Saturday Morning Prayer, 04 Jul 2020

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

Lord God, by your providence our founders won their liberties of old: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to exercise these liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

       Follow the example of good men and women of old,
and God will comfort you and help you.
[ St Columba ]

Scripture Reading (CEV)

Psalm 121:1-3

I look to the hills!
Where will I find help?
It will come from the Lord,
who created the heavens
and the earth.

The Lord is your protector,
and he won’t go to sleep
or let you stumble.

Habakkuk 3:16-19

 

When I heard [the Lord’s] message, I felt weak from fear, and my lips quivered. My bones seemed to melt, and I stumbled around. But I will patiently wait. Someday those vicious enemies will be struck by disaster.

Fig trees may no longer bloom, or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless, and harvest time a failure; sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant—but I will still celebrate because the Lord God saves me.

The Lord gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains.

John 10:14-26

I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me. Just as the Father knows me, I know the Father, and I give up my life for my sheep. I have other sheep that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them together too, when they hear my voice. Then there will be one flock of sheep and one shepherd.

The Father loves me, because I give up my life, so that I may receive it back again. No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again, just as my Father commanded me to do.

The people took sides because of what Jesus had told them. Many of them said, “He has a demon in him! He is crazy! Why listen to him?”

But others said, “How could anyone with a demon in him say these things? No one like that could give sight to a blind person!”

That winter, Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Temple Festival. One day he was walking in that part of the temple known as Solomon’s Porch, and the people gathered all around him. They said, “How long are you going to keep us guessing? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly!”

Jesus answered:

I have told you, and you refused to believe me. The things I do by my Father’s authority show who I am. But since you are not my sheep, you don’t believe me.

Reflection:

On America –

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce – and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution – and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America”(1835)

 

Prayer: (Originally delivered January 23, 1996 by Pastor Joe Wright to the Kansas House of Representatives in Topeka.)

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and seek your direction and guidance. We know your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good,” but that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

We confess that…

• We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your Word and called it moral pluralism.
• We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
• We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
• We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
• We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
• We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
• We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
• We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
• We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building esteem.
• We have abused power and called it political savvy.
• We have coveted our neighbors’ possessions and called it ambition.
• We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
• We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us O God and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Guide and bless the men and women we have sent to [Washington D.C.] by the people of America –  those ordained by you, to govern this great country. Grant them your wisdom to rule, and may their decisions direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the name of your son, the living savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

If My People – Scripture Memory Songs

Closing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.