| A note from Pastor Hannah: I trust the Spirit will meet you this morning, even as we are apart. I pray the morning offers rest, healing, and peace. May quiet offered by a fresh snow fall be an invitation to prayer, and a balm for weary souls. Our scripture readings this morning were to be Psalm 29:1-9 and Matthew 4:12-23. If you’d like to read it, you can find today’s sermon attached. Below you will also find a prayer for the people today – cause Lord knows we need it. |
| God in whom we live and move and have our being, we pray for peace and unity, and for justice and mercy in your fragile creation. We remember before you today people living face to face with war and violence, especially those places where ancient hatreds burn. We pray for the people of Iran, and all who live under threat— for those whose days are shaped by conflict, fear, oppression, or uncertainty. God, speak to us a word of peace. Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today people living face to face with disaster and devastation, those whose communities have been changed in an instant by loss. We pray for all who are grieving, displaced, overwhelmed, or waiting for help to arrive. God, speak to us a word of comfort. Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today people living face to face with economic uncertainty, those struggling with rising costs of daily necessities, and those who have lost their jobs, their savings, their homes or businesses. We pray for those who are unhoused, and who this very morning are vulnerable and unsafe due to the weather conditions. God, speak to us a word of provision. Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today people living face to face with discrimination and social prejudice, those who are bullied at school, at work or at home, and all those who have been made ashamed of who they are. God, speak to us a word of dignity. Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today those living face to face with fear— fear of raids, fear of separation, fear of deportation, fear of violence— and all who are caught in systems that deny their dignity and humanity. We pray especially for immigrants and refugees, for those harmed by immigration enforcement, and for communities living in heightened anxiety and grief. We specifically name before you the states of Minnesota, and Maine, and anywhere the whistle blows. God, speak to us a word of refuge. Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today people living face to face with illness and suffering, those waiting for a diagnosis or treatment, those struggling with disability or delay in medical attention, and those who know grief or fear. God, speak to us a word of healing. Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today people of different creeds and faiths, those who seek understanding and co-operation among different religious traditions, and those who show love to their neighbours, whatever their creed or conviction. God, speak to us a word of reconciliation. Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today your whole creation and its many vulnerable facets and faces. Teach us how to care for the rips and tears in the fabric of the world you love so we may live together wisely and protect the future in our attitudes and actions. God, speak to us a word of wisdom. Embrace us with your love. And so, in unity with your Church around the world you love, we pray together the words Jesus taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen Finally, I offer you this gift from our fellow Presbyterians in Burlington. Rev. Susan Kerr of East Burlington Presbyterian Church prerecorded a short service (20 min) with prayers, scripture reading and a meditation on John 3:1-21. What a gift to be connected with our siblings in Christ! Yours, Rev. Hannah |