To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God
Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long ...
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is an offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
--- Psalm 25:1-2, 4-5; 139:23-24
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
For the Church (from the Lutheran Book of Prayer)
O God, because You elected from eternity to save us from destroying ourselves,
We praise You
that You gave promise of salvation to Adam and his seed;
that You saved Noah and his family in the ark of faith;
that You protected and saved ancient Israel as Your people.
We give thanks that You saved mankind by the death and resurrection of our Lord, the Christ;
that You extended Your kingdom to many tribes and nations;
that You have preserved Your Word in the Holy Scriptures.
We pray You,
rule in our hearts by faith;
promote unity among us by love;
seal in us the hope of the Resurrection.
Finish Your work among us through Your Word and sacraments, for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
We praise You
that You gave promise of salvation to Adam and his seed;
that You saved Noah and his family in the ark of faith;
that You protected and saved ancient Israel as Your people.
We give thanks that You saved mankind by the death and resurrection of our Lord, the Christ;
that You extended Your kingdom to many tribes and nations;
that You have preserved Your Word in the Holy Scriptures.
We pray You,
rule in our hearts by faith;
promote unity among us by love;
seal in us the hope of the Resurrection.
Finish Your work among us through Your Word and sacraments, for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Now What, God?
Father God, You are all-knowing, almighty, all powerful and all sufficient! Thank You for Your endless, boundless grace and mercy! Thank You for flooding Your sanctuary with Your holiness yesterday ... Your presence is always there, Lord, and we thank You for that even when we don't "feel" You; we know You are there and want us to draw near to You.
You have great plans for us; and for Gloria Dei in Hudson, Ohio! We praise and thank you for giving us a wonderful shepherd in Pastor Eric Tritten for almost 13 years! Some of us remember the day we met him and his lovely wife Chris, pregnant with Ricky, fresh out of the seminary, ready to serve You here. You gave us a great gift, Lord, and we are so appreciative for the memories, the spiritual growth, the learning and living we've done together. We've worked side by side with Pastor T and have experienced a lot over the years; the time has flown by!
Lord God, there are so many emotions right now. We're sad for us because our friends are moving away. We're hurting because we don't want to see a good thing end. We're confused because maybe we didn't think Pastor T's work was finished here. Father, we might think we know what we want and what we need but if we fail to put our trust in You, we haven't learned a thing about who You are ... You are the only One we can trust ... You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Thank you!
Father God, You called Pastor T to Gloria Dei ... we are happy for Your children there as they are in need of a man of integrity to shepherd them ... though it's difficult to let go, and we are asking for Your help in doing that, Lord, we know we need to say goodbye and ask Your blessing upon Pastor and Chris and the children as they follow Your call. Please provide everything they need and shower them with continued assurance that they are doing exactly what You've made clear for them to do.
Father, as we get over the "shock" and begin to "regroup", please, please help us to focus on seeking Your will and leaving everything else at the foot of Jesus' cross.
We trust You to provide everything we need, Lord God. We ask that You reign in our hearts and minds as we seek Your face and Your will, Lord. Please pour out Your spirit upon Pastor T, Vickie, Haroldeane, Terry, John, Mark, and everyone else involved as they each do what needs to be done to move forward. Please dispell any heaviness and lift all hearts to do and say only that which is of YOU, Father God. Flood every heart that is a part of Good Shepherd with You, Lord. Strip away any feelings of doubt, bitterness, gossip .. all things that get in the way of serving You and helping us to each go out and make disciples of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Help us to lift up and encourage each other with Your words .. help us to speak the Truth boldly and in love. Hold our tongues when words are to come out that are not Yours, oh God ... and pour Your words out of us that are what You want us to say!
Protect us from the evil one who wants to torment us and tear us down and apart from You, Father God! Send your holy angels to guard against all evil! Help us to use our time and talents for You; to bring You glory, Lord Jesus! Thank You for Your endless, boundless grace and mercy! In Your name, we pray. Amen.
You have great plans for us; and for Gloria Dei in Hudson, Ohio! We praise and thank you for giving us a wonderful shepherd in Pastor Eric Tritten for almost 13 years! Some of us remember the day we met him and his lovely wife Chris, pregnant with Ricky, fresh out of the seminary, ready to serve You here. You gave us a great gift, Lord, and we are so appreciative for the memories, the spiritual growth, the learning and living we've done together. We've worked side by side with Pastor T and have experienced a lot over the years; the time has flown by!
Lord God, there are so many emotions right now. We're sad for us because our friends are moving away. We're hurting because we don't want to see a good thing end. We're confused because maybe we didn't think Pastor T's work was finished here. Father, we might think we know what we want and what we need but if we fail to put our trust in You, we haven't learned a thing about who You are ... You are the only One we can trust ... You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Thank you!
Father God, You called Pastor T to Gloria Dei ... we are happy for Your children there as they are in need of a man of integrity to shepherd them ... though it's difficult to let go, and we are asking for Your help in doing that, Lord, we know we need to say goodbye and ask Your blessing upon Pastor and Chris and the children as they follow Your call. Please provide everything they need and shower them with continued assurance that they are doing exactly what You've made clear for them to do.
Father, as we get over the "shock" and begin to "regroup", please, please help us to focus on seeking Your will and leaving everything else at the foot of Jesus' cross.
We trust You to provide everything we need, Lord God. We ask that You reign in our hearts and minds as we seek Your face and Your will, Lord. Please pour out Your spirit upon Pastor T, Vickie, Haroldeane, Terry, John, Mark, and everyone else involved as they each do what needs to be done to move forward. Please dispell any heaviness and lift all hearts to do and say only that which is of YOU, Father God. Flood every heart that is a part of Good Shepherd with You, Lord. Strip away any feelings of doubt, bitterness, gossip .. all things that get in the way of serving You and helping us to each go out and make disciples of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Help us to lift up and encourage each other with Your words .. help us to speak the Truth boldly and in love. Hold our tongues when words are to come out that are not Yours, oh God ... and pour Your words out of us that are what You want us to say!
Protect us from the evil one who wants to torment us and tear us down and apart from You, Father God! Send your holy angels to guard against all evil! Help us to use our time and talents for You; to bring You glory, Lord Jesus! Thank You for Your endless, boundless grace and mercy! In Your name, we pray. Amen.
My Utmost for His Highest - The Voice of the Nature of God
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ’Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ —Isaiah 6:8
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
January 16 ... My Utmost for His Highest ... Oswald Chambers
http://utmost.org/the-voice-of-the-nature-of-god/
When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls. There are many things calling each of us today. Some of these calls will be answered, and others will not even be heard. The call is the expression of the nature of the One who calls, and we can only recognize the call if that same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours. God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them. It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern, and it is useless to seek another person’s opinion of it. Our dealings over the call of God should be kept exclusively between ourselves and Him.
The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration. As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God. But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was. Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured, that the call of God penetrated his soul. The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves. And we cannot hear anything God says. But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.
January 16 ... My Utmost for His Highest ... Oswald Chambers
http://utmost.org/the-voice-of-the-nature-of-god/
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Praying for Hope in Haiti
Dear brothers and sisters, as Tom Donnelly and Barb Deradoorian are in Haiti this week with LCMS World Relief and Human Care, and Michelle Garland is working at a Samaritan's Purse cholera clinic in Cite Soleil, we join together praying for all the happenings. Last night several of us gathered for prayer in the sanctuary ... January's Prayer Agenda will be included in this week's News & Notes ... please be in prayer ... it is truly a gift from God to communicate with Him ... He offers and desires this relationship between you and Him ... take time, turn off the TV or set aside any worldy thing that can distract you from the most important time spent, get into a comfortable position (or down on your knees, which is not always a comfortable position) and spill your heart out to Him ... He hears your every word and will lift your heart!
Here is an update from Barb:
First impressions: Haiti is beautiful (like the other islands) and Haiti is devastated. It is difficult for my mind to comprehend the extent of it - the people are living in conditions that the world should be ashamed of - and I think that much of this existed prior to the earthquake - but the extent to which it affected this entire country is undeniable. Yet, among all of this, the people are joyful, happy, friendly, warm, beautiful and making a way to live. I'm not sure I could do it.
We (the team - 12 of us from around the US and Haiti) are currently in Jacmel. We took a very interesting bus ride from Port-au-Prince (which is amass with people who are living in tents) through some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen. All the while honking our horn to warn those on the other side of the hairpin turn we were coming through. People, babies, children, buses, tap-taps (the local mode of transportation which consists of a brightly painted bus with open sides, jammed to the gills with people and goods, including stacked on the top with people on top of that), cars, everything - sharing the same road. And I do mean sharing - lanes are nonexistent here. We arrived in Jacmel yesterday(to more people living in tents, but also a beautiful city in its own regard) and are staying at a very Westernized hotel - I would not say this is a typical mission trip experience in that regard. It is directly on the ocean - but no one is in the ocean here - very different from my experiences in other islands. Of course, the litter in the ocean perhaps has something to do with that. No form of garbage disposal here whatsoever. Even the burning of rubbish doesn't keep up with the debris. We visited a build site yesterday and had an evening sharing with a missionary group here from the University of Illinois - Urbana - students, pastors, professors. It was a wonderful evening. Today has been filled with meetings this morning - I met with a Pastor who is the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti and we are developing a business plan for microfinancing throughout Haiti. We have already applied for a $500,000 grant which has been awarded pending our plan. It looks like I will be returning here in a few months to begin training with the board of directors and others involved in the financing. I have a lot to learn before then. This afternoon we will be traveling to a tent city to distribute shoes and soap and then attending worship service at Pastor Markey's church (a 30x40 slab of cement with 4 "walls"-open air and a metal roof). I understand we can expect standing room only - with about 300 to 400 people worshiping. I can't wait!
I'm not sure what tomorrow or Friday will bring, although we hope to go work at one of the home building sites. I do feel there is some progress being made here, but it is incredibly slow. The one organization you can't miss seeing making an impact is Samaritan's Purse (Franklin Graham - Billy Graham's son, is the CEO). They are meeting the needs of the people with shelter, clean water, food, medical care. They will be holding a revival in Port-au-Prince this weekend - Franklin Graham will be here to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
If you would like to see some pics of the trip, you can visit www.lutheranchurchcharities.org and see what Tim Hetzner has put up. I haven't been to the site yet, but check it out. You can also visit a blog by a young lady on our team, Sofie Martin, at www.gospelinmotion.blogspot.com (hope4haiti).
Heavenly Father, we thank you for everything; for every good gift is from You! Your creation is spectacular and even though devastated, the country of Haiti is full of majestic mountains, sparkling ocean tides, and joyful, hopeful, happy, friendly people who You have made to be natural survivors, enduring the worst conditions most of us will never be able to comprehend!
Thank you, Father God, for providing opportunity for our friends to use the resources and talents You have given them to make this trip. Continue to be with them, providing for them in the areas of health, rest, strength, wisdom, and unity. Be their Guide as they meet and plan and organize projects that You have called them to do. Keep each person focused on You, Lord, so they can do the work You have laid out for them to do and so that everyone around them will know the love of Jesus through them. Lord, with You there with them, controlling the plans You have made, big strides can be made; may everything be done to glorify Your Holy Name, Lord God!
Father God, we raise up to you Franklin Graham and all of Samaritan's Purse; continue to bless the work they are doing in Your name. Give Mr. Graham Your words as he speaks to the people this weekend ... speak through him, Lord, as your children seek hope! Do mighty works in Haiti, Lord God, and as progress is made let it be obvious it is all because of You, Your goodness and mercy!
We pray all this in the unstoppable name of Jesus, amen!
Here is an update from Barb:
First impressions: Haiti is beautiful (like the other islands) and Haiti is devastated. It is difficult for my mind to comprehend the extent of it - the people are living in conditions that the world should be ashamed of - and I think that much of this existed prior to the earthquake - but the extent to which it affected this entire country is undeniable. Yet, among all of this, the people are joyful, happy, friendly, warm, beautiful and making a way to live. I'm not sure I could do it.
We (the team - 12 of us from around the US and Haiti) are currently in Jacmel. We took a very interesting bus ride from Port-au-Prince (which is amass with people who are living in tents) through some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen. All the while honking our horn to warn those on the other side of the hairpin turn we were coming through. People, babies, children, buses, tap-taps (the local mode of transportation which consists of a brightly painted bus with open sides, jammed to the gills with people and goods, including stacked on the top with people on top of that), cars, everything - sharing the same road. And I do mean sharing - lanes are nonexistent here. We arrived in Jacmel yesterday(to more people living in tents, but also a beautiful city in its own regard) and are staying at a very Westernized hotel - I would not say this is a typical mission trip experience in that regard. It is directly on the ocean - but no one is in the ocean here - very different from my experiences in other islands. Of course, the litter in the ocean perhaps has something to do with that. No form of garbage disposal here whatsoever. Even the burning of rubbish doesn't keep up with the debris. We visited a build site yesterday and had an evening sharing with a missionary group here from the University of Illinois - Urbana - students, pastors, professors. It was a wonderful evening. Today has been filled with meetings this morning - I met with a Pastor who is the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti and we are developing a business plan for microfinancing throughout Haiti. We have already applied for a $500,000 grant which has been awarded pending our plan. It looks like I will be returning here in a few months to begin training with the board of directors and others involved in the financing. I have a lot to learn before then. This afternoon we will be traveling to a tent city to distribute shoes and soap and then attending worship service at Pastor Markey's church (a 30x40 slab of cement with 4 "walls"-open air and a metal roof). I understand we can expect standing room only - with about 300 to 400 people worshiping. I can't wait!
I'm not sure what tomorrow or Friday will bring, although we hope to go work at one of the home building sites. I do feel there is some progress being made here, but it is incredibly slow. The one organization you can't miss seeing making an impact is Samaritan's Purse (Franklin Graham - Billy Graham's son, is the CEO). They are meeting the needs of the people with shelter, clean water, food, medical care. They will be holding a revival in Port-au-Prince this weekend - Franklin Graham will be here to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
If you would like to see some pics of the trip, you can visit www.lutheranchurchcharities.org and see what Tim Hetzner has put up. I haven't been to the site yet, but check it out. You can also visit a blog by a young lady on our team, Sofie Martin, at www.gospelinmotion.blogspot.com (hope4haiti).
Heavenly Father, we thank you for everything; for every good gift is from You! Your creation is spectacular and even though devastated, the country of Haiti is full of majestic mountains, sparkling ocean tides, and joyful, hopeful, happy, friendly people who You have made to be natural survivors, enduring the worst conditions most of us will never be able to comprehend!
Thank you, Father God, for providing opportunity for our friends to use the resources and talents You have given them to make this trip. Continue to be with them, providing for them in the areas of health, rest, strength, wisdom, and unity. Be their Guide as they meet and plan and organize projects that You have called them to do. Keep each person focused on You, Lord, so they can do the work You have laid out for them to do and so that everyone around them will know the love of Jesus through them. Lord, with You there with them, controlling the plans You have made, big strides can be made; may everything be done to glorify Your Holy Name, Lord God!
Father God, we raise up to you Franklin Graham and all of Samaritan's Purse; continue to bless the work they are doing in Your name. Give Mr. Graham Your words as he speaks to the people this weekend ... speak through him, Lord, as your children seek hope! Do mighty works in Haiti, Lord God, and as progress is made let it be obvious it is all because of You, Your goodness and mercy!
We pray all this in the unstoppable name of Jesus, amen!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
First Tuesday Prayer Gathering
Heavenly Father, as we gather tonight to pray please bless us with the presence of Your Holy Spirit, knowing that You are there and hear our prayers. Give us that peace that only You can give, O God, and draw us close to You as we surrender our hearts to Your bidding. There's so much on our minds as we begin this new year, Lord, and we just simple need to give it all to You and trust You with everything. Bring us together as one voice this evening, whether we are with You in Your sanctuary at Good Shepherd, or whether we're individually in other physical locations, speak to our hearts and encourage us all to be in communion with You in the precious gift of prayer. Teach us to pray, Lord Jesus. We bring it all to You, in Your name. Amen.
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