Lord God, Creator of all Space and of all Time, the God who is and who was and who ever shall be, the Great I Am: changeless and yet everchanging.
God of Faith, we are thankful for your presence here with us today: You are always at our side, always believing in us, even when we fail to believe in ourselves. You are always seeking to fill us with your peace and your strength and your love: helping us face the unending challenges of this world, weeping when we are hurting and broken, rejoicing to see us grow and prosper, helping us follow the path you intend for us as we journey through this life.
God of Hope, we gather here today, seeking refuge and rest; renewing our strength so that we may continue bringing your Gospel to a world that is not what it once was. It is a new season, and all is changing. We are tired, and we ourselves are not what we once were. We seek to better know who we are, and better know who you are, that we may know who our neighbor is, and so that we may learn how to love them for who they are, as they are.
God of Love, help us to never fear nor fail to embrace those who are other, even those who reject us. Help us love those who seem unlovable. Help us see them with your eyes. And, help us to love ourselves, for only with the love you have planted and are nurturing within us can we minister out of that love to our neighbors.
In the name of Jesus, whom you gave to this World out of your boundless love for all of your Creation, and your desire that all be healed, including us; Amen.
Delivered at Memorial Congregational Church UCC in Sudbury MA, September 18, 2022.
Copyright 2022, Allen Vander Meulen III, all rights reserved.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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