budget, do what I did–just browse through it at your closest Barnes & Noble.

By the way, if you'd like to be one of the first to see the humble little place we're moving into, feel free to join us for our moving day, Saturday, March 29, 9:00am.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Monday Music - Search Me, O God





Search me, O God, and know my heart–
Try me and know my anxious thoughts–
See if there be a hurtful way in me–
And lead me in the everlasting way.

You've enclosed me behind and before,
You have laid your hand upon me–
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
And too high to a attain it.

Search me, O God–
Try me, O God–
Know me, O God–
Lead me, O God.

"Search Me, O God" by Dave Burkum from Songs for the Real World, © Copyright 1991 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Whole Hearts

Almighty God, we know that without your grace we are powerless to help ourselves. We ask you to help us in heart, mind, and body as we seek to be your people. Save us from all those things threaten and tempt us in our bodies, and from all evil thoughts that hurt us in mind and spirit.

Forgive us our sins. Help us to die to ourselves and to live through you. Make us willing and able to forgive others as you have forgiven us. Help us to think, speak, and act in ways that restore lives, nurture relationships, create peace, and bring honor to you.

Thank you, O God, for salvation and life through Christ. Help us to surrender fully to you and to follow Jesus with whole hearts. Help us to know Jesus--to love him, to understand him, to honor him,
and to draw near to him--so that our lives are completely shaped and guided by him.

It’s in His Saving Name that we pray these things. Amen.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Friday Favorite - Fat Lorenzo's


Fat Lorenzo's is one of my favorite little restaurants in the Twin Cities. If things work out right, I hope to be eating lunch there today. If you've never been there, you're really missing out. Get down there and check it out. And when you do, be careful when you order, because the serving sizes are very generous.

Fat Lorenzo's
5600 Cedar Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN 55417
612-822-2040


Here are a few reviews you might want to check out...
•  Minneapolites
•  The Heavy Table
City Pages Blog


Thursday, March 20, 2014

Thursday Thinking - In Defense of Lent


Not sure what to think about Lent? Christianity Today's "Thin Places Blog" by Amy Julia Becker, gives five reasons to appreciate Lenten practices. You might find it helpful if observing Lent is new, strange, or pointless to you. Maybe you can relate with the introduction to Becker's post:
I used to feel some measure of disdain towards people who observed Lent, the religious season that begins next Wednesday and continues for forty days until Easter. For those who gave up candy or cheese, I figured it was just a religious excuse for a diet. For those who began a particular devotional practice, I often fell back upon the words of an elementary school friend who asked me about Lent as a kid: "Why would you only do something for forty days? Don't you believe in God all year round?"

But as I've grown up in faith and in life, I've changed my mind about Lent, for at least the following five reasons...
CONTINUE READING for Becker's insights about: 1. The Church Year; 2. The Feasting; 3. The Fasting; 4. Limitations; 5. and Being Counter-Cultural.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Wednesday Words - Home


If you can awaken inside
the familiar and discover it new, 
you need never leave home. 

By Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders, © Copyright 2002 by University of Nebraska Press.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Tuesday Tome - Selma Lagerlöf

I've been doing a lot of sorting and packing books in recent weeks. My wife and I are currently in the process of moving which means I'm figuring out which books will be going where – office library, new home, or garage sale. It's a little tedious but also surprisingly enjoyable.

One of the fun things about the process is seeing and touch every book on the shelves. In some cases, it's a bit like running into an old friend. It takes me back to the time I first read that book, or sparks a memory of a particular passage, character, or idea I took away from it. Sometimes it reminds me of the person who gave or recommended the book to me.

One of the books I came across and packed this past week was The Girl from Marsh Croft and Other Short Stories by Selma Lagerlöf. This book was given to me by my friend Morten Sager (from Gothenburg, Sweden) while he was studying at the University of Minnesota. Both of us were avid readers, so I gave Morten a book of short stories by Flannery O'Connor and he gave me a couple books of short stories by Selma Lagerlöf. It was a quintessential cultural exchange and both of us were better off for it.

If you enjoy short stories but have never heard of Selma Lagerlöf, I would encourage you to try to do a little searching. English translations of her books are not that easy to find, but worth the effort. And now that I've rediscovered her book in my library, I'm setting this one aside in my short stack for summer reading.

Read more about Selma Lagerlöf and The Girl from Marsh Croft.

CLICK HERE to get a free Kindle version of The Girl from Marsh Croft.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Monday Music - Mercy Street




Too long my feet have wandered these winding roads;
But I keep searching through this town.
My back in breaking under this heavy load;
Where can I go to lay it down?

What I would give if you could point me to that place!
I'm lookin' for Mercy.
I want to live on the avenue of grace;
I'm looking for Mercy–

Mercy Street, where the weary find rest.
Mercy Street, where the guilty are forgiven,
Mercy Street, where the weeping are blessed,
Mercy Street.

How I kept walking is a mystery;
My wasted days turned into years.
Until a stranger came along side of me;
He took my hand and dried my tears.

He said I've come from the place you hope to find,
I am from Mercy.
Cast off your burden and leave the past behind;
Leave it on Mercy–

Mercy Street, where the weary find rest.
Mercy Street, where the guilty are forgiven,
Mercy Street, where the weeping are blessed,
Mercy Street.

And now I walk the same old streets I used to roam,
Handin' out Mercy.
Come take my hand, I have been sent to bring you home;
I am from Mercy–

Mercy Street, where the weary find rest.
Mercy Street, where the guilty are forgiven,
Mercy Street, where the weeping are blessed,
Mercy Street.

"Mercy Street" by Dave Burkum, from the Breathe a Little Deeper album. © Copyright 1993 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Vessels of Your Grace

O God, we are so thankful for your mercy. Please be gracious to us when we go astray from your ways. Bring us back to you.

Give us humble hearts and steadfast faith. Teach us to hold fast to the unchangeable truth of your Word. Help us to follow Jesus Christ your Son.

Forgive us our sins. Renew us by your Spirit. Show us how to act, think, and live as Christ. And as you have forgiven us, make us merciful and ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Renew us, O Lord, and save us from the things that afflict us. Give us the strength to persevere, and give us hope as we cling to your promises. Forgive us our sins and deliver us from evil.

Make us vessels of your grace in a weary world. And as we are surrounded by so much suffering and hate, we ask you to make us a testimony of your saving and transforming love.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Friday Favorites - Prairie Home Companion



We had a great time at the Prairie Home Companion show last week. We were really happy for our boys as this was their first official guest appearance on the broadcast.

Twenty-five years ago, when we lived in a little woebegone town west of the Twin Cities, we listened to Prairie Home Companion while the boys ran around the house. It never crossed our minds that one day we would be sitting in the Fitzgerald Theatre watching them on the stage. Sometimes life is kinda more fun than you'd expect.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Thursday Thinking - Artistic Predisposition

Stephen Sandoval/Museum of Modern Art, New York City, Lillie P. Bliss Collection



Have you ever had a work of art reach out and grab you in a mysteriously deep and personal way? It's happened to me many, many times. The music of Dvořák, the poetry of Joyce Sutphen, the sculpture of Alexander Calder, and the short stories of Flannery O'Connor, just to name a few. It can happen with anything – sounds, tastes, places.

Robert Krulwich, co-host of WNYC's amazing Radiolab program, recently blogged about his own experience with this type of visceral connection with a piece of art. It happened to him in a museum when he was only eight years old and saw a Cézanne painting for the first time. How does such a connection happen? How is it that some things just seem like we were meant to find them? Here's what Krulwich thinks...
...when we are born, we are born with a sort of mood in us, a mood that comes to us through our genes, that will be seasoned by experience, but deep down, it's already there, looking for company, for someone to share itself with, and when we happen on the right piece of music, the right person, or, in this case the right artist, then, with a muscle that is as deep as ourselves, with the force of someone grabbing for a life preserver...
I'm not sure he's right, but that explanation sounds pretty accurate to me. How about you? What do you think is going on in people when they powerfully and inexplicably resonate and connect with some things? If you've had this experience, I'd like to hear how you would explain it.

Read Robert Krulwich's post, "Boy Meets Painting," on the Radiolab Blog.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Wednesday Words - My Little World


Oh God of the stars, the sun and the moon
Oh God of the wind and the sea
Though You’re everywhere
How amazing it is
That You can be here with me

The uncharted craters of planets beyond
You know like the palm of your hand
And yet You’re concerned
With my little world
Oh, help me to understand

I know that miracles happen to people like me
The moment we dare to believe
For we are the objects of God’s mighty love
Far greater than our little minds can conceive

The stars could collide
The sun could grow dim
The whole universe pass away
Still nothing can change the promise He made
And Christ in my heart will stay.

"My Little World" by Ralph Carmichael. 
© Bud John Songs, Inc. All rights reserved.


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Tuesday Tome - Book Club Starts Tomorrow



Valley begins a new book club tomorrow night, Wednesday, 6:30pm. Brad Dewing is leading the discussions, so let him know if you need more information.

How God Became King
by N. T. Wright

How God Became King is the selection for our next book club at Valley Christian Church. Brad Dewing will be facilitating the five sessions. A limited number of copies of this book selection are available at the church resource center.


BOOK CLUB SCHEDULE:
Wednesday, March 12, 6:30pm
Wednesday, March 19, 6:30pm
Wednesday, March 26, 6:30pm
Wednesday, April 2, 6:30pm
Wednesday, April 9, 6:30pm

CLICK HERE for more information.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Monday Music - The Wind



There's a dry wind blowing a tumbleweed–
My heart, my soul.
There's a storm-tossed ship on a restless sea–
My heart, my soul.
There's a spinning arm on a weather vane–
My heart, my soul.
There's the aftermath of a hurricane–
My heart, my soul.

The Wind wills, the Wind blows;
I can hear it rushing through the trees.
The Wind comes, the Wind goes;
It's impossible for me to see,
But I feel its power,
I can feel it moving all around me.

There's a sound of chimes through the back screen door–
My heart, my soul.
There's a crashing wave on a distant shore–
My heart, my soul.
There's a white cloud dancing across the sky–
My heart, my soul.
Red and yellow leaves learning how to fly–
My heart, my soul.

The Wind wills, the Wind blows;
I can hear it rushing through the trees.
The Wind comes, the Wind goes;
It's impossible for me to see,
But I feel its power,
I can feel it moving all around me.

There are rolling waves in the golden grain–
My heart, my soul.
There's a windmill spinning above the plain–
My heart, my soul.
There's a line of clothes hanging out to dry–
My heart, my soul.
There's an eagle hovering in the sky–
My heart, my soul.

The Wind wills, the Wind blows;
I can hear it rushing through the trees.
The Wind comes, the Wind goes;
It's impossible for me to see,
But I feel its power,
I can feel it moving all around me.

“The Wind” words and music by Dave Burkum, from the album, So Far to Go. © Copyright 1993 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday, March 09, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Strengthen Us by Your Spirit

Almighty God, we ask you to help us when we face temptation. We remember that Jesus was tempted by Satan during the forty days he fasted and prayed in the wilderness, and so we know he understands our weaknesses and temptations. Father God, just as you strengthened Jesus to overcome temptation, we pray that you will strengthen us by your Spirit, that we too might overcome temptation and escape the sins that entangle us.

Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ.  Help us to extend forgiveness to each other in his name. Help us become a redemptive and healing community. Help us to have a saving and healing influence in our world.

Help us, O Lord, to be in the world as Jesus was in it. Help us to be truly engaged with our world, and yet to be truly different from it. Help us to be instruments of your grace and power.

Where there is hatred, let us bring love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is discord, unity. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is darkness light.

Lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Saturday, March 08, 2014

Saturday Smile - Lennon & Maisy

Love these girls. Lennon & Maisy always put a smile on my face.
More smiles available at their website. I promise.

Friday, March 07, 2014

Friday Favorites - The Cactus Blossoms at Work



I know, I know. The Cactus Blossoms have been dominating the Friday Favorites posts. I must point out, however, that they've been working hard to do so. Just look at all they're doing in the next few days.

Friday, March 7 - SXSW Send-off Party
SONNY KNIGHT & THE LAKERS | THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS
TURF CLUB
 Doors 8:00 PM | $10.00 | Main Stage

Saturday, March 9 - Mill City Indoor Market
THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Saturday, March 9 - Prairie Home Companion
THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS / BUTCH THOMPSON /
BOB DOUGLAS & SUSIE ELDREDGE
Fitzgerald Theatre
4:45 PM

Monday, March 10 - 89.3 The Current Presents 
JD MCPHERSON / THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS
TURF CLUB
Doors 7:30 PM | $15.00 | Main Stage

Saturday, March 15 - SXSW - Austin, TX
THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS
Rowdy's Saloon
10:00 PM

Thursday, March 06, 2014

Thursday Thinking - Who Has the Toughest Job?


Being a pastor was recently ranked #5 in a Forbes Magazine list of the "Nine Toughest Leadership Roles." Being in US Congressperson or the CEO of a corporation ranked further down the list.
“Being a pastor is like death by a thousand paper cuts,” says Rev. Dr. Ken Fong, senior pastor at Evergreen Baptist Church in Rosemead, California and a program director at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.  “You’re scrutinized and criticized from top to bottom, stem to stern. You work for an invisible, perfect Boss, and you’re supposed to lead a ragtag gaggle of volunteers towards God’s coming future. It’s like herding cats, but harder.”
Yes, I know how tough it is, but that sounds like a little too much whining and woe-is-me. Being a pastor is very challenging, but it is also rewarding. Rewards and challenges go together. The greater the opportunity for fulfillment, the greater the potential for frustration and grief.

That's a perfect segue into reporting what made it the #1 on that list – (drum roll please) – The Stay-At-Home Parent (cymbal crash).  That's right folks, being a stay-at-home parent was ranked as a tougher job than CEO, pastor, football coach, or university president.

So here's to you, stay-at-home parents! Stand up and take a bow. I salute you. I also give thanks for having an easier job than you.

Dear readers, give a hug and send a note of encouragement to a stay-at-home parent you love, and share this post with them. They'll be glad to know you appreciate them and that there's a reason they feel so tired.

Ranking the Nine Toughest Leadership Roles (Forbes / Rob Asghar)

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Wednesday Words - Before the Dust Returns


Remember your Creator
    in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
    and the years approach when you will say,
    “I find no pleasure in them”—
before the sun and the light
    and the moon and the stars grow dark,
    and the clouds return after the rain;
when the keepers of the house tremble,
    and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
    and those looking through the windows grow dim;
when the doors to the street are closed
    and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
    but all their songs grow faint;
when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
    and mourners go about the streets.

Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
    and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
    and the wheel broken at the well,
and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7, New International Version.

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Tuesday Tome - Valley Book Club Starts March 12

One last appeal for readers to join Brad Dewing for the next Valley Book Club. It begins next week, Wednesday, 6:30pm. So start reading and let Brad know if you need more information.

How God Became King
by N. T. Wright

How God Became King is the selection for our next book club at Valley Christian Church. Brad Dewing will be facilitating the five sessions. A limited number of copies of this book selection are available at the church resource center.

In this book, New Testament scholar N.T. Wright reveals how we have been misreading the Gospels for centuries, powerfully restoring the lost central story of the Scripture: that the coronation of God through the acts of Jesus was the climax of human history. Wright fills the gaps that centuries of misdirection have opened up in our collective spiritual story, tracing a narrative from Eden, to Jesus, to today.

BOOK CLUB SCHEDULE:
Wednesday, March 12, 6:30pm
Wednesday, March 19, 6:30pm
Wednesday, March 26, 6:30pm
Wednesday, April 2, 6:30pm
Wednesday, April 9, 6:30pm

CLICK HERE for more information.

Monday, March 03, 2014

Monday Music - Teach Me to Number My Days





Teach me to number my days
That I might present a heart of wisdom.
Teach me to number my days,
Everlasting Father, I pray–
Teach me to number my days.

A thousand years in your sight
Are like a day just gone by,
But I'm like grass at the break of day–
When the evening comes I will fade away–
I'll fly away.

So teach me to number my days
That I might present a heart of wisdom.
Teach me to number my days,
Everlasting Father, I pray–
Teach me to number my days.
Teach me to number my days.

"Teach Me To Number My Days" words and music by Dave Burkum (adapted from Psalm 90) from Songs for the Real World, © Copyright 1992 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday, March 02, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Vessels of Your Grace

O God, we are so thankful for your mercy. Please be gracious to us when we go astray from your ways. Bring us back to you.

Give us humble hearts and steadfast faith. Teach us to hold fast to the unchangeable truth of your Word. Help us to follow Jesus Christ your Son.

Forgive us our sins. Renew us by your Spirit. Show us how to act, think, and live as Christ. And as you have forgiven us, make us merciful and ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Renew us and save us, O Lord, from the things that afflict us. Give us the strength to persevere, and give us hope as we cling to your promises. Forgive us our sins and deliver us from evil.

Make us vessels of your grace in a weary world. And as we are surrounded by so much suffering and hate, we ask you to make us a testimony of your saving and transforming love.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.