The Lincoln Univ. Alumni lunch

The Lincoln University Alumni Luncheon

Friday, October 10, 2003 - Luncheon  Prayer


Oh God, Creator of the world and Lord of our nation,

We thank You for your many blessings.
We thank You for food in a world where many walk in hungerWe thank You for friends in a world where many walk aloneWe thank You for faith in a world where many walk in fear

We thank You for those who are near to us, for those physically present, and for those who are near, though in distant places, and those who have come home to you.

Creator of the universe you give us these gifts of food to nourish us and give us life. Bless the food that you have made and human hands have prepared. May it satisfy our hunger, and in sharing it together may we come close to one another. Come Holy Spirit, as this food feeds our bodies, So we pray you would nourish our souls.

As you blessed many with the five loaves and the two fishes, may we too, know your blessing as we share this food, your peace in our hearts and your love in our lives.

For this our daily food, and for every gift which comes from you O God, we bless your holy name.  Bless us O Lord and these gifts that we are about to receive from thy bounty Through Christ our Lord.          Amen.

Pray Time

PRAYER TIME AND THE LORD'S PRAYER

Loving God - indeed this is a wonderful world, a world in which share with us the riches of fertile land, the resources of mountains and streams, the abundance of oceans and sky. We thank you for all the gifts you have given us on this planet we call Earth - for all the gifts you have called us to treasure, to husband, and to share. Grant O God that we may show respect to you and to the gifts you give by using them aright and by remembering from whence they have come and what purpose you have assigned to them..... Lord hear our prayer...
Generous God you have poured out riches of the Spirit as well as riches of earth, sea, and sky. We thank you for the power that sustains this universe and which is to be found in every human heart. We praise you for the love that creates beauty and for the care which creates tenderness and mercy and for the truth that creates justice and honor and glory. Grant, O God, that we may respond always to the urging of your Spirit and use the riches it provides to uphold truth and to show love and care for all people and for the creation itself.... Lord hear our prayer....
Giving God - there is much in our lives for which we are readily thankful - but there is also much in our lives that we have difficulty thanking you for - either because we do not see or acknowledge you in it - or because those things come to us as afflictions - as trials and tribulations. Help us, we pray, to see you in the ordinary things of life - that we may have the trust that we need to overcome in those things that test us our faith..... Lord hear our prayer.
Finally O God, you who are the mother and father of us all - hear the silent prayers of thanksgiving and of intercession that we make before you in our hearts as even now I name those names and those things that have been lifted up this day by these your people.... (BIDDING PRAYER)... Lord, hear our prayer... We pray to you O God, in the name of Christ Jesus, the one who taught us to come to as one family, as your children, saying: "OUR FATHER

a prayer for peace

A Prayer for Peace

Oh God, from whom proceeds all holy desires, right council and just works; grant to Your servants that peace which the world cannot give. That when our hearts have been disposed to obey your commandments and the fear of the enemy has been removed, peace may be restored to the world under Your holy protection, through Christ Our Lord.                Amen

margaret reynolds

alan l. Joplin/2-10-02

Margaret Reynolds-Funeral Prayer

Our dear Father, With broken hearts and sorrowing spirits, we come before You to be healed, comforted, and sustained.We thank you for the gift of memory and for the ties that bind our hearts in love.  Margaret is precious in our memory, dear to our hearts and we feel a profound loss.Help this family through this time of sorrow.Enable them to assimilate the loss and to live for the future deepened in faith, and enriched by Margaret’s influence and love.We thank you for Margaret.We thank You for her character, the breadth of her sympathies, the patience of her understanding, for her courage, her knowledge and the calmness of her spirit even in anguish and distress.Sustain and comfort her family with the consolation that they are in Your Holy keeping, and that one-day they will be reunited.We are grateful that You are able to bring comfort to our hearts.Your tender mercies remind us that we are not alone in our sorrow and loss.O God, You are ever near when we are afflicted, and You have  suffered with us. In the name of Christ we pray these things.  Amen

Pastoral Prayer-March 2000

Pastoral Prayer- March 12, 2000

Holy God, help us to understand. Loving Lord, help us to Understand that there is not one of us who deserves even the Crumbs that fall from your table -- yet you grant to us all: young and old - rich and poor – black or white-- sinner or saint - the bread of life. May we always praise your most holy name through Christ Jesus? … Lord, hear our prayer.

Gracious Lord - we come unto you - and we lift up our burdens - our worry - our anxiety - our fear - our tiredness - our pain - and we ask that you remove them from us and put in their place your burden and your yoke.

Help us to learn from you, to rejoice in you and to serve you—in which we may find the rest--which you have promised. Make us your captives so that we might be truly free … Lord, hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father - we come to you this day--not only for ourselves - but for others - for those who do not know your peace - for those who have not yet found rest - for those who struggle with those things we have brought to you.

We ask your healing put upon those who are sick --- your strength to be with those who are tired -- your wisdom and your love to be with those who live with despair and fear. Minister to them as we minister to them - help us to bring them unto you … Lord, hear our prayer.

Loving God, help us to not only understand, but to pass your love On to others. Give us eyes to see you; ears to hear you, hearts to love you, lips to proclaim you, and hands to serve you ... Lord, hear our prayer.

Lord God, we create so many barriers as individuals and as a Society. We shut others out and disbar ourselves by how we react to the words of our neighbors. We pray - give us the energy and the will to tear down the walls that divide us from one another and from you  ... Lord, hear our prayer.

Hear our prayers today 0 God for those who are dispossessed - and for those who are poor and neglected in every land ... Lord, hear our prayer...

We pray today 0 God for your blessing to be upon this Minister, this congregation, this church, and for your presence to be seen vividly in what we and our brothers and sisters in Christ do each day. And we pray that your joy and your love will flow freely in us and thru us as we take up your yoke and follow where you lead us. ... Lord, hear our prayer.

Listen, as well 0 Lord to the intentions and desires of our hearts. Those things we have shared before your people and those, which we have stored up in our hearts alone.

We ask all these things and we thank you, we adore you, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. We ask you to hear all our prayers, 0 God, in the name of the one who taught us to pray to you, as one family.  And let the church say Amen, Amen and Amen

Summer Company 2

Summer Company 2-A prayer

Joplin and Reynolds/August 14, 2000


Almighty and Everlasting God  look with favor upon us this day.  As you bestowed the first disciples the gift of your Holy Spirit, pour that Spirit upon us today.  Open our hearts to your living power.  

O God, we thank you for your love, a love seen in your Son who chose the path of suffering for the sake of the world. Humble us by his example, point us to the path of obedience, and give us strength to follow his example. Help us diminish so you might increase; to empty ourselves so that you might fill us with your Spirit and your power.

Illuminate our hearts and minds and souls that we might better follow in the foot steps of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Bless the ministry of Summer Company that we might be truly servant people as we return to our communities and to the world; make us a people concerned more with how to reach out to others than how to survive as individual; a people concerned more with how to love our neighbors than how to obtain a larger share for ourselves; a people concerned more with how to bring glory to your name, than how to meet our earthly obligations.
      
Lord, we remember the innocent ones of our world - those who have no choices – the children, the poor, the hungry, the sick. Remind us Lord of the thousands of people in the world who have given up their freedom, their opportunities, indeed their very lives for your sake and for the sake of the gospel and grant us the zeal and faith that they demonstrate
    
Illuminate our hearts and minds and souls that we might better follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Holy and Loving God, we praise you for calling us to be your people and for saving us and gathering us together in the name of your only begotten Son.  Your mercy, grace, and your tenderness, O Lord, are only exceeded by your power, glory and your love.  

Forgive those things in our lives that have offended thee, and hurt our neighbors, and disfigured our own selves - the selves you made to reflect and display the beauty of your nature. Help us to love one another; as we praise you for your gracious care, help us to show tenderness to each other; and as we pray to you, help us to have thankful and generous hearts

Illuminate our hearts and minds and souls that we might better follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Grant us dreams and visions that we may discover your will for our lives. Knit us closer together and help us to worship you in Spirit and in truth.  With our brothers and sisters around the world and at home this day, fill us with the bread and the wine that truly satisfy and grant that we might become one in Christ.

Illuminate our hearts our minds and souls that we might better follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ our Saviour and more worthily magnify your most holy name.  Help us celebrate the work you have done through us and continue to use us in your service.  Dear God keep our hearts open to your living power in our everyday lives.  Lead us, teach us and grace us with your presence - both now - and forevermore.      

                                                       Amen

Prayers—1st Draft
Alan L. Joplin/June1,2001


Gracious God, we thank you for calling us here today to refresh ourselves in your presence - to grow strong in your praises and wise in your counsels. We ask that your radiance penetrate any darkness that may be upon our hearts at this time and that you would grant peace to us as we meditate upon your word. This is the Sabbath that you have made, O Lord, we would rejoice and be glad in it and give glory unto your name. Blow through this place with the power of your everlasting Spirit and lift up your people.

Gracious Creator and Redeemer, we thank for this day of your grace, for this Sabbath in which we celebrate your love and remember the victory won for us by Jesus Christ your only Son, our Saviour. Bless us, we pray, with your presence this day in your sanctuary - help us commit ourselves anew to the work of your Kingdom, and draw us closer to one another in the power of your Holy Spirit as we worship you. We ask these things in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Holy and Awesome God, creator of heaven and earth - as we come before you today we are aware of our imperfect understanding of your ways and of our deep need for your presence in our lives. We thank you for granting to us a family in which to grow, a people with whom we can mature. We praise you for accepting us as we are and for struggling with us to make us what we can be. Bless, we pray, this time when your people gather to worship you and call on your name. Grant to us insight into the mind of Christ and a deep love for you and for all whom you have made. As we lift our song to you - come down and visit our souls. We ask it in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, our brother, and our friend.

Loving God, meet us here and make your word live in us. Remind us, O Lord, of the cloud of witnesses that surround us and help us to follow their example. Help us to lay aside every weight, and the sin that clings so closely, and run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Make us, like all the saints before us - a people who are eager to share your love with those that are far off and those that are near. Guide us, we pray, by the power of your Holy Spirit as we worship and serve you -- both in this hour, and in all the hours to come. We ask it in the name of Christ Jesus - our brother and our Lord.

Loving Father and Mother, we come before you with humble and penitent hearts. We are conscious of how we have offended thee. Our sins are ever before us. Forgive us for our carelessness with the gospel of Jesus Christ, for our assumption that the neglect of your holy word does not matter. Where we have overlooked the needs of others and where we have proven insensible to the feelings of those around us, we ask your pardon. Forgive us for dwelling on the things that are wrong in this world and overlooking the good that is being done all around us. Where we have been negative and destroyed the hopes of others and where we forgotten the comfort and strength of your arms, we ask your pardon. Merciful God, hear our prayer

Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, hear our prayer. We confess to you, and to all the company of heaven,  and to one another, that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and by omission - through our fault, our own  grievous fault.  Search our hearts, O Lord, and help us to truly repent. Lord Jesus, Father Almighty, before you we must stand in judgement.  Heal the blindness of our eyes and melt the coldness of our hearts so we may hear your cries and respond  to your distress in our world. Touch us and make us whole.

Almighty God, source of every blessing, your generous goodness comes to us anew every day. By the work of your Spirit lead us to acknowledge your goodness, give thanks for your benefits, and serve you in willing obedience. Indeed we pray you to pour out your Holy Spirit upon us - your Spirit of joy and laughter - of comfort and of strength - that we might celebrate with you and you with us, as we offer our worship and ourselves to you this day; through Christ our Lord.

"You Are God" We praise you, O God; we acknowledge you to be the Lord. All creation worships you, the father everlasting. To you all angels cry aloud, the heavens and the powers therein. To you the cherubim and seraphim sing in endless praise: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. The glorious company of apostles praise you. The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise you. The noble army of martyrs praise thee. Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you: Father of infinite majesty; your true and only son, worthy of all worship; and the Holy Spirit, our comforter. You, Christ, are the King of Glory. You are the eternal Son of the Father. When you became a man to set us free, you did not shun a maiden's womb. When you overcame the sharpness of death, you opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You are the seated at the right hand of God in glory. We believe that you will come again and be our judge. We pray to you - help your servants, bought with your precious blood. Bring us with your saint to glory everlasting.  Amen.






















DEPARTING PRAYER:  Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion. Bless, O Lord, the nation in which we dwell; guide and protect her leaders, inspire her citizens, and make the land one that is hospitable and good for all people. We ask it for the sake of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and for your eternal glory, both now and for ever.












































Prayer

Lord God, loving creator - tender redeemer and compassionate judge - we pray that you would guide us and lead us in holiness all our days - help us we pray to be mindful of the example we are to follow through your son Jesus. We pray you touch those in our midst who suffer from the infirmity of their bodies and minds this day.... Lord hear our prayer

Father and Mother of us all, Fill us Lord  with your light that we might be a light to others. Grace your church so that all in it might be an example of goodness and mercy to those who are seeking righteousness. Bless your church so that its deeds might nourish the hungry, encourage the despairing, and bring hope to those who live in fear.

Saviour, as we consider the need this day for a just sharing of the food that this earth affords, we pray for those who are forced to grow cocoa instead of grain, for those who must destroy surplus crops instead of sharing them, and for all who are oppressed by the economics of large corporations and governments. Empower your church around the world to speak out against waste and greed, and grace all those who care and share despite the cost.... Lord hear our prayer

Holy God, we acknowledge our divine calling, our calling to live as children of light and love, and of joy and peace all the days of lives. We thank you for this calling and for the power you grant us through the Holy Spirit to be what you call us to be. Amen

mts journalPRAYER

mts journal-PRAYER


With many voices we praise you, O God. In different ways we serve you. We pray that you will send your sprit upon us and take our diversity and mold it into a common theme of thanksgiving.

We pray that you would weave the gifts we offer into a whole cloth of service that will blanket the world with your love, your goodness and your glory.

Transforming God, send the flame of your transforming life, wisdom and faith that we may know the great hope to which we are called. We give you thanks, for great is you faithfulness, O God. Call us forth in new faithfulness to you.

Lift us up through pathways that lead to your Kingdom. Move us beyond the edge of our dreams. Give us a vision that will challenge our smallness of heart and bring us humbly together.  

Sweep us forward like dust in the wind, breaking free of the power of self-interest until the whole earth sings with your justice. Open our moths that we be one voice for the voiceless. Open our eyes that we all may see the same vision of peace and glory. Open our ears that we may here the whisper of your word and the weeping of the world.  We give you thanks, for great is you faithfulness, O God. Call us forth in new faithfulness to you.

Make us alive with the courage and faith of your life giving truth. Cleanse us with the burning fire of your love so we may raise up as your children, bravely walking into the future. Breath into us your sprit, so we will become faithful witnesses, in our communities and the world.

Lord, We create barriers as individuals and as a society.  We shut others out and disbar ourselves by how we react to the words of our neighbors. We pray for the energy and the will to tare down the walls that divide us from one another and from you.  We give you thanks, for great is you faithfulness, O God. Call us forth in new faithfulness to you.

Transforming God, remake and sanctify us, give us the strength we need to be your church in sprit and truth. As we learn and grow in your love, we dedicate or rededicate our lives to your service.

We give ourselves knowing you will create through us a new community of faith bounded together by the gospel of the living God. As we pursue our works, shape us, strengthen us, and empower us, because in the words of St Thomas Aquinas “ we have been called to heal wounds, to unit what has fallen apart and to bring home those who have lost their way.    And we will forever sing of your great faithfulness, O God. Call us forth in new faithfulness to you….   Amen

Prayer of illumination


By our presence here today, O God, we acknowledge you as the one who has created us - and the one who redeems us and sustains us.  We worship you for all the wonderful things you have done.  

We confess our deep and abiding need for your forgiveness to set our lives right, for your wisdom to guide us each day, and for your love to fill our every thought and action.  

Help us this day to remember what is important and to set aside that which is not. As we share ourselves with you through prayer, and as we hear your word and sing your praises, we ask that this time be a blessing to us, and by your grace working in us, result in blessings to others.

Loving God, your grace and your mercy towards all human flesh is so rich and good and all encompassing that we often fail to truly appreciate it.  Your glory is hidden by the very light you shine with - your goodness is concealed by the very blessings that we enjoy from your hand - your power is made invisible by the very strength that you display within our lives.  

Help us to appreciate all that you are doing in us and around this day. Grant that through this hour of worship we might be more firmly grounded in our faith and more able to speak of it and pass it on to those around us.

Open our ears, that we may hear voices of truth; and while the wave notes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear. Silently now I wait for thee, ready, my God, thy will to see. Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine!